I tried a blackberry whiskey cocktail a while back called The Royal Affliction, and I wasn’t too keen on it. Sure, it was full of things I enjoy, but it was too tart/sour, and the whiskey was lost. I happened upon this Blackberry Pomegranate Bourbon Cocktail recipe while I was searching for Halloween recipes, and I thought I’d give it a try. It has some similarities to The Royal Affliction, but it’s made with bourbon instead of Scotch whiskey. I like scotch, but I like bourbon a lot more. Plus its sweeter taste might just be a better pairing with blackberries. Only one way to find out…
A creepy cocktail to sip on.
The Ingredients
I went with my go-to bourbon, Bulleit, for this cocktail. Then I added the fresh blackberries and a bottle of a well-known pomegranate juice, Pom Wonderful (good stuff!). The rosemary is really a garnish, but it’s important for the spooky effect. And I have to admit I kinda like smokey garnishes. They just look cool.
The Process
This cocktail took me 30 minutes from start to finish. Here’s how I spent my time:
- 26 minutes to make the blackberry simple syrup
- 4 minutes to make the cocktail and garnish
- 30 minutes total
First up was the blackberry simple syrup. It’s called simple for a reason, and all I had to do was simmer the water, blackberries, and sugar in a small saucepan for 10 minutes.
Once the mixture had cooled some, I strained it into a coffee mug. Well, I started to do that and made a mess. My solution was to use a slotted spoon to remove most of the blackberries first. Then I poured the syrup through a mesh cocktail strainer into the aforementioned coffee mug. No mess this time, and I was ready to move onto the next step immediately.
I chose rocks glasses entirely for the garnish. Let me explain. The sprigs of rosemary I bought were very long, but they were bent when they were packaged. I cut the garnishes at the bends, and they ended up being pretty short because of that. They would have been submerged in taller glasses, hence the short glasses.
Making the Blackberry Pomegranate Bourbon Cocktail was like many others: add ice to a cocktail shaker, add the ingredients, shake, and pour over ice. I did wait to light the rosemary until I had everything set up for the photos. It took about a minute to light, and it didn’t burn for too long. I didn’t time it, but I’d estimate 30 seconds at most. It’s something to be aware of when serving this cocktail, especially if you want to impress guests.
Can you do this as a punch/big quantity?
I think you could with a few changes to the recipe. I would make most of the punch a day or two before and refrigerate it in a covered container. Just be sure to stir thoroughly since you won’t be using a cocktail shaker. Just before serving, add the bourbon and stir thoroughly again to mix. Serve over ice.
Also, you might find that making the blackberry syrup takes a little longer. Adding more ingredients will probably make it take longer to heat.