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Blackberry Cordial

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Blackberries are a summer crop where I live.  I see them as God’s way of helping us through the miserable parts of Deep South summers.  In the midst of stifling heat, oppressive humidity, mosquitoes that will tote you off, we have blackberries.  Luscious, beautiful, black-purple orbs that  bring delight to your lips all the way down to your toes.  Blackberries that make you dream sweet dreams.  Blackberries that cast magical spells on grandchildren and cause them to have an unbreakable bond with grandparents that feed them the blackberries.  Oh, the wonders of blackberries.  They are a gift from God, indeed.

Blackberry Cordial beverage in glass on table.

 

Sometimes I long for a never-ending blackberry season.  But, I suppose something that lasts continuously will start to lose some of the aura that makes it so special.

This blackberry season, we were blessed with a bumper crop from our backyard vines.

Blackberries in bowl on table.

I wanted to make something I’ve never made before: Blackberry Cordial.  It was a popular drink during Colonial times and is simply spiced sweetened blackberry juice with just enough brandy to make it medicinal.

Thinking of blackberries always makes me miss Granny tons and bunches. My earliest food memories involve her and blackberries.  But, she would never make or drink blackberry cordial.  Both she and Granddaddy were  teetotalers.  Now, I swear to goodness Granny used cough syrup that had more alcohol than table wine.  The mess would burn the fool out of your gullet.  If you started coughing around her, you better run or else you’d face the wrath of the most awful cough syrup man has ever know. It was a prescription that she got filled at Gilstrap Drug Store in Geneva, AL.  I don’t know what was in it, but it packed a punch. None-the-less, she was influenced by her religious teaching that “al-ke-hall” was all bad all the time. I respected that.

So, today was the day.  I made the cordial back in mid-July during the height of blackberry season .  It’s now the end of September and it’s been mellowing in my pantry. The end result is purely wonderful.  Spiced sweetened blackberry juice with just a touch of brandy.  Just enough to make it medicinal.

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Blackberry Cordial in jar and glasses on table.

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3.56 from 34 votes

Blackberry Cordial

Blackberry Cordial.  It was a popular drink during Colonial times and is simply spiced sweetened blackberry juice with just enough brandy to make it medicinal.
Author: Jackie Garvin

Ingredients

  • 4 cups blackberries washed well
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 sticks cinnamon
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 cloves
  • 4 to 5 black peppercorns
  • 1 cup light brown sugar packed
  • 1 1/4 cups brandy

Instructions

  • Place blackberries, water, , cinnamon, bay leaf , cloves and peppercorns in a saucepan. Simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring often and mashing the berries.
  • Remove from heat and strain through cheesecloth without squeezing. The yield will be about 4 cups of blackberry juice. Stir in brown sugar while the liquid is still warm until sugar dissolves.
  • Let cool completely. Stir in brandy.
  • Sterilize jars by boiling the jars and lids for 10 minutes. Remove from water. Pour cordial into sterilized pint canning jars, screw on lids and store in cool, dark place for at least two weeks before serving.
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Blackberry Cordial

adapted from The Gift of Southern Cooking. Serve over ice as an apéritif or as an after dinner drink in a cordial glass.

yield: about 3 pints

4 cups blackberries, washed well

3 cups water

2 sticks cinnamon

1 bay leaf

4 cloves

4 to 5 black peppercorns

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 1/4 cups brandy

Place blackberries, water, , cinnamon, bay leaf , cloves and peppercorns in a saucepan.  Simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring often and mashing the berries.

Remove from heat and strain through cheesecloth without squeezing.  The yield will be about 4 cups of blackberry juice.  Stir in brown sugar while the liquid is still warm until sugar dissolves.

Let cool completely.  Stir in  brandy.

Sterilize jars by boiling the jars and lids for 10 minutes. Remove from water.  Pour cordial  into sterilized pint canning  jars, screw on lids and store in cool, dark place for at least two weeks before serving.

 

 

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ABOUT JACKIE

I’m Jackie Garvin, the personality behind the blog. Syrup and Biscuits is a Southern food blog that champions the best the South has to offer: simple food with modern and vintage recipes, beloved traditions, a focus on family and bountiful gratitude for many blessings. We love company and we're mighty happy you joined us. Read more...

Comments

  2. Ginger Futrell says

    Hi Jackie,
    I miss picking’ Blackberries along side the roads with my mom.Where have they all gone? I planted myself some blackberry bushes this past spring and maybe one day they’ll grow up nice and big and we’ll be snacking on blackberries and making blackberry cordial and sitting under the shade of the oak trees.
    Hope all is going well with you and your family,enjoy your week. 🙂 Ginger

    Reply

  3. Jean says

    Morning Jackie! Well aren’t you the smartest thing? There is no bad way to fix blackberries as far as I am concerned. Never thought of cordials tho. YUMMY!

    Reply

    • Jackie Garvin says

      Rhonda,

      I’m hoping my three pints will last until next blackberry season! 🙂 I think it’s a safe bet to expect it will be fine for a year if it’s stored properly and the jars were sterilized prior to pouring in the cordial. I store my open jar in the refrigerator.

  5. Laura Dembowski (@piesandplots) says

    I love, love, love blackberries. This is such a great way to use them, as there aren’t many blackberry recipes out there. My dad picks them for me at a local farm, because blackberries from the grocery store just aren’t very good. I often find little white worms on them though, is this normal? Are they still safe to eat?

    Reply

    • Jackie Garvin says

      Laura,

      I’ve never seen little white worms on blackberries so I’m not sure what they. If the fruit isn’t bruised or over ripe and the worms can be washed off, it’s probably ok to eat. I’d ask the farmer about the worms and see what he has to say. Please let me know. I’m curious. 🙂

    • Rachel says

      It is normal, soaking them in cold water with lemon juice added for a little while will get the worms out.

  7. Peggy says

    You forgot to mention the occasional snake curled up in the shade of the blackberry briers, the June bugs that would buzz so loudly, as well as the low-handing hornet’s nests. One of my favorite memories of blackberry picking involved a young pet bull sneaking up behind an aunt, snorting into her backside, and the shower of picked berries as she threw her bucket up into the air! What we refer to as “tame” blackberries (cultivated) don’t compare to the wild ones found in pastures and along country roadsides in southeast TN and northwest Georgia. Will file this recipe for next year. Have you tried buttermilk blackberry sherbet? Found it in Southern Living…..it’s wonderful.

    Reply

    • Jackie Garvin says

      Peggy,

      You add some great visuals to a description of Deep South summers! I’ve never tried buttermilk blackberry sorbet. I’ve made sorbets but never blackberry. That will be something I will try to make next blackberry season! 🙂

  8. Kari says

    Hello,

    I came across your blog while searching for information on the Betty Furness Westinghouse cookbook and now I’ve spent more time than I want to admit looking through your other wonderful posts! 🙂

    I wanted to ask a question about the blackberry cordial… In the first step, it says to add the brown sugar in with the berries, but in the second step it says to stir the brown sugar in after the berries have been strained. Are there supposed to be 2 additions of brown sugar?

    Thanks! I can’t wait to try this!

    Reply

    • Jackie Garvin says

      Hi Kari,

      I’m so glad you found us. Do you have fond memories of Betty Furness Westinghouse cookbook, too? If so, I’d love to hear about them.

      Thank you for bringing the typo to my attention. I’ve corrected the post. The sugar should only be added after the mixture has boiled and has been drained.

      I hope you’ll visit us again.

      Welcome home!

    • Kari says

      Thank you for clarifying that! I think we will be making some this weekend. Mmmmm!

      A friend of mine was recently given a copy of the Betty Furness Westinghouse cookbook. I have a fair collection of vintage cookbooks, but since I had never heard of that one, I was curious about it. Everything I’ve found about it has been positive, so I’m hoping she’ll let me borrow it for a looky-loo. 🙂

  9. Danielle says

    I love my Betty Furness book; most especially the dedication at the front! I think the tiny worms are a good sign…they mean the berries aren’t doused in poisonous pesticides! I just rinse them away. Thanks for the recipe idea…

    Reply

  10. Dyan Taylor says

    Being from all the way over in Opp, AL, I do remember Gilstrap’s in Geneva!! LOL I can tell we were brought up around the same values as my Mother would not touch liquor at all!! No sirrreee! Well, come backberry and scuppernong picking time we stayed busy, and yes, it was a given that we had to make both Scupperning and Blackberry Wine, strickly to soak the Fruit cakes in come holiday cooking season. What wonderful memories! Because I now live so far away from LA, Lower Alabama, I enjoyed this segment very much Jackie.
    Thanks, Dyan Taylor
    Gallup, New Mexico

    Reply

    • Jackie Garvin says

      Dyan,

      Gilstrap’s is still there but it’s probably changed hands no telling how many times since I was a young girl. I’m surprised they can still compete with all the chain pharmacies. I would give my eye tooth to know the alcohol content of that cough syrup Granny took. We might have been better off just taking a dose of “shine”. 🙂

      Geneva County remained dry until just a year or so ago. It’s amazing that there are still counties where you still can’t buy beer and wine.

      Thanks for stopping, Dyan! I hope all is well in AZ.

    • Jackie Garvin says

      Hope,

      Frozen blackberries would work just as well. I use them a lot, myself! You’re going to be cooking down the berries,anyway. The only time I don’t like to use frozen berries is for eating them uncooked. Freezing does affect the texture but that’s not any issue if the berries will be cooked. 🙂

  15. Vicki says

    What a wonderful recipe, thank you for sharing! Making some today…and maybe next week too… and will bookmark this page for next year. Have you seen the fruit pastille recipe using these gems? Another super use and maybe you could better the flavour and share it next summer? 😉 much love from Germany. Vicki

    Reply

    • Jackie Garvin says

      Thank you, Vicki! I used all this season’s blackberries for cobblers and didn’t get to make cordial. I’m not familiar with fruit pastille but I’m going to look it up.

  19. Billie says

    Just found this blog,and I love it!
    I had Blackberries in the freezer from last year’ that i had planned to make jelly with over the winter but just got around to making it. I have about 6 cups of juice left and wondered if I could make the cordial by simmering the juice with the spices then proceeding with the recipe.

    BTW I live in Southern Middle Tennessee about 60 miles from the AL border. We have relatives in Huntsville, Birmingham, and Montgomery.

    Reply
3.56 from 34 votes (32 ratings without comment)

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