Lemon Verbena Smash

Believe it or not, at least for the Dirty Laundry Kitchen, it’s time to thinking about the 4th of July, and what’s a better place to start than with this Lemon Verbena Smash cocktail. This past weekend, I was forced to spend my time picnicking and drinking Lemon Verbena Smash cocktails at the dog park so that the menu would be ready for you. It was torture I tell you. First up, the questions. Where did this Lemon Verbena Smash cocktail come from? What is lemon verbena? And what do I do if I can’t find any? Good questions. I love the flavor of the herb lemon verbena. It’s perfect for Summer drinks and desserts. It’s a little hard to find at regular grocery stores (my dad has to grow it for me). But it’s amazing, and you can often find the plants even at places like home depot. When I can’t get my hands on it, I substitute a combination of basil and mint leaves. They get the job done in creating a similar flavor that make the Lemon Verbena Smash so distinctly delicious and refreshing. I love to make Lemon Verbena Smash in a giant mason jar and bring it on picnics, to the beach, or in this case, to the dog park. It’s a great compliment to my Summery 4^th of July Picnic menu. The Lemon Verbena Smash definitely goes down easy in the heat and allows whiskey drinkers like me a way to fit into the Summer drink scene, but if you prefer a mocktail, it’s great in lemonade on it’s own.

Print Recipe

Lemon Verbena Smash

Lemon Verbena Smash is made from bourbon, lemonade and lemon verbena making the smash a perfect summer cocktail to pack in mason jars for a picnic.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Total Time15 minutes mins

Servings: 8

Author: Barrett Bridenhagen

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh lemon juice I used about 8 lemons
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• lemon verbena leaves or basil and mint leaves if you can’t find or grow verbena
• 2 cups bourbon
• ¼ to ½ cup verbena simple syrup or basil and mint… optional- for added flavor
• 1 liter club soda or seltzer

Instructions

• Place sugar and verbena in a mortar and pestle (or you can use a bowl and a spoon). 
• Mash until the leaves become broken down and the sugar tastes like verbena.
• Juice fresh lemons and reserve the hulls.
• Add the juice, sugar leaves, and some quarters of the hulls to a large mason jar.
• Add the bourbon.
• Wait to add the seltzer until you’ve reached your destination to keep it fizzy and minimize the odds of a leaking jar.
• Don’t forget to pack the ice!