Behind the Spec #3 - Basil Spritz

Behind the Spec brings you inside recipes and prep from the world's best bars. This edition looks at Basil Spritz from SWAY in Gothenburg, a Highball build whose largest measure is the bar's own carbonated basil soda.

The spec is deceptively simple at 20 ml Tanqueray Gin, 20 ml Peach Liqueur and 100 ml SWAY Basil Soda. It is built in a Highball on a spear of ice and finished with a basil leaf.

That 100 ml basil soda is the central house component. It is made as a truly original piece of carbonated prep, combining basil, Earl Grey tea, water, acids and sugar.

Let's dive into how the professionals make it. This is Basil Spritz.

The SWAY Basil Soda prep begins by freezing 75 g basil, including leaves and stems, with 2 g Earl Grey tea. It then dissolves 2.5 g ascorbic acid, 5.65 g citric acid and 5.65 g malic acid into 1 litre of water chilled to 4°C. The frozen basil is crushed into that acid-adjusted water and refrigerated for 24 hours.

After the infusion, they strain away the leaves, filter the liquid through a coffee filter, add granulated sugar at 9% of the strained liquid's weight, and carbonate it.

It sounds simple, but there's an enormous amount of thought and hard work behind this. The team calls it Frost Bloom Extraction and Peche has done an interview with the team and a complete write up here: Beyond Blanching: A New Method to Prevent Browning in Drinks The article examines the basil-soda prep and how freezing supports extraction, while the cold acid bath is used to slow enzymatic browning before filtration, sweetening and carbonation.

At service, the spec is a clean and fast build. Gin, peach liqueur and the prepared soda make up the entire drink, while the spear ice and basil-leaf garnish define its final format.

For more from the team, see SWAY's public Peche profile is here.

Cheers! 🍸