Jake Slagle's Blackberry Mojito

The above pictured blackberry mojito was prognosticated on this site day before yesterday. I know it looks almost exactly like the blueberry mojito accessible on our sidebar for which Unique Culinary Adventures also takes credit as the source. Photographed with similar backdrops, the color differences are subtle. The idea to do a blackberry mojito so similar to our blueberry mojito was simple enough and turned out to be a winner. After running a search on the Internet, the closest blackberry mojito I was able find was served in a brandy snifter, didn’t strain the blackberries, called for sugar water instead of powdered sugar, and nixed the Club Soda.

To justify the presentation of a blackberry mojito so similar to the blueberry mojito previously presented here, I defer to the drink mentioned in Food and Wine that originally inspired our blueberry mojito recipe. It left the mashed blueberries in the glass. I determined that straining them out---and there were plenty to strain---resulted in a cleaner cocktail with more to imbibe and a more pronounced blueberry flavour. But Dang it, after downing an unstrained blueberry mojito, I do confess to taking great pleasure in attacking the glass with a spoon and eating every bit of the delicious muddle. It suggests a trend written about in the “Go Today” section of The Baltimore Sun this past Saturday entitiled “A clear hit: food in a glass.”

But blackberries may not be the best food. Such indulgences bear problematic interactions between seeds and teeth, at least my teeth. And to do a fresh blackberry mojito right, you should use a lot of blackberries.

BLACKBERRY MOJITO

1 ¼ cups blackberries
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 cup lime juice
8 mint leaves, plus tips for garnish
3 ounces light rum
Club soda
crushed ice

With a mortar and pestle, muddle 1 cup of the blackberries with the sugar and mint until thoroughly mashed. Add lime juice and rum. Pour into a large glass and stir until consistently mixed. Then run through the strainer in a Cuisinart to properly liquify. Place the remaining blueberries in each of two Collins glasses. Then fill the glasses to the top with crushed ice. Divide the strained blackberry, rum, lime, sugar,and mint liquid between the two glasses. Add Club soda until full. Garnish with mint tips and the left over 1/4 cup of blackberries. Serves 2.