blackberry sage gin & tonic

HELLO HALLOWEEN. I am totally smitten with this cocktail. I am a hippie at heart and love burning palo santo, incense, and...you guessed it…dried sage. Burning sage, or smudging, is an ancient spiritual practice thought to get rid of negative energy. Regardless of your beliefs about this, burning sage smells awesome and adds a whimsical and grounding element to this gin & tonic. Fresh muddled blackberries give it a spooky red hue making it perfect for your next All Hallows Eve get-together.

Ingredients (makes 1 cocktail):

• 1 dried sage leaf (here’s an easy recipe for drying fresh sage, I did mine in the oven)

• 8 blackberries

• Juice of ½ lime

• 1 ounce simple syrup

• 1 ½ ounces gin

• 3 ounces tonic water (I like Fever Tree Indian Tonic Water)

Optional (to garnish)

• Blackberry

• Dried sage leaves

Directions:

To mix the cocktail, muddle the blackberries, lime juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Add the gin and fill to the top with ice. Shake vigorously until combined and strain into a glass (use a fine mesh sieve to catch any seeds). Add the tonic water and garnish with a blackberry and a dried sage leaf. Light the sage leaf on fire and then extinguish right before serving. Enjoy!

P.S. If you need some Spooky Tablescape inspo, click here to see my full post about this shoot.