This Blackberry Gin Fizz is a brambly vanilla delight that has a bright and refreshing perk from Earl Grey tea, lemon, mint, and fizzy soda water. It’s also the second cocktail in a series developed for a DIY Gin Bar.

Northern California Craft Distilleries

I collaborated with six different distilleries for this series of posts:

• St. George Spirits (Alameda)
• Young and Yonder Spirits (Healdsburg)
• Griffo Distillery (Petaluma)
• New Alchemy Distilling (El Dorado Hills)
• Sipsong Spirits (Windsor)
• Sonoma Brothers Distilling (Windsor)

Northern California is such a spirited area and I wanted to highlight some of the fun and innovating craft spirits being made here. These distilleries generously gave me tours, tastings, and donated bottles of gin for these posts. But of course, all opinions are my own.

Fizzy or Neat

There are two separate ways to serve this Blackberry Gin Fizz. The first is the fizzy way, as the recipe is written. But if you want a more spirit-forward cocktail with no fizz and no ice, you can double strain the shaken drink into a chilled coupe or rocks glass. The flavor is more concentrated in the neat version, so I like doing them when I feel like something stronger.

Shrub and Gin Pairing

These shrub cocktails will vary in taste depending on what gin you use. Each distillery adds different botanicals, so the same cocktail made with another gin will result in its own distinctive version.

You can read through my thoughts on how I think these gins pair with the Blackberry Shrub with Vanilla and Earl Grey if you want. Whatever gins you end up using though, keep these tips in mind:

• Smell the gins and the shrubs together to see what stands out
• Taste the shrubs and gins together but don’t be discouraged from trying to make a cocktail with a pairing you didn’t like. You might be surprised how the flavors you didn’t like are tempered in a full cocktail.
• Rather than thinking along the lines of like and dislike, think more about what flavors are really standing out and how you can either emphasize them or temper them.

St. George Spirits Botanivore Gin

The Botanivore Gin has a very flowery smell as well as a classic juniper aroma. When paired with the blackberry shrub, the vanilla flavor comes through and the tea made the finish slightly bitter.

St. George Spirits Terroir Gin

This was a surprisingly spicy pairing and the amount of vanilla flavor was very small. The gin was harder to taste as well.

St. George Spirits Dry Rye Gin

My biggest impression: am I drinking a tequila drink?!? There was also a slight vanilla flavor and no bitterness.

Young and Yonder Spirits H.O.B.S. Gin

With the Blackberry Shrub, there was an equal amount of sweet and spicy flavor with no pops of vanilla flavor.

Griffo Distillery Scott Street Gin

This pairing was very Christmas-like: subtly spicy with cloves and star anise notes.

New Alchemy Distilling Fleurette Gin

The lavender really comes out with this pairing and it’s a little syrupy tasting.

New Alchemy Distilling Fleurette Vermilion Gin

This was the most gin-forward and it was surprisingly spicy with a slight vanilla hint. It was flowery with a small amount of honey flavor but was probably the least sweet pairing.

Sipsong Spirits Indira Gin

This pairing was spicy and sweet at the same time and the vanilla flavor really comes through.

Sonoma Brothers Distilling Gin

The vanilla flavor in the Blackberry Shrub really came through very clearly.

DIY Gin Bar Recipes

Here are all the recipes that are part of the DIY Gin Bar! There are also freebies that go along with the post that you should check out if you’re interested in throwing your own DIY Gin Bar party.

Cocktails

• Strawberry Gin Fizz
• Blackberry Gin Fizz
• Mint Gin Fizz
• Lemon Gin Fizz with Cucumber and Dill
• Orange Gin Fizz
• Gin Lemonade Cocktail

Shrubs

• Strawberry Shrub with Basil and Peppercorn
• Blackberry Shrub with Vanilla and Earl Grey
• Lemon Shrub with Cardamom and Mint
• Orange Shrub with Cardamom and Thyme
• Orange Shrub Recipe with Yunnan Tea and Szechuan Peppers

Infused Sugars

• Vanilla Bean Sugar
• Orange Sugar with Szechuan Peppers
• Lemon Zest Sugar with Cardamom
• DIY Citrus Sugar with Lemon and Dill
• Lemon and Lavender Infused Sugar

Mocktails

• Orange-Basil Strawberry Mocktail
• Vanilla Earl Grey Blackberry Mocktail
• Sparkling Basil Lemon Mocktail
• Lemon-Dill Cucumber Mocktail
• Rosemary & Mint Lemonade Mocktail

Freebies

• DIY Gin Bar Checklist for helping you plan your own party
• Blank PNG files of a blind tasting score and answer sheet that you can upload into Canva or other design app and fill out with the gins you choose to use
• PDF file containing high-quality printable recipe cards (crop and bleed marks included for easy cutting) of all the cocktail and mocktail recipes

Print

Blackberry Gin Fizz

This Blackberry Gin Fizz is a brambly vanilla delight that has a bright and refreshing perk from Earl Grey tea, lemon, mint, and fizzy soda water.

Course Beverages

Keyword diy gin bar, gin, quick and easy, shrubs

Prep Time 5 minutes

Servings 1

Author Megan Wells

Ingredients

• 10 mint leaves
• 3 blackberries
• 1/2 inch thick lemon slice
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest Sugar with Cardamon*
• 2 ounces gin*
• 1 ounce Blackberry Shrub with Vanilla and Earl Grey*
• club soda to top or taste I used Fever-Tree Club Soda

Instructions

1. Place a handful or two of ice cubes in a tall high ball glass.
2. In a cocktail shaker, muddle the mint, blackberries, lemon slice, and sugar until the mint is very aromatic and slightly bruised looking, the sugar is mostly dissolved, and the blackberries and lemon have been flattened and released their juices.
3. Add the gin and shrub and top with ice.
4. Shake well, until the shaker is very cold and is sweating.

5. Strain into the prepared high ball glass, top with club soda, and garnish. You can garnish with a lemon wedge or slice, mint leaves, blackberries, and edible flowers if desired.

Recipe Notes

*See the recipe for Lemon Zest Sugar with Cardamom here

*See the recipe for the Blackberry Shrub with Vanilla and Earl Grey here

Neat Version: Double strain into a chilled coupe or rocks glass and garnish

This Blackberry Gin Fizz will taste different depending on what gin you use. Each distillery adds different botanicals, so the same cocktail made with another gin will result in its own distinctive version.

Gins I used with this drink & in the DIY Gin Bar:

• St. George Spirits, Botanivore Gin
• St. George Spirits, Terroir Gin
• St. George Spirits, Dry Rye Gin
• Young and Yonder Spirits, Hobb’s Gin
• Griffo Distillery, Scott Street Gin
• New Alchemy Distilling, Fleurette Gin
• New Alchemy Distilling, Fleurette Vermilion Gin
• Sipsong Spirits, Indira Gin
• Sonoma Brothers Distilling Gin

Tools I Used