How about adding a bit of summer to your Old Fashioned? Fresh blackberries give this classic cocktail a summery feel. This cocktail contains the basic ingredients of an Old Fashioned (bourbon, sweetener and bitters) but uses blackberries in place of cherries and chocolate bitters for orange bitters.
Ed and I were recently in horse country in northern Virginia. Thank you to Mac G for recommending that we dine at Hunter’s Head Tavern in Upperville. It was early July and the weather was gorgeous – low 80s and low humidity. Almost unheard of for this part of the world during the summer. We took advantage of this and sat outside of the old tavern on the brick patio with a nice sailcloth cover.
Hunter’s Head Tavern is a Three-Star Certified Green Restaurant specializing in sustainable and humanely raised fare from their farm down the road from the restaurant. I enjoyed a delicious mushroom-thyme crustless quiche – you could really taste the mushrooms which I Ioved. Ed had fish and chips complete with mushy peas. The fish was cooked to a perfect crisp.
We also enjoyed beer from two Virginia breweries – Old Bust Head Brewing Company (Vixen Irish Style Red Ale) and Three Notch’d Brewing Company (King of Clouds Juicy IPA). As I always do, I perused the cocktail menu and saw a Blackberry Old Fashioned which served as the inspiration for this drink.
Back home, I found local blackberries at Yeager’s Farm and Market on Rt. 113 in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Usually I’d make a blackberry syrup in advance, but for this cocktail I decided to muddle blackberries with simple syrup as the first step to making this drink. I prefer making this cocktail in a mixing glass (learn more at Liquor.com’s The 8 Best Cocktail Mixing Glasses) rather than a shaker. I added Bulleit bourbon (per the Hunter’s Head Tavern cocktail description) and Scrappy’s Chocolate Bitters. After stirring for two minutes, I then strained the drink to remove much of the blackberry pulp. The end result is a nicely balanced Old Fashioned – ideal for the warmer months.
Looking for a classic Old Fashioned? Check out Papi’s Old Fashioned.
| Blackberry Old Fashioned | Print |
- ¾ ounce simple syrup (see Notes)
- 3 blackberries
- 2 ounces bourbon
- 3 splashes chocolate bitters (see Notes)
- 3 splashes of Angostura bitters
- Garnish with 1 or 2 blackberries and a lemon twist
- Place simple syrup and 3 blackberries in a cocktail mixing glass. Muddle until the blackberries are broken down.
- Add bourbon, chocolate bitters and Angoustura bitters. Do not add ice. Stir for 2 minutes.
- Using a small strainer (to avoid getting blackberry pulp in the drink), strain into a rocks glass filled with one large ice cube or smaller ice cubes.
- Garnish with 1 or 2 blackberries and a lemon twist.
SIMPLE SYRUP
1 cup (8 ounces) water
1 cup granulated sugar
Bring the water to a simmer in a saucepan set over medium-high heat. Add the sugar and stir until it completely dissolves. Remove the pan from the heat. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Pour the syrup into a clean 1-pint bottle, cap it and refrigerate it until needed. Makes 1-½ cups and keeps two months or longer in the refrigerator.
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