It’s Memorial Day weekend which means summer is officially here! This Sweet Basil & Cardamom Lemonade is bursting with refreshing summer vibes and I know you’re going to love it. Even though we are in the throes of a pandemic, you can still live the good life by allowing this drink to take you to a faraway place in your mind or in your backyard! ;)

This lemonade is special because of the addition of sweet basil and cardamom. The flavor profile of sweet basil has sweet peppery notes of licorice and clove which brings an herbaceous uplift to the lemonade. Cardamom comes in and provides a subtle depth of flavor that makes you say “mmm, what is this?!” when you taste it.

Most times when you make lemonade, you use granulated sugar and stir until it’s dissolved. For this recipe, I made a concentrated simple syrup that’s infused with whole cardamom pods. I felt this was the best way to impart the flavor of cardamom into the beverage so that the flavor is subtle and not overpowering.

I love garnishing drinks of all kinds! It makes the work of creating a fresh beverage worth it every time and there’s nothing like serving something beautiful to the ones you love. It turns an ordinary moment into something extraordinary! This lemonade is finished with a simple garnish of a lemon slice hugging an aromatic sweet basil leaf on a bamboo knot cocktail pick. It’s placed slightly off-center on top of the glass to give it an aesthetically pleasing look.

This lemonade can transform into a fabulous cocktail with the addition of a delicious blanco tequila like Casamigos (my new favorite tequila!). I must admit that the usual taste test session was elevated greatly this round so cheers to this drink! Kanpai!

I hope you enjoy this week’s recipe, which is the first beverage of the blog, yay! If you decide to make this delicious Sweet Basil & Cardamom Lemonade, please share on social media with the hashtag #CookingWithACA and tag me @acertainaesthetic. Take care, be safe, and have a great holiday weekend!

-Shari :)

Sweet Basil & Cardamom Lemonade

Makes 8 Servings, 8oz each

Ingredients

7 Lemons (Do the following below)
- Squeeze 5-6 lemons to make 1 cup of fresh lemon juice
- Make 1 tsp of lemon zest
- Thinly slice 1 whole lemon into rounds
2 tbsp sweet basil, thinly sliced chiffonade style, about 7-8 large leaves
6 cups water
2 cups cardamom simple syrup (Ingredients below)
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 5 large cardamom pods, slightly popped open
8 extra sweet basil leaves for garnish

Directions

Make the cardamom simple syrup first by adding the 2 cups of granulated sugar, 1 cup water, and 5 cardamom pods to a saucepan and stir to mix.
Bring to a boil on medium-high and let the syrup boil for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.
Stir once more and allow the syrup to cool for at least 15 minutes.
While the syrup is cooling, make the fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, thinly sliced lemon rounds, and thinly sliced sweet basil leaves then set aside.
To a large pitcher, add the lemon juice, lemon zest, 2 sliced lemon rounds, sweet basil, cardamon simple syrup with the cardamom pods, and 6 cups of water.
Stir and allow the lemonade to sit for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to develop.
To make the garnish, take 4 of the thinly sliced lemon rounds and cut them in half.
Take 1 of the half slices and bring the ends together
Slide the bottom end of 1 sweet basil leaf in between the lemon ends and slide a decorative bamboo knot cocktail pick through the white pith of the lemon ends. (View photos above for reference)
Repeat until you have 8 garnishes ready to serve.
Fill your glasses ¾ full of ice and pour in 8 ounces of the lemonade.
Top each glass with the lemon basil garnish and enjoy!

Notes

The cardamom will be a light enhancement to the lemonade in order to bring a depth of flavor to the beverage. Don’t worry if you don’t taste a strong flavor of cardamom, it’s working!
If you don’t have whole cardamom pods, you can add in ¼ tsp of ground cardamom.
When you finish making the cardamom simple syrup, it may crystalize due to its concentration being high. That is okay because once you mix it with the rest of the ingredients, the crystals will dissolve with ease.
This can turn into an amazing cocktail with a blanco tequila or spirits of your choice like vodka or rum!

Recipe, Photography & Styling by A Certain Aesthetic