Happy Friday! And Happy Moscato Day! Gallo Family Vineyards sent me an email a few weeks ago that today is National Moscato Day and asked if I would I like a bottle to celebrate. Yes please, don’t mind if I do!
While moscato is delicious when you want something sweet on a steamy summer day, I thought mixing it into a cocktail would be a refreshing way to enjoy it.
As luck would have it, Prairie Organic Spirits also sent me two bottles of their finest to play mixologist with, so I used them to create two versions of an Elderberry Lemon Basil cocktail. {They are award-winning, hand-crafted, organic, sustainably grown, and from family farms – my kind of spirit!}
I had purchased this elderberry syrup at our farmer’s market for just this purpose, so I knew I wanted to involve it along with some fresh basil and lemon.
And our drink was born
Matt and I got to work mixing up ingredients. We started on a small scale and worked our way up to full-size cocktails. I like my cocktails on the rocks and Matt prefers his up, so we made one of each – mine with a little more moscato and his with a touch more gin.
This cocktail is the perfect blend of tart and sweet and has layers of flavor from the diverse ingredients. Switch out lemon for lime and basil for rosemary for a different twist. Or use vodka instead of gin if you fancy.
- 2 ounces moscato (or other sweet wine)
- 1 ounce gin
- 1/2 teaspoon elderberry syrup (or cherry juice or sweet liquor)
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 leaf basil, muddled in your glass
- For garnish: cherry, more basil leaf, lemon peel curl
To mix: Muddle your basil. In a cocktail shaker with some ice, add moscato, gin, elderberry and lemon juice and mix for 5 shakes. Pour over more ice into a glass and add garnishes.
- 3 ounces gin
- 1.5 ounces moscato (or other sweet wine)
- 1/2 tsp elderberry syrup
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 basil leaf
- Lemon peel for garnish
Combine all ingredients In a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake for 10 shakes. Pour in a martini glass and garnish with lemon.
Happy sipping!
This post is not sponsored, but Prairie Organic Spirits and Gallo Family Vineyards sent me the bottles gratis.
This is a perfect Friday post! Love it. 🙂
Can you find elderberry syrup in most grocery stores or is that something that would need to be ordered online? I love the Moscato that Olive Garden has (fancy wine connoisseur, I am not!) but the ones I’ve tried in town aren’t as good and dressing it up a bit might be more fun! Plus I think adding fruit and making sangria would be a blast during the summer. I like the ideas! 🙂
You might find it in a health food store, but I would bet if you found an herbalist at a farmer’s market they’d have it (or could make it for you). It’s also wicked easy to make, elder trees grow like weeds almost everywhere in the U.S.!
Omg these sound absolutely delicious!
These look amazing! I am not a huge liquor fan, but I could totally go for one of these. I love that you found the syrup at a farmers market. Awesome find and great recipe.
What a pretty drink! Looks like something a restaurant would serve! 🙂
Well happy moscato day! I guess I’ll have to enjoy a glass.
This looks awesome! I love Moscato so I’m happy to hear that today is National Moscato Day 🙂 And the combination of lemon and elderberry sounds amazing!
Looks so refreshing! I also love sweet, fruity cocktails. Curious as to why the straight up one had more gin? Is it just personal preference, or did you alter it because of the lack of ice?
That was Matt’s preference
Oh, ok. So two ways to do it. I don’t know anything about cocktails, but 1/2 tsp of the lemon juice and elderberry syrup doesn’t seem like enough to get the flavor into the drink. I might add a bit more.
That really looks good, I’m like you, I prefer mine on the rocks too.
That cucumber vodka sounds amazing!! What a perfect addition to a Summertime drink. I bet it would be good in lemonade too!
This looks so refreshing and delicious! Unfortunately I can’t have gin. 🙁 Do you think it can be substituted with vodka?
Yes definitely
Your cocktail, beer, and wine posts are always so perfect for Fridays. Any more beer or wine posts coming? 🙂
No but ill take requests!
Brilliant!
Oh my gosh, Gallo Family! Honestly, they are the recent I got into wine. I know it’s inexpensive, but I discovered it in Chicago and drank it all the time. I am so sad that I can’t find it anymore in NYC. I lived for it.
Reeeeeally wishing I wasn’t pregnant right now!! Bookmarking for July 😉
Oh this sounds phenomenal!!! It’s almost 5:00 on Friday, I need a drink! Can you come make this for me!?!
LOVE LOVE the photo of the blurred out cocktail with the tree as the focus. Such a cool one!
Looks so refreshing and delicious 🙂
I love your glass, what brand is it or where did you get it? I would love some lower calorie drink options. Any recommendations?
It’s Bodum!
So pretty! More easy cocktail recipes please! 🙂
I could definitely go for one of these right now!! Sounds delish!!
I love gin and elderberry but moscato makes me cringe. I like that you mixed it well but yikes. My brother and I were just saying that moscato is to 2009 as white Zinfandel is to 1989. Do you really like it? I
I ask because I really care about your opinion. I’ve been a silent friend for a while.
I prefer a Sonoma chardonnay any day but I’ve never met a wine I didn’t like.
This sounds delicious…nothing like a good drink after a long day 😉
Yum!
Umm, yes please!! Looks so good!
The drinks look amazing, love a cocktail in the summer time!
Happy Mother’s Day, Kath!!! Enjoy your little munchkin!
Thanks!
I’m not a huge fan of moscato, because it’s too sweet for me, but I love the idea of mixing it with gin, basil, and elderberry. So fancy!
I decided to try this with Macvin instead of Moscato since that’s what I had available. Macvin is an apéritif from the French Jura region, made in my case from the Savagnin grape. Its taste could be described as a liqueur made with Sultana dried raisins.
I kept the proportions for the on-the-rocks version (assuming 1 ounce = 30ml), used elderberry juice cut with sugar syrup, a bit more basil and Beefeater gin. Macvin is an interesting choice here, I think, but the proportions would have to be adjusted because it dominates. As someone else said, the elderberry gets completely lost except for its colour.