We have an obscene amount of berry syrup in the house at the moment and, in the interest of creativity… or possibly just finding another excuse to make a cocktail (not that I ever need one), I decided to swap the beetroot out of my Beetroot Sour and see what happened. Add a little pepper, a tiny sprinkle of salt and we have a new easy to drink cocktail and an enticing way to clear my fridge of the copious amounts of syrup.

Salt and pepper make almost everything taste better — cocktails included — but go lightly here. Even I restrained myself, which should tell you something considering my usual approach to seasoning borders on reckless optimism.

The pepper doesn’t make the drink spicy. It sharpens the berries and stops the whole thing drifting into a sweet berry cordial lolly water drink, while the salt quietly does what salt does best and brings a quiet balance.

And if you grew up reading Shel Silverstein, the salt and pepper reference may remind you of one of my favourite poems: Always Sprinkle Salt and Pepper in Your Hair. If you’ve never read his work, make the cocktail first, then go look him up. It’s a little out there by today’s standards but very much my kind of left of centre.

Back to the drink.

There are admittedly much simpler ways to use berry syrup. Syrup, spirit and soda water over ice is excellent and requires almost no effort whatsoever. Not to mention the raft of sweet things that can be garnished with it, ice cream for example, but I wanted something a little more interesting and well, a cocktail. Slightly sharper. Slightly more grown up. Something that felt more like an actual cocktail than a sweet drink pretending to be one.

Making your own syrup is also far less complicated than it sounds. Fresh berries are absolutely not required. A bag of frozen mixed berries, a little sugar, a splash of water and about fifteen minutes on the stove gets you most of the way there. Simmer it down to whatever sweetness level suits you, strain, and suddenly you have homemade berry syrup sitting in your fridge waiting to justify turning an ordinary day into cocktail hour. And let’s face it, if your life is anything like mine, things that used to be small guilty pleasures out have suddenly become eye watering expensive for a myriad of reasons. Cocktails is one of those that I struggle to justify the price for the frequency I’d like to enjoy them. So embrace your inner bartender and get shaking.

Worth Making?

Yes — if you enjoy the sweetness of berries in a cocktail but don’t want to be overwhelmed by it
Yes — if you already have berry syrup (or an excuse to make some) sitting in the fridge and want something slightly more exciting than pouring soda water over it
Yes — if the idea of black pepper in a cocktail sounds questionable but intriguing because surprisingly, it works
Skip it — if you only enjoy ultra-sweet cocktails because the citrus and pepper keep this one firmly out of mouth puckering sweetness territory
Skip it — if shaking cocktails or using egg white in a drink puts you off, this tastes better with the foam and texture from a proper shake
Skip it — if you prefer a strong tasting drink where the gin is the hero (like a Negroni). The berry syrup makes this one easy to drink and doesn’t have the bite of a ‘stiff’ drink.

Ingredients

30 ml strawberry gin (or regular gin if you don’t have a flavoured gin)
45 ml gin
20 ml fresh lemon juice
40 ml Mixed berry syrup
1 egg white
2 sprinkles of fresh ground black pepper
1 pinch sea salt

Mixed Berry syrup

250 grams frozen mixed berries
80-100 Ml water

Instructions

Add gin(s), lemon juice, egg white, syrup and pepper to a cocktail shaker with ice
Shake vigorously and strain into a tumbler with or without ice (I prefer served with ice but purists would argue no ice)

Berry Syrup

Cook berries, water and sugar until sugar dissolves and mixture develops a syrup like consistency
Cool mixture and when room temperature strain through a fine mesh strainer covered with a layer of cheese cloth.

If you don’t have cheese cloth, can strain through a fine mesh strainer. Ensure no to little seeds make it through to have a fine syrup.

If the syrup consistency is too thick, add a little more water. If not thick enough, add a tsp or so more sugar and reduce on the stove until sugar dissolves and thickened.

The leftover berry mixture from the syrup can be re-frozen and is a great addition to a smoothie

Make it your own way

Swap the strawberry gin for all regular gin if you want something sharper and less fruity. Vodka also works well here if you don’t have gin or don’t like it
Prefer it softer and slightly floral? Add a tiny splash of elderflower liqueur
Want more bite? Increase the black pepper slightly, its easy to overdo it so go lightly
Don’t want egg white? Leave it out and serve it tall over ice with soda water instead
Use blackberry-heavy syrup for a darker, richer version or raspberry-heavy syrup for something brighter and sharper
Add a basil leaf while shaking if you like a slightly herbal edge
Make it alcohol-free with tonic water or non-alcoholic gin alternatives — the pepper and citrus still work surprisingly well
Like your cocktails less tart? Increase the syrup slightly, but go carefully or it starts drifting into lolly water territory
If you can’t be bothered making the syrup, a berry cordial should do ok here but the flavour profile will be more sweet then berry depending on the quality of the cordial

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