Use this anti-inflammatory herb to seriously upgrade your cocktail

There are a few herbs that will instantly step up your dinner: thyme, basil, turmeric…But one you likely already have in your fridge can take your cocktail to the next level too: rosemary. Well+Good’s resident cocktail expert, The Outside Institute founder Laura Silverman, uses it to shake up a little something she calls Herbalicious.

“This lemony drink with a whiff of rosemary is the perfect bridge between summer and fall,” she says. Based in the Catskills, Silverman uses a locally made vodka infused with wild herbs and honey from Maid of the Meadow, which you can also buy online. (Though you can also swap in gin.)

“[I combine it with] a teaspoon of chartreuse, an herbal liqueur made by French Carthusian monks since the 1700s, which adds bittersweet notes of spices and green herbs,” Silverman says, adding that rosemary has been used medicinally for centuries as an immunity-booster.

Want to mix up this fancy cocktail for yourself? Keep reading for the recipe.

Herbalicious

Ingredients
For the lemon-rosemary syrup
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice1/4 cup organic cane sugar1 Tbsp rosemary leaves

For the cocktail
2 oz Maid of the Meadow, or substitute gin
1 oz lemon-rosemary syrup
1 tsp green Chartreuse
Rosemary sprig for garnish
Ice

For the lemon-rosemary syrup
1. Combine lemon juice, organic cane sugar, and rosemary leaves in a cocktail shaker.

2. Shake hard until sugar fully dissolves, then strain out rosemary.

For the cocktail
1. In a shaker filled with ice, combine gin, lemon-rosemary syrup, and Chartreuse.

2. Shake until well chilled, then strain into a coupe.

3. Garnish with the rosemary sprig.

Each week, The Outside Institute founder Laura Silverman crafts a cocktail recipe just for Well+Good readers using in-season plants and herbs. Bookmark this page for more healthy cocktail ideas.

If you want something to nosh on while you enjoy your cocktail, try one of these superfood snacks or one of these adaptogenic recipes.