I'd stay away from the lemon and lime, and use the cinnamon only in very small amounts. Purple's fine for maybe ¼ of the mix. The rest pretty much taste like basil and can be mixed as you like.

I had a customer tell me that they made pesto from 'Mrs Burns Lemon' basil (a much better cultivar than regular lemon basil IMO) and it was the best she ever had. I made some and it was very good, albeit a bit untraditional. It would be great over chicken or fish. Lime basil is similar to lemon and would probably be just as good. I would guess that purple basil, although it may taste just fine, may have a color to it that would be a bit unappetizing, especially if your aesthetics are so delicate! :)

I have also had people tell me that they like pesto from other types of basil that I wouldn't even think of using-like African Blue Basil-a very camphorous type. The lady who recommended the lemon basil says she makes separate batches of different flavored basils and freezes each one in ice cube trays. She adds different types together at different ratios when she is ready to make a batch to eat.

Bottom line, try a small batch of each to see what you like or don't like.

F. DeBaggio

I love lemon basil pesto! Especially with roasted pecans instead of pine nuts. Mmmm.