Berry Week – Part 1 – Blackberry Soda

Tuesday morning I went out to a local berry farm (Dozier’s Sta-N-Step Blueberry Farm) and picked about 3 lbs of blueberries and 6 lbs of blackberries. So… ever since then, it’s been Berry Week at the Sievert Houshold…

The first thing I made was some blackberry soda…

You’ll need:
4 cups of blackberries (preferrably fresh)
2 cups water
1/2 T lime juice (the juice of half a lime)
2 cups sugar

Also, have a colander lined with cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer handy…
You might want some latex gloves too.

First things first, wash about 4 cups of blackberries and combine in a saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and let cook for about 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, strain the berries through either a cheesecloth lined colander or a fine mesh strainer (cheesecloth is better, a strainer…  well, you’re more likely to have that laying around).  Let the berries cool for 10-15 minutes and squeeze as much juice out as you can.  Oh, make sure you’re wearing either something you don’t care about or at least something dark blue or black…  because things tend to get a little, um, blackberry…y.

Return the juice to the pot (wiping out any seeds or leftover berries in the meanwhile) and add two cups of sugar and the juice of half of a lime.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved.

When the sugar is fully dissolved, let the syrup boil over medium-high heat for at least another minute.  Then pour into jars (or whatever you want to store it in).  When it’s cooled, combined 1/4 c. of blackberry syrup with 1 c. of seltzer water and enjoy…