I made these recently. They might be bursting with summer flavors, but the deep reddish hue screams of fall/winter. Besides, you can make it with frozen blackberries and perhaps with a sprig of rosemary---or floating cranberries---it will look just like Christmas. For Halloween I made these in a large batch, put 1-2 drops of black food coloring to darken it---added licorice legs that hung over the martini's edge---and it became the signature 'Drunken Spider.'

Whether dressing these berries for summer, fall or winter---this is a great twist on the classic lemon drop.

Blackberry Lemon Drops blackberry simple syrup: 1 cup blackberries, 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cups water fresh-squeezed lemons Vodka Triple Sec or Cointreau

Make simple syrup: combine berries (fresh or frozen), sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring just to simmer---dissolve sugar. Then off heat and let steep/cool.* Juice the lemons and pour into shaker these ratios: 1/3 c. lemon juice, 1/4 c. Cointreau, 1/2 c. Vodka and 2 T blackberry syrup. Shake/muddle with ice. Adjust to taste. Strain and serve in martini glass.