Blackberry Syrup and Blackberry Black Tea Recipe

Making Blackberry Syrup.     January 2014

It is blackberry season here in Southern California.  Every supermarket is selling them for fairly inexpensive.  I even found them at the 99 Cent Only store in 6oz containers for only a buck (well, 99.99 cents).  (Ideally, they'd be organic, but sometimes the deal is just too good for food that is hard to find organic-- don't judge).  Having groovy teeth (yes, that is a thing), I tend to steer clear of berries with bigger seeds.  The seeds get stuck in my molars and not only is it gross to be sticking my fingers deep in my mouth to dislodge them, but they feel very unpleasant.  I've learned to eat the berries whole by very softly chewing, but I digress.  

Blackberry syrup was top on my list of ways to use up all the berries I bought.  After trolling the internet I decided to use the no added water method with the no press strain.  Here it goes:

1. Wash berries and weigh (or eyeball).

2. Add sugar.  As you can see from the scales in the photos, I halved the weight of the berries for the amount of sugar I wanted to use.  Feel free to use more sugar or a bit less.  My syrup is sweet and tart.

3.  Place berries and sugar in a good solid pan (do avoid scorching) and gently heat.

4.  Let the berries release their juices and gently stir occasionally.  Don't mash, gentleness is key.

5.  After about 30 minutes, you should have a beautiful soup of berries floating in a wine colored syrup.

6.  Strain.  Let gravity do the work, no mashing down.

Done, you have blackberry syrup.  You also have a bunch of super sweet blackberries left over.  You can mash them up and use them like jam for a few days, or make blackberry yogurt by mixing a scoop of berries into plain yogurt.

The syrup is uses are endless.  My favorite this week is putting a dollup in my black tea-- Blackberry Black Tea is the best!  Try it on ice cream and in your morning mimosa.  Or a dash to some sparkling water is so fancy.  

The syrup lasts about two weeks, freeze in ice cube trays if you don't finish it within that time.

Blackberry Black Tea