Black Magic

sour · gin

The black food coloring is doing all the work here; underneath it sits a gimlet, unbothered. Pearl dust goes in the glass rather than the shaker, so it swirls up as you strain instead of dying in the mesh. Basil in the shaker makes it taste like a decision.

Ingredients

Where there's a range: the low end is lighter, the high end is fuller.

• 2 ozgin
• ½–¾ ozsimple syrup
• ½–¾ ozfreshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 dashpearl dust — placed in the bottom of the martini glass before straining
• —black food coloring — added to the shaker

Garnish

lime; optional fresh basil leaves

Method

Add a dash of pearl dust to the bottom of a martini glass. In a shaker, combine gin, simple syrup, and lime juice with ice, add black food coloring, and shake. Strain into the prepared glass. Garnish with lime; add fresh basil leaves to the shaker and shake for something special, if desired.

Steve’s notes

Dereferenced from Gin Gimlet by adding pearl dust to a martini glass and black food coloring to the shaker, per source text: 'Add a dash of pearl dust to the bottom of a martini glass and some black food coloring to the shaker for a Black Magic.'