Another great summer adult beverage submitted from tribe Chi Wulff – this Summer Garden Basil Watermelon Cooler was sent in this past week by Victoria in Rockport (Texas) with this note –
We’ve been down chasing redfish all week out of Rockport and Port Aransas with and staying with friends; our host has a huge container herb garden on her screened porch and we kept coming back to the this amazing Basil Watermelon Cooler when stumbling in after lunch to escape the roasting afternoon heat.
It’s easy as pie to muddle everything together and the fresh basil and ginger are so good with the watermelon; this was everyone’s favorite of the entire trip despite having some very nice other hooch along on the trip…
Thanks Victoria; these are on the menu for this weekend at our place. And good for you on the Rockport – Port A run, those are a couple of our favorite Texas coast places to roam.
1 roughly palm sized chunk of watermelon
1 round slice peeled ginger, 1/4-thick, about the size of your thumb round
3-4 basil leaves (3 if they’re big)
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
2 ounces vodka
Good ginger ale to top itIce
Muddle the watermelon chunk, ginger, basil and simple syrup in a shaker.
Shake, shake, shake. Fill 2/3’s full with ice, pour in the vodka and lime juice. Shake well and strain into a rocks glass filled with new ice.
Top with ginger ale and garnish with a watermelon sliver and a basil leaf.
Enjoy.
