Blackberry Basil Margarita

Made with fresh blackberries and basil, this imaginative fruity cocktail breathes new life into the classic margarita and is guaranteed to satisfy on a hot day. It will quickly become one of your favorite ways to make a margarita.

If you just can’t get enough of margaritas, make sure to check out my Orange Mezcal Margarita or Strawberry Limoncello Margarita.

Fresh basil leaves and blackberries are the headliners in this summer cocktail. Pick a few leaves from your herb garden, or find them in the produce section at your grocery store. Basil has a subtle minty and peppery taste that compliments sweet and savory flavor profiles. This makes basil a perfect pairing for blackberries.

Use fresh or frozen blackberries in your margarita for some tartness. If you use frozen, there is no need to defrost, they will soften up quickly once you take them out of the freezer, and they work just as well as fresh with a much longer shelf life. 

Tequila is next on the list of ingredients. I recommend using silver or blanco tequila for blackberry basil margaritas or any margarita, as it has a more robust but smooth flavor profile. Because gold tequila has been aged for longer in oak barrels, it tends to have a woody and smoky taste that does not work well with the other flavors of this margarita.

If you prefer the flavor of gold tequila over silver, it is ok to use it, just remember that the final product will be slightly different!

Simple syrup is a common ingredient in many cocktail recipes and adds the right amount of sweetness to this blackberry basil margarita. Simple syrup combines equal parts of water and sugar in a pot over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved.

You can easily make this at home if you have granulated sugar in your pantry. Alternatively, you can find simple syrup at most liquor stores alongside other mixers. Make sure to fully dissolve the sugar into the water and allow to cool completely before adding it to your margarita or storing it for future use. Simple syrup is a great thing to have on hand for quickly whipping up a cocktail!

Cointreau is the next ingredient in this margarita recipe. Cointreau is a type of Triple Sec or orange liqueur. Liqueur labeled Triple Sec tends to be less expensive and lower in alcohol than Cointreau, a higher quality orange liqueur.

The profile is citrusy and sweet, with some bitterness from the orange rind. This is a common ingredient found in a classic margarita or a sidecar. Depending on your preference, you can use Cointreau or a different brand of Triple Sec in this margarita.

Fresh lime juice is essential in any margarita and rounds out the blackberry basil margarita ingredient list.

I prefer to use fresh citrus juice whenever making a cocktail because it is much more intense and brings a brightness to your cocktail that you won’t get from the bottled stuff. However, if you are in a pinch and only have bottled lime juice, it will work just as well to give you that secondary citrus flavor. 

Variations

Feeling inspired by this blackberry basil margarita but want something a little different? You can try my Blackberry Bourbon Smash or Blackberry Martini.

Or, you want to try a new, fun twist on a margarita. You can try these substitutions to this blackberry margarita recipe that promise to be worthy stand-ins. 

• Strawberry and Basil Margarita – a classic pairing made into a cocktail. Sweet and refreshing!
• Blackberry and Rosemary Margarita – pairing the sweetness of blackberries with the woodsy and lemony flavor of rosemary makes a great combination
• Blackberry and Thyme Margarita – similar to rosemary, thyme has a flavor profile that works well with blackberry
• Blackberry and Jalapeno Margarita – add a little spiciness into your margarita with some slices of jalapeno muddled with your blackberries