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This gorgeously refreshing cocktail or mocktail will transport you to a sun-drenched beach with a gentle breeze and time spent with your favorite people. Our six testers were left asking for more after sampling this drink. It has wide-ranging appeal, whether with gin, vodka, or zero-proof non-alcoholic gin. Our testers loved them all!

This easy sipper is irresistible and full of fruit flavor from the blackberry coulis and the lime juice and zest. It’s bursting with fresh garden (or grocery store, I won’t tell!) basil, both with a rich simple syrup and with fresh leaves muddled into the aromatic base. It’s just fabulous!

This drink is a bit fiddly with the advance preparation of the basil simple syrup as well as the fresh blackberry coulis. But the prep is simple, and so, so worth it. Your friends and family will be bowled over by these irresistibly fresh flavors. This recipe makes a batch of four drinks. Since you need to make the easy basil simple syrup and the coulis anyway, you’ll want to have friends to share in the mouthwatering reward of this drink!

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💕 Why this cocktail / mocktail is special

🧪 Cocktail and mocktail taste test results

🌿 Ingredients for basil rich simple syrup

📓 Ingredients for fresh blackberry coulis

🧾 Ingredients for blackberry basil lime rickey cocktail or mocktail

📒 Step-by-step instructions and photos

💡 Tips for success

🍹 Blackberry Basil Lime Rickey Cocktail and Mocktail Recipe

blackberries growing in a garden — Arapaho blackberries in the garden

💕 Why this cocktail / mocktail is special

Classic Rickey composition

The Rickey cocktail originated in the 19th century in Washington, D.C. as a drink with bourbon, fresh lime, and carbonated water over ice. As the drink evolved, gin surpassed the original bourbon in popularity to become the best-known base.

A Rickey became more of a cocktail family, rather than a specifically prescribed set of ingredients. The basic template includes a base spirit, lime, and carbonation, and published recipes include base spirits of whiskey, gin, vodka, and other types.

My version is a modern variation with basil-infused rich simple syrup, an incredibly fresh blackberry coulis (fruit purée), fresh basil leaves that are muddled into the liquid, both the zest and freshly pressed juice from limes, and sparkling water.

And since the alcohol base for a Rickey is flexible, I thought I’d test the well-loved botanical flavors of gin, vodka, and also a zero-proof, non-alcoholic version of gin. It’s so much fun to try different variations of drink recipes to see how well they’ll turn out. Please read more to find out the results of our taste tests!

Basil leaves and simple syrup from the garden

Feel free to use your favorite type(s) of culinary basil for the simple syrup and for muddling the fresh leaves in this drink. I’ve used a huge variety of basil from my garden in both of these parts of this recipe. And of course, grocery store basil will work just fine as well.

Freshly harvested basil tops from the garden

If you could use some inspiration for really unique and exciting varieties of basil to grow for culinary use, please check out my posts with some of the worldwide types I’ve grown. There are photos, scent and flavor notes, growing information, and other details so you can really explore your own favorite types to grow!

38 Types of Basil to Grow in Your Herb Garden, Part 1

45 Types of Basil to Grow in Your Herb Garden, Part 2

an angled view of a cocktail with another partial cocktail in the background

Incredibly fresh blackberry coulis

The blackberry coulis (fruit purée) in this recipe is made with fresh berries. After a short rest for the flavors to meld, the strained coulis is ready to add to your drinks. This beautiful and enchanting sauce makes these drinks incredibly fruity, delicious, and a vibrant shade of deep red.

4 blackberry basil lime rickey cocktails / mocktails

Vibrant lime juice and zest

We use both freshly squeezed lime juice and zest in this recipe for a luscious kick of citrus. And you can use lime sparkling water in place of plain if you’d like even more lime flavor.

Incredible flavor with gin, vodka, or as a mocktail

You’ll see in the taste test results below that all four of our blind-tested cocktail and mocktail bases were highly approved by our tasters. So feel free to customize to your tastes to make this drink your own!

an overhead view of 4 cocktails with garnishes and a napkin

🧪 Cocktail and mocktail taste test results

For testing, our six tasters compared four different drink bases: Tanqueray London Dry Gin, Hendrick’s Gin, Kirkland Vodka, and Free Spirits Zero Proof (non-alcoholic) Gin.

We were surprised to discover how little the drink needed gin to taste botanical. The favorite of several of our testers in the blind tasting was the zero-proof gin, while the vodka performed especially well in the versions with alcohol. With so much botanical flavor coming from the basil, lime, and blackberry, the gin’s additional aromatic flavors weren’t essential to the character of the drink. But the gin versions were delicious nonetheless.

So feel free to customize the alcoholic or non-alcoholic base to fit your tastes. And know that any of the variations we’ve tested produce a drink that’s absolutely sublime. I think it’s fantastic that this the mocktail version is every bit as sophisticated and flavorful!

freshly picked basil tops from the garden

🌿 Ingredients for basil rich simple syrup

This recipe makes enough simple syrup to fit comfortably within a 1-liter airtight bottle or jar. This will give you plenty of syrup to use for this four-drink batch of cocktails or mocktails, plus extra for another round and/or for other uses. This syrup is delicious! It’ll keep for at least 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Sugar: I use beet or organic cane granulated sugar here.

Water

Fresh basil leaves, flowers, and tender stems: Feel free to use your favorite varieties from the garden! Or, of course, fresh basil from the grocery store or farmer’s market works fine too.

bowls of ingredients for the blackberry coulis

📓 Ingredients for fresh blackberry coulis

Blackberries: Please use the freshest ones you can find for this luscious sauce.

Granulated sugar

Salt

ingredients for the cocktail / mocktail on a table

🧾 Ingredients for blackberry basil lime rickey cocktail or mocktail

Basil simple syrup: Please note that you’ll need to make this in advance before proceeding with the drink. This recipe will make enough syrup to fit comfortably in an airtight 1-liter bottle. This will give you a good quantity for this recipe, with plenty left over for more drinks or additional rounds of this drink!

Fresh blackberry coulis: From the above separate coulis ingredient list. Please use the freshest, sweetest, and juiciest blackberries you can find for this recipe.

Fresh basil leaves, flowers, and tender stems: As with the simple syrup, use any type(s) you really like.

Freshly grated lime zest: Please grate this shallowly to avoid adding any of the bitter white pith beneath the skin. I use a Microplane grater to do this easily and quickly.

Gin, vodka, or zero-proof spirits: Shockingly, our 6 taste testers loved all of these options! You have so much flexibility to make this incredible drink the way you like it.

Freshly squeezed lime juice: Please take the time to squeeze the limes just before making the drinks, if possible. I love to use this quick and efficient flat manual juicer to make light work of this.

Ice

Sparkling water: We’ve tested both lime and plain sparkling water for this drink, and found both to be equally delicious.

Fresh basil sprigs, blackberries, and strips of lime zest for garnish (optional)

📒 Step-by-step instructions and photos

Basil simple syrup

1️⃣ Add the sugar and water to a large saucepan. Over low heat, stir occasionally until the sugar dissolves.

2️⃣ Turn off the heat, add the fresh basil, and steep for at least 30 minutes. (For a longer steep up to overnight, let the syrup cool, then cover and refrigerate before straining.) Strain into a 1-liter airtight bottle or jar and chill.

Blackberry Coulis

This recipe makes a bit more coulis than the drinks require. This will ensure that despite variations in blackberry juice content and seed size, there should be comfortably more than the ¾ cup (180 mL) needed for the drinks.

1️⃣ Add the blackberries, sugar, and salt to a medium bowl. Stir to combine.

2️⃣ Using a potato masher, muddler, or fork, crush the blackberries thoroughly. Make sure each berry is crushed. Stir well to mix. Allow the mixture to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

3️⃣ Using a fine-mesh sieve, strain the mixture into a bowl. Press firmly with a mixing spoon or flexible spatula to extract as much juice and soft fruit pulp as possible.

4️⃣ Measure the ¾ cup of coulis for the drinks and separate any extra quantity. Cover and refrigerate the coulis until ready to add to the drink. You can make it up to 3 days in advance.

Drink base and assembly

1️⃣ Add the basil leaves, lime zest, and basil rich syrup to a bowl. Gently muddle the basil, just until the leaves are bruised and fragrant.

2️⃣ To the bowl, add the chosen spirit, blackberry coulis, and lime juice. Stir thoroughly to combine. Strain the mixture with a fine-mesh sieve.

3️⃣ Add ice to halfway fill four Collins or highball glasses. Pour the drink base evenly among the four glasses.

4️⃣ Immediately before serving, pour the sparkling water evenly among the four glasses and stir each glass well. Optionally garnish each drink with a basil sprig, fresh blackberry, and lime slice or strip of zest. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

an overhead view of a cocktail with garnishes

💡 Tips for success

Make your basil simple syrup in advance

This fabulously flavorful botanical syrup needs to be chilled before adding. You can make it and refrigerate it up to 2 weeks in advance before proceeding with this rest of the drink recipe.

Use a digital scale

Please use a digital scale if you have one. This makes measuring the blackberry and basil quantities so much faster and more accurate. I use this digital pocket scale for precision with small quantities like the lime zest in this recipe, and this larger digital kitchen food scale for accurately measuring larger quantities. For the liquid measurements, it’s easiest to use measuring cups.

Use freshly squeezed lime juice

This makes a huge difference in the fresh and vibrant quality of this drink. Please squeeze the limes and refrigerate the juice the same day you’ll be making these drinks, ideally within 4 hours of serving.

🍹 Blackberry Basil Lime Rickey Cocktail and Mocktail Recipe

✏️ Have you made this drink?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please let me know in the comments below!

🍸 More botanical drink posts you’ll love

Here are some more drinks from the garden that I hope you’ll try. I know you’ll enjoy them so much!

Vegan Tulsi Masala Chai Recipe with Garden Holy Basil

Homemade Crème de Menthe Liqueur

Homemade Vin d’Orange with Herbs

Sunrise à la Plage – Frozen Mango Pineapple Rum Cocktail

Homemade Lemon Verbena Liqueur (Liqueur de Verveine)

Lavender Liqueur Recipe - Liqueur de Lavande Recette

Lavande Vanille Royale Champagne Cocktail

Homemade Scented Geranium Liqueur

Basil Tea from Your Garden: Brewing Fresh Leaves and Flowers

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🌱Shell

🍹Blackberry Basil Lime Rickey Cocktail and…