A hungry girl's adventures in Cleveland and beyond.
The inspiration for my first Thirsty Thursday posting in honor of my fabulous Kufra pitcher from Bormioli Rocco (yes! made in ITALY instead of the usual China - bonus!) came to me at dinner earlier this week.
My Auntie and I went to one of our favorite restaurants in Chagrin Falls,Umami. It's a teeny but stylish spot right on Main Street that specializes in food with a Asian flair. It was bustling on a gorgeous Tuesday night. Dearest retired Auntie arrived first and was already enjoying a jasmine iced tea with a ginger infused simple syrup. Refreshing and delicious but a little too sweet for me since I never sweeten my tea. The waitress offered a basil lemonade and that immediately caught my attention. It did not disappoint. I macerated the fresh basil that was served in the glass and found it to be absolutely perfectly refreshing. The basil was an unexpected but very complimentary element - delicious!
I decided to try the easiest route when making my version to see if it could truly be that simple. I found out, not surpisingly, it is not. I used Minute Maid frozen lemonade concentrate, filtered water and basil out of my herb pot. While it was tasty, it does not have the sublime basil flavor of Umami's lemonade. Some tweaking is in order.
Next time, I will still try to stay with the frozen concentrate but will either infuse it for a day with a basil chiffonade or may try to make a basil simple syrup to add a touch of sweetness to the mix. And I'm sure I will try this with vodka at some point... Nonetheless, it was the perfect refresher for a sultry summer evening.
My Auntie and I went to one of our favorite restaurants in Chagrin Falls,Umami. It's a teeny but stylish spot right on Main Street that specializes in food with a Asian flair. It was bustling on a gorgeous Tuesday night. Dearest retired Auntie arrived first and was already enjoying a jasmine iced tea with a ginger infused simple syrup. Refreshing and delicious but a little too sweet for me since I never sweeten my tea. The waitress offered a basil lemonade and that immediately caught my attention. It did not disappoint. I macerated the fresh basil that was served in the glass and found it to be absolutely perfectly refreshing. The basil was an unexpected but very complimentary element - delicious!
I decided to try the easiest route when making my version to see if it could truly be that simple. I found out, not surpisingly, it is not. I used Minute Maid frozen lemonade concentrate, filtered water and basil out of my herb pot. While it was tasty, it does not have the sublime basil flavor of Umami's lemonade. Some tweaking is in order.
Next time, I will still try to stay with the frozen concentrate but will either infuse it for a day with a basil chiffonade or may try to make a basil simple syrup to add a touch of sweetness to the mix. And I'm sure I will try this with vodka at some point... Nonetheless, it was the perfect refresher for a sultry summer evening.
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| Basil Lemonade |
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