Memories of picking berries on my aunt and uncle’s hardscrabble farm prompted me to create a blackberry bramble cocktail.
Howitzer and tank fire echoed through the hills as I picked, but I didn’t smell napalm or hear Wagner’s Valkyrie playing in the background. The activity at Fort Knox was a precursor of things to come with our country’s involvement in Viet Nam.
My aunt taught me how to choose the best berries and I quickly filled a bucket off the fencerow. I can still hear the screen door spring stretch and creak when I returned to the farmhouse. As the door slammed behind me, she would inspect my berries and decide what to make.
We ate them in pies, cobblers, jams and jellies, but I never used them to make a cocktail until now. Blackberry infused bourbon is the primary ingredient and I first tasted it neat, then over a big rock. The flavor was fantastic and the color a beautiful red tinged amber. The next step was to experiment and search for a special combination for my cocktail. That’s where the fun began and it ended with a simple recipe using only three ingredients plus a garnish.
Find it online: https://www.cooksavorcelebrate.com/blackberry-bramble-cocktail/