The name ‘The Dark & Gloomy’ is an inside joke between Madtini and a very good friend of ours who celebrated her birthday last weekend. Her favorite color is black and one of her favorite drinks is the Prosecco of her home country of Italy. We combined the dark delicious fruity flavor of blackberries, basil leaves, and the bubbles of Prosecco to create a delicious cocktail.

And, just in case you don’t know, Prosecco is a sparkling Italian wine created from the Glera grape which has been up until last year known as the Prosecco. This variety of grape was named after the place it had originated, the northern Italian city of Prosecco. The most popular Prosecco cocktail is the Bellini, a mix of Prosecco and Peach purrée which originated in Venice in the 1930s and 40s.

Now that the history lesson is over, we’re going to ignore its more popular use and create a cocktail using blackberries, gin, sweet & sour syrup and top it off with some bubbly Prosecco. Pssst… we made one with strawberries and another with blueberries too, but those will have to wait until another day.

Ingredients:

• 6 fresh blackberries
• 3 large shredded basil leaves
• 1 oz Hendrick’s Gin
• 1 oz Sweet & Sour Syrup
• 2-3 oz Prosecco

Preparation:

Muddle the blackberries and shredded basil leaves in the bottom of a rocks glass, add Gin & sweet and sour syrup and stir. Fill 3/4 of the glass with crushed ice, and top off with the Prosecco.

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