This Italicus cocktail is so refreshing and a little bit sweet and tart which is how I love my cocktails. This cocktail has gin, Italicus, basil syrup and cucumber juice. This makes the perfect drink to entertain with since you can make all of the components ahead of time. Serve this with whipped lemon ricotta or a ricotta tomato galette for a delicious aperitivo snack to go along with it.
About Italicus
If you are here, the chances are you are already familiar with Italicus, at least a little bit 🙂
Italicus is a newer Italian aperitivo that is made from Bergamot that is sourced from the Calabrian region of Italy. It has floral notes of rose petals and lavender and it makes a great addition to citrus cocktails.
Ingredients you will need
- Italicus liqeuor
- Gin
- Basil Syrup (recipe below)
- Cucumber juice. (recipe below)
- Fresh lemon
Pro-Tip
If you have extra fresh basil after making this recipe you will want to check out my freezing basil in olive oil which shows you how to preserve it and make sure nothing goes to waste.
How to make this Italicus Cocktail
This Italicus drink is very easy to make. It only requires you do a little prep work ahead of time to make the basil syrup and cucumber juice.
- Make the basil syrup. To make the basil syrup just make a simple syrup with sugar and water and add ¼ cup of fresh basil and let it steep in the syrup until cool.
- Make cucumber juice. To do this you add a seedless cucumber to a high powered blender with a little water and blend until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove any thick pulp then refrigerate until ready to use.
- Add all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well for 1 minute.
- Pour into a martini glass and garnish with a lemon rind.
If you have a juicer, you can make the cucumber juice portion of this cocktail that way. Both methods work.
The color of this cocktail is so vivd from the cucumber juice not the Italicus. The Italicus color is actually almost clear.
It is the bottle that is that beautiful turquoise color.
Pairing Ideas to go with this Italicus Cocktail
Cucumber and Basil Italicus Cocktail
Equipment
- 1 cocktail shaker
- 1 martini glass
Ingredients
Cocktail
- 1 ounce Italicus
- 1 ounce Gin
- ¾ ounce Basil syrup
- 1 ½ ounces Cucumber juice
- 1 lemon juiced
Basil Syrup recipe
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup Fresh basil
Cucumber juice recipe
- 1 seedless cucumber skin peeled
- 1 cup water
Instructions
Making the basil syrup
- Add water, sugar and basil to a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer until sugar dissolves then remove from the heat.
- Allow to cool then strain our basil.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
Making the cucumber juice
- Add cucumber and water to a high powered blender and mix until completely smooth.
- Strain through a fine mesh sieve.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
Making the cocktail
- Add 1 cup of ice and all of the ingredients to a cocktail shaker.1 ounce Italicus, 1 ounce Gin, ¾ ounce Basil syrup, 1 ½ ounces Cucumber juice, 1 lemon
- Shake well for one minute.
- Pour into martini glass and garnish with a little lemon peel.
Bill
We really enjoyed this!