I’ve always loved blackberries, but I’ve never had bushes of
my own; when you go and pick them in the wild or at a farm, you can generally
manage to eat or can all the berries you pick. However, since moving into a
farmhouse with venerable, huge, and productive bushes, I can’t keep up.
Even with the massive amount of blackberries that I have
been eating (it has been a lot, I might go Violet Beauregard status and turn
into a giant blackberry), I’ve been looking for other things to do with the
berries. Since I love flavored vodkas, I thought I’d try my hand at the DIY
variety.
Blackberry Vodka Fixins'
Here’s what I did:
1. I picked the juiciest berries- even the ones that were on
the edge of being over-ripe- and I picked a TON of them.
2. I put them in a colander, washed them, and patted them
dry with a paper towel.
3. I put them in a blender and used the “pulse” button to
break them up slightly, but not totally destroy them.
4. I poured that goopey mess into mason jars, filling them
between 1/3 and 1/2 full.
5. I poured generic, un-flavored vodka in to fill the jars.
6. I capped the jars and shook them like a dog out of water.
7. I put them on a high shelf out of the sunlight.
What I will do now:
1. Shake them every day or two for a month or two.
2.When I am satisfied that the vodka has gotten enough berry
flavor, I will pour the mix through coffee filter to strain out the leftover
berry goop.
3. I’ll store the finished blackberry vodka in a pretty
bottle and maybe even use it for gifts.
I’ll let you know how it turns out!