scaling back

I posted a photo of the flat of blackberries that I came home with and here is the first thing that I made with them.  I don’t drink alcohol but I do drink a lot of diet soda, a habit that I’d like to break.  This is a refreshing, easy way to make a soda  that’s lower in sugar and tastes great.  A sage simple syrup is mixed with some pureed blackberries and topped off with some club soda.  The perfect refreshment for a hot summer day!  

Blackberry sage cooler

Ingredients:

15 medium sage leaves

4 tablespoons sugar

1 cup water

8 ounces of blackberries

Method:

Bring the water and sugar to a boil over high heat just until sugar dissolves.  Crush the sage leaves with the back of a spoon and add to the syrup mixture and set aside to let the sage infuse for 15 minutes and then remove the herbs.

Meanwhile puree the blackberries in the blender and then strain the mixture through a fine strainer.

To serve place a tablespoon of the blackberry puree in the bottom of a glass, add a tablespoon of the sage syrup and top off with 8 ounces of club soda.