Fresh basil – 2 cups sliced or torn, including stems
Star Anise – 1 whole
Clove – 1
Bay leaf – 1
½ tsp. kosher salt (coarser than table salt)
large yellow tomatoes – 2
yellow watermelon, cut into chunks – 2 cups
peeled and seeded cucumber – 1 cup
1/4 cup lime juice
Thai chilies (optional)
Ground black pepper to taste
Absolut premium vodka – to taste
Put four to six martini glasses in the freezer. Wash the basil and dry it. Into a small saucepan, add clove, star anise, bay leaf, salt, basil and 1 ½ cups of water. Bring it to a boil, turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let it steep for the time it takes for you bring another small pot full of water to a boil.
Cut an X into the top and bottom of the tomatoes and plunk them into the boiling water for 30 seconds; remove them from the water. The skins should slide right off, but the tomato will remain uncooked. Cut the tomatoes in half sideways (one side gets the stem end, the other the bottom end); pare away any woody remnants of the stem and squeeze the tomato over the sink to remove as many seeds as you can. Cut up the watermelon into chunks, measure carefully and stop when you have more or less two cups.
Place a strainer over the top of a blender or food processor and pour the basil tea through it. Toss out the contents of the strainer. Add the rest of the ingredients (except for the chilies, unless you’re sure your guests like their drinks spicy) to the blender or food processor and blend at increasingly high speeds until smooth. Pour blended gazpacho into a large bowl and stir. Blend it again in batches and pour each of these blended rounds of gazpacho into a large pitcher. Stir it, add salt and pepper, taste it, and if you’re happy with it, chill it for as long as possible. Add more salt and pepper if necessary; cold food needs more salt than room-temperature or hot food. Add the alcohol to individual glasses to taste.