Cocktail Wednesday - Blackberry Collins

So, since my OD is in town, we decided it was a good time to have Cocktail Wednesday.  I had original wanted to have a New York Sour, but opted for what looked like what could be a more popular cocktail - a Blackberry Collins, recipe from here.

Ingredients

• 9 ounces fresh blackberries (about 1½ cups)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups chilled dry gin
• ¾ cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 cups chilled club soda
• Lemon wheels (for serving)

I started by making a blackberry syrup, with the sugar, water, and blackberries. Per the directions, they were cooked about 20-25 minutes. This is what was left after I got the juice/syrup from the cooked berries.

 

 We then juiced the lemons.

The lemon juice was mixed in with the syrup -- we didn't have much ice so we didn't get the mixture chilled - and it was pretty thick and sweet.

We poured a shot of gin into a glass, over ice, added the syrup/lemon mixture, and topped it off with club soda and a lemon wheel.

It was great!  Only change I'd make is to be sure to dilute the mixture with more ice -- or add less to the glass.