15 Ultimate Flavor Pairings To Try With Blackberry Cocktails

A mild flavored nut, almonds are often used in baking and cooking, including in salads, flour, extract, and various spirits. Whether it's an amaretto liqueur or almond extract, the smooth flavor of almonds is heightened when mixed with sugar and other cocktail ingredients. While not a typical essence in most cocktails, the amaretto sour is a classic concoction that involves a medley of lemon citrus and sweetener. With this, you might add fresh, blended blackberries or a blackberry brandy to the sour drink for an added piquant flavor.

Another drink to explore is a blackberry almond tipple, which is a slight spin on the whiskey-focused Manhattan cocktail. To make this elegant drink, try mixing a ½-ounce each of Disaronno Amaretto and China China liqueur along with two ounces of rye whiskey. From there, you can add five or six muddled blackberries (or a flavoring of choice), a dash of bitters, and a twist of lemon for garnish. After pouring this pretty drink into an appropriately sophisticated glass, you'll savor the mix of amaretto and blackberry flavors in this compelling concoction.

Mix up the flavor profile of your next drink with the sweet and spicy blend of blackberry and black pepper. This ancient seasoning, now the most "widely consumed spice in the world," offers up an earthy punch of flavor with a little heat to complement most dishes, including cocktails (via McCormick Science Institute). With so many health benefits from peppercorns, including antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties (per Healthline), you might consider a blackberry black pepper cocktail recipe.

Combine your ingredients of whole blackberries (four to five), some lemon juice, sugar, ¼ teaspoon of black pepper (depending on your taste), and a couple of ounces of vodka or gin in a highball glass. Muddle the elements with a wooden spoon or another favorite utensil, then pour it all into a tumbler. For some extra pizzazz, fill to the top with club soda and add a sprig of mint and extra blackberries. For a more refreshing elixir, turn the cocktail into a frozen slush by adding ice and mixing it up in a blender.

For a sultry mix with a lingering bite, a ginger blackberry cocktail is the way to go. The root of a flowering plant, ginger provides a plethora of health benefits, including preventing stress and reducing nausea, among others (via WebMD). You can apply this vigorous spice to drinks via ginger ale (or beer), ginger liqueur, or freshly grated ginger root. If adding raw ginger is too potent or strenuous, you might also make a ginger-infused simple syrup to have on hand.

For a delicious smash cocktail, muddle a large handful of blackberries and combine it with ginger beer, lemon, sugar, club soda, fresh herbs, and your alcohol of choice. For a variation of the Moscow mule, a classic combination to try is lime, ginger, and vodka, or for a margarita style, tequila. A rambler cocktail may consist of muddled blackberries, ginger, and mint, including lemon, orange bitters (or juice), honey, and a light beer all mixed up. A sip of any of these cocktails will start sweet and juicy and finish with a lingering kick. For a pretty presentation and extra zest, coat the rim of the glass with crystallized ginger.

Always be on the lookout for ways to incorporate lemon into your next drink, as the juice, pulp, and/or skin zest of this citrus fruit can all be used to elevate the flavor profile of the cocktail. When lemon and blackberry intermingle, they can create various tart yet alluring refreshments. With blackberry season falling between the end of June to August, blackberry lemon drinks are perfect for summer. You might like a cool blackberry lemonade, which includes freshly squeezed lemon juice (six-eight lemons), sweeteners like agave, maple, or simple syrup, and mashed blackberries. Vodka is a smooth choice to blend with this tincture, but you could also try bourbon. If you prefer a sweeter hit, mix it up mojito-style with rum and mint.

For a fancier rendition, shake up a blackberry lemon drop martini with blackberry syrup or sieved fruit, lemon juice, and vodka. For an extra boost of lemon, include limoncello in the mixture, while decorating the rim with sugar and zest. Other alternative blends include a smash, which you can create by adding mint or other herbs to your drink, or a bramble, which consists of blackberry flavoring, lemon juice, and gin. Make the final product sparkling by adding club soda, sparkling wine, or ginger ale to your invention.

Bring on the summer aperitifs with mango. The orange, juicy flesh of mango makes a satisfying, colorfully contrasting ingredient to blend with the dark and mysterious blackberry. For a spicy, tropical treat, you might try blending blackberries in a traditional mangonada drink. The mangonada is typically a frozen drink that, aside from the mango, includes ingredients like chamoy sauce and tamarind candy for a sweet and sour panache. It's often garnished with chili powder and lime, per Greengos Cantina. Try mixing a smooth blend of frozen blackberries with your mangonada for the ultimate fruity concoction.

Mango and blackberry can be combined in a variety of other drinks like a mango blackberry vodka cooler, spritzer, margarita, or mojito. Muddle or blend your mango and blackberries separately, adding mint if desired, then mix a simple syrup into each. Fill your glasses with crushed ice and add the fruit mixtures one at a time, along with vodka and a splash of club soda on top.

Juicy and sweet, oranges offer a flavor punch to heighten any old drink. Orange juice is known for getting along with several smooth types of liquor like tequila, vodka, and gin, but other than its common appearances in Sunday brunch mimosas, it's largely gone out of style as a cocktail ingredient (via VinePair). If you want to bring the orange juice trend back into fashion, or at least into your kitchen, the orange blackberry rambler features a powerhouse combination of lush berries, lemon juice, simple syrup, orange bitters, and juice mixed with bourbon. An elegant concoction might also be a blackberry orange gin fizz, which includes mixing the main elements of blackberries, orange juice, and gin with lemon, herbs like rosemary, and club soda.

Add some spice to your sweet indulgence with a blackberry orange margarita that features jalapeno or serrano peppers. Besides using orange juice, other types of orange essences you might try are triple sec, orange liqueur, or a sparkling flavored soda like Fresca, which mingles well with Tito's vodka. If you don't want to overpower your creation with too much citrus flavor, an orange peel is a decorative must-have that will add only a hint of zest to the taste and scent of the drink.

While opaque and a little tart, blackberries, and red wine naturally merge in both their appearance and flavor. With similar rich, velvety hues, blackberry wine cocktails are satiable. Drink to warm days and long nights with a cold pitcher of blackberry sangria. A summertime staple, a traditional sangria recipe often fuses together oranges, apples, apricots, or other fruits along with brandy and is served chilled. Typical red wines to try with sangria might be a Grenache, pinot noir, or merlot. For an extra perk, make it a spritzer by adding sparkling water, tonic, Champagne, or prosecco.

You might experiment with other spirits to include within your red wine cocktail, although brandy is fitting for sangria. For a smooth, sophisticated drink, compose a martini with vodka and blackberry liqueur (or muddled berries) with a twist of lemon. A fiery, yet icy blackberry wine-a-rita is also enticing, as it blends tequila with flavors of lemon and lime. With ½ teaspoon of habanero green sauce, this formula keeps things chill by adding frozen margarita mix and fresh or frosted berries to the potent cocktail.

When it comes to class and sophistication, nothing tops a sparkling wine cocktail. While invigorating on their own, Champagne, cava, prosecco, and other sparkling wines best showcase their bubbly charm and their dry or sweet grape flavor when paired with various other fruits. For a fresh and stylish tincture, add your favorite sparkling wine to muddled blackberries (strained or not) along with a little simple syrup or sugar and a twist of lemon. You could also make it simple by combining only blackberry liqueur and Champagne for a clean, crisp presentation and taste. Pour a tablespoon of the liqueur at the bottom and fill up the glass with sparkles and froth.  

To kick your cocktail into a higher gear, add an ounce or two of vodka or another liquor of choice. For an earthy flare, incorporate herbs for garnish like thyme, rosemary, or basil to complement the concoction, plus whole blackberries to accompany the glass. If you like a slightly sweeter effervescence to savor, try mixing in a sparkling rosé to round out your blackberry cocktail.