In case you missed it, I have a lot of blackberries right now. So far I’ve made a blackberry shallot sauce (served with pork tenderloin), a blackberry pie, and a blackberry pound cake. All delicious. But I needed something more.

Right now it is hot. And I mean HOT. This whole weekend we’ve had temperatures in the 90’s. And this week we’re expected to stay in the 90’s and see a few days with temperatures in the 100’s. When I think of hot days I think of two things: (1) I need to treat my plants with some extra water (2) I need to treat myself with some fruity cocktails.

So today my husband and I decided to make a blackberry cocktail. It was refreshing and delicious. Extra delicious when I think of how much work I put into those homegrown blackberries.

To make the cocktail, first I made blackberry juice. All I did was I pureed a cup of blackberries in a food processor. (I added a bit of water to get it going.) Then I put the puree in a fine-mesh sieve and pushed it through with the back of a spoon. Making the blackberry juice was super easy and I’d imagine one could use it for a lot of other recipes.

If you are interested in the recipe for the cocktail we made, it is below. Cheers!

Ingredients
2 ounces tequila or vodka
1 ounces simple syrup
The juice from 1 small fresh lime (or half of a regular-sized lime)
3 tablespoons blackberry juice

Directions
Combine all with ice and shake. Serve over ice. Garnish with blackberries and mint. Sit back, put your feet up, and enjoy.