If you’re looking for a surefire way to elevate your cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages without having to buy an entire bar’s worth of special cocktail accessories, the easiest—and most effective—approach is to focus on the ice. Elevated ice is having a steaming-hot moment: Clear ice and flavored ice cubes have both frozen their way into our hearts, ensuring that no drink should be boring or watered down. And now, we’re putting our own twist on the upscale ice trend with Cherry Tomato-Basil Ice Cubes.
Making the most of grow-’em-in-your-own-garden cherry tomatoes, our Cherry Tomato-Basil Ice Cubes are a colorful, summer-fresh option for any drink—but we didn’t stop there. Our Test Kitchen geniuses paired these colorful cubes with a housemade Tomato-Basil Shrub, gin, vermouth, club soda, and Prosecco for a delectable Tomato-Basil Spritz that perfectly captures the flavors of your summer garden in an on-trend coupe glass.
Think of this recipe as a choose your own adventure: For the full Tomato-Basil Spritz experience, make a shrub, freeze some into ice cubes, and combine it all into your spritz. (You can make a few easy swaps to make a non-alcoholic version of this spritz, too.) Make just the Cherry Tomato-Basil Ice Cubes for a flavorful addition to water (sparkling or flat!) or another beverage. However you want to enjoy this fresh concoction, our easy drink recipe has you covered.
Whether you’re eagerly awaiting spritz season or you’re always looking for new ways to use fresh ingredients from your garden, our Tomato-Basil Spritz is about to be the drink you’re sipping on all spring and summer long.
Ingredients
Tomato-Basil Shrub
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2 lbs. tomatoes (3 large beefsteak), cut into large chunks
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2 sprigs basil, divided
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1/4 cup white wine vinegar
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1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
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1/2 cup sugar
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1 tsp salt
Cherry Tomato-Basil Ice Cubes
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2-3 cups Tomato-Basil Shrub, depending on size of ice cube trays (save remaining shrub for cocktails)
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1 (9-oz.) pkg cherry tomatoes on the vine
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Garnish: Small basil leaves
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Serve with: Cucumber-flavored sparkling water or Spritz ingredients
Tomato-Basil Spritz
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Cherry Tomato-Basil Ice Cubes (about 5 per large coupe glass)
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2 oz. Tomato-Basil Shrub
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1 1/2 oz vermouth, extra-dry
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1/2 oz gin
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Club soda, chilled
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Prosecco, chilled
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Garnish: Basil sprigs
Directions
Tomato-Basil Shrub
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Place tomato chunks into a food processor or blender. Pulse until the tomatoes are finely chopped and juicy.
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Transfer blended tomatoes to a non-metal bowl and submerge one basil sprig in the tomato mixture. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour to allow flavors to blend.
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Place a fine mesh strainer on top of a large bowl (or measuring cup). Add chilled tomatoes to the strainer and let the water drip into the bowl. Press/stir the solids to get all of the juices off of the tomato pulp. Discard solids.
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In a wide-mouth quart-sized jar, add the remaining ingredients. Seal and shake until sugar and salt are dissolved, about 2 minutes.
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Add tomato water and remaining sprig of basil to the vinegar mixture. Store in refrigerator up to 5 days.
Cherry-Tomato Basil Ice Cubes
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Trim cherry tomatoes off vines, but leave about 1/4-inch of stem. Place one (or two to three, if using larger molds) cherry tomatoes into each of the spaces in the ice cube tray.
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Shake the Tomato-Basil Shrub (it will separate); fill the ice cube trays with the shrub leaving a bit of room at the top of each space. The tomatoes will be exposed.
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Add a basil leaf or two on top of the liquid (or push it down into the liquid). Freeze for four hours to overnight (larger cubes may take longer).
Remove cubes from trays and fill glass with tomato-basil ice cubes. Top off the glass with your favorite spritz ingredients or sparkling water.
Tomato-Basil Spritz
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Fill a glass with Cherry Tomato-Basil Ice Cubes. Add the next 3 ingredients (through Tomato-Basil Shrub) and stir to combine.
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Top with equal parts club soda and prosecco. Stir gently to combine. Garnish with basil sprig and enjoy.
This beverage is on the strong side. If you would like a milder drink, make it in a taller glass and use a larger amount of club soda.
Non-Alcoholic Tomato-Basil Spritz
For a non-alcoholic version of this drink, substitute gin with an alcohol-free gin (such as The Five Spirits Co.); vermouth with tonic-water; and Prosecco with an alcohol-free/removed Prosecco (such as Mionetto).
This beverage is delightful with the non-alcoholic spirits, but just as delicious topped with sparkling water or a combination of sparkling water and tonic.
