Blackberry-Ginger Bourbon Smash

LISTEN: Toni Tipton-Martin joins Jesse Sparks to talk about her One in this episode of The One Recipe

I smashed sweet, ripe blackberries and a spicy homemade ginger syrup with lemon juice and topped it off with bourbon and sparkling water, as you see here. If you prefer less kick and more floral aroma, swap St-Germain elderflower liqueur for the ginger syrup and exchange the sparkling water with ginger beer. Float a half teaspoon of beautifully purple Empress gin over the top to make this drink a bright beauty.

Serves 1

• 5 large fresh blackberries

  Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs & Juice Toni Tipton-Martin

• 1 tablespoon Ginger Syrup (recipe follows), or ½ ounce (1 tablespoon) St-Germain elderflower liqueur

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• 2 ounces (¼ cup) bourbon Crushed ice

• ¼ cup sparkling water (or ginger beer, if using St-Germain)

• ½ teaspoon Empress Indigo gin (optional)

• 1 mint sprig

Place 3 berries, the ginger syrup or liqueur, and the lemon juice in a rocks glass. Use a muddler to gently mash and mix until the berries release their juice, about 10 seconds. Add the bourbon and fill the glass with crushed ice. Pour in the sparkling water or ginger beer. Float the gin on top, if you’d like, and garnish with the mint and remaining berries.

variation: For a clean drink, place the berries and ginger syrup in a cocktail shaker. Use a muddler or a wooden spoon to gently mix until the berries release their juice, about 10 seconds. Add the lemon juice and bourbon, and fill with crushed ice. Shake until cold, about 10 seconds. Use a cocktail strainer to strain the drink into a rocks cocktail glass filled with crushed ice. Top with the ginger beer and garnish with the remaining berries or the mint sprig.

GINGER SYRUP

makes 1½ cups 

• 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup water

• ½ cup (2 ounces) thinly sliced fresh ginger (not necessary to peel)

• 1 tablespoon minced jalapeño chile, optional

In a small saucepan over high heat, bring the sugar, water, and ginger to a boil. Boil for1 minute. Remove from the heat. Stir in the chile pepper if using, then let cool. Strain the syrup through cheesecloth, transfer to a pint glass jar, cover, and refrigerate for up to 1 month.

FANCY WHISKEY SMASH

Fill large Bar glass ½ full Shaved Ice.

2 teaspoonfuls Bar Sugar

3 sprigs Mint pressed with muddler in 1 Jigger aerated Water

1 Jigger whiskey

Stir well; strain into Sour glass; dress with Fruit and serve.

—Tom Bullock, The Ideal Bartender, 1917

Reprinted with permission from Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs & Juice by Toni Tipton-Martin, copyright © 2023. Photographs by Brittany Conerly. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC.

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