The Blackberry Infused Vodka = Meh

Yesterday I spoke glowingly about my homemade Raspberry Infused Vodka. Today its the Blackberry infused vodka's turn. At first glance, I'm not as impressed with it as I was with the Raspberry. Where the Raspberry infusion gave the vodka an amazing color, aroma and taste, the only thing the Blackberries gave the vodka was a nice dark purple color. It really did nothing improve the taste past a slight flavor infusion and very faint aroma. I checked to see what kind of flavors the Blackberry is best paired with in a cocktail. According to Humberto Marques in his article Fruit Flavour Combinations for Cocktails: A Mixologist's Study of Flavors from cocktails.about.com the Blackberry is best paired with:

apricot, black pepper, champagne, cinnamon, citrus, hazelnut, lemon, other berries, peach, plum, Port wine

Since I have Lemonade in the fridge, I decided to make a simple Blackberry Lemonade. Here is the recipe

Blackberry Vodka
1 oz. Blackberry Infused Vodka
2 oz. Lemonade

Pour Blackberry Infused Vodka and Lemonade in a glass with ice. Garnish with a lemon wedge

To be perfectly honest, the lemonade does nothing to enhance the Blackberry vodka. Aside from the pretty color the lemonade makes when blending with the vodka, there is nothing that stands out about this drink. It's just there. It is lemony with a hint of berries. That's it. I was considering making a second cocktail to see if maybe the vodka would be better served as a Martini of sorts. After debating back and forth with myself I decided to give the Blackberry Vodka another shot and make another cocktail. Here is the recipe I used:

Blackberry Martini
3 oz. Blackberry Vodka
1 oz. Triple Sec
.5 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
.5 oz. Simple Syrup

Combine all ingredients over ice and shake vigorously until very cold. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

This cocktail gives the Blackberry vodka a new lease on life. The triple sec, fresh lemon juice and the simple syrup seem to enhance the Blackberry Vodka in very subtle ways. I prefer the Blackberry vodka in this capacity.

Would I infuse vodka with Blackberry again? Who knows. To be honest, I'd hesitate to do so for the time being, choosing to focus on other berries/fruits to infuse.

Until Then, Happy Drinking.
Sisco Vanilla