Refreshing French Blackberry Fizz is a bubbly summer twist on a classic. You may have heard of a blackberry fizz or gin and tonic, but this blackberry drink has more to offer! It is a refreshing, light summer cocktail featuring tart, yet sweet, blackberries, refreshing gin and sparkling champagne.
While most gin fizz drinks only include gin, blackberries and sweet basil, this cocktail does removes the basil and adds champagne instead. The addition of champagne transcends this classic cocktail into a boozy, bubbley refresher. Think of a gin and tonic, but amped up a few levels.
This french blackberry fizz is made with muddled blackberries, plain seltzer, lime juice, champagne, crushed ice garnished with a lime slice and a juicy blackberry. You can certainly substitute the champagne for prosecco, although maybe it would then be an Italian blackberry fizz!! You could also sub ginger ale for the plain seltzer if you would like a little more flavor. I like my drinks light and refreshing, but the ginger ale would certainly sweeten it up.
I personally am not the biggest fan of gin, unless its gin from Litchfield Distillery. Side note - Litchfield Distillery does everything right - vodka, gin, bourbon. They even have free tours and tastings, where they show you how the alcohol is made and the story behind them. Truly impressive guys!
Anyway... I know, disliking gin is an unpopular opinion. So many people love gin. Especially, my best friend Mary, who will only drink gin! I don't love gin because I think it tastes like Christmas trees, which yes, I love Christmas, but not in my drink.
However, this gin drink made a gin hater into a believer. We used tanqueray gin because I did not have litchfeild distillery in stock around me. The juiciness of the blackberries muted the juniper.
If you did not know, gin is made from juniper berries, which is why berries go so well with gin. Not sure why the gin and tonic comes with a lime squeeze because, in my opinion, it should come with a blackberry instead.
We are heading into the last month of summer, and I want to hold onto the summer cocktails as long as I can. Don't get me wrong, I love fall cocktails, but summer truly provides so many more fruits that are incredible in drinks.
When I think of August, I think of peaches, blackberries and watermelon. I also think of a lot of vegetables, such as cucumber and tomatoes, as well as herbs such as basil. But, the end of summer does not call for cucumber cocktails or bloody marys. It called for fruity, light cocktails.
When I was younger, we had a raspberry and blackberry bush in our backyard. Actually, now looking back I think it was my neighbors bush that came into our yard. We had the best neighbors, who encouraged us to pick the fruit. They also used to throw dog cookies over the fence for our dogs, so super bonus points! I remember being so excited to be able to pick and eat my fruit immediately. They were always the freshest, juiciest berries.
So, despite my long time love for blackberries, this is the first drink I made with blackberries. I am not sure why I waited so long, but I think I was too focused on peaches lately! Furthermore, I have not made any cocktails with gin! Yes, this is definitely because of my dislike for gin, but like I said previously, I now love gin because of this drink.
I ran to the store, grabbed some gin. Then I picked up some blackberries from a local farmers market. You cannot just pick any blackberries for this drink though; you need the ripest, juiciest blackberries. That will allow the juices to fully come out and keep the drink on the sweeter side. Of course, if you cannot find ripe blackberries, you can add a little bit of sugar to this drink if you need to!
So, I had my gin and my blackberries, and I already, of course, had champagne and seltzer in stock, of course, and limes in stock. Now it was time to make this bubbly wonder. My next thought was- what is the best way to balance the gin with the blackberries.
Muddling! Muddling allows the juices from within the fruit to be released and add a great flavor. However, I don't like a lot of pulp in my drinks, so I needed to make sure I strained the muddled berries before the juice is placed into my cocktail glass.
I muddled up the blackberries, added in some lime juice, stirred in the gin and seltzer then strained the mixture into a glass. Of course, I topped it off with champagne. Actually, I overflowed it, but thats ok!
The drink is light, clean, crisp and refreshing - everything I look for in a summer cocktail. I am actually a little sad that I crafted this drink so late in the season because I wish I was drinking it all summer long.
If you prefer your cocktails on the sweeter side, I strongly recommend you substitute the seltzer with ginger ale, or add in a little maple sugar or raw sugar. This will sweeten the drink with it losing its integrity.
This drink would pair perfectly with appetizers, including my fancy toast which features blackberries! It also would do great with a light a nice, light dinner, such as a savory salad or light summer rice paper spring rolls.
Refreshing Prosecco Blackberry Fizz
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz rum
- 1.5 oz prosecco
- ½ cup seltzer
- 1 lime wedge slice
- 5 ripe blackberries
- Crushed ice
Instructions
- Place blackberries into a shaker and muddle.
- Add lemon juice, rum and seltzer then stir.
- Add crushed ice to a glass cup. See notes.
- Strain drink mixture into the glass with ice.
- Top off drink with champagne.
- Garnish with lime slice and blackberries. Cheers!
Notes
You may use prosecco instead of champagne.
You may use ginger ale instead of seltzer if you prefer a sweeter drink.
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