Let’s face it, it has been a long two years, it’s winter in central Illinois, and many of us could use a little pick-me-up. As a result, we’re introducing this new feature, which offers up a concoction that is just the right fit for the month at hand. You absolutely do want to try this at home.

We’ll let our cocktail chemist Dustin Crawford take it from here:

The BlackBerry Velvet

Meet a cocktail with dense and complex flavors that go down smooth and velvety, in a creamy foam. Like the weather in March, its shakes go from dry to wet to dry again to emulsify the components and create the airy foam that settles atop the drink.

This cocktail is a form of daiquiri and derives inspiration from the classic cocktail The Clover Club, named after the bar that popularized it in Philadelphia before Prohibition.

First, the tools. You will need a cocktail shaker, measuring jigger, both a hawthorne strainer and a fine mesh strainer, and a nice cocktail glass. I prefer a coupe.

Now, the ingredients. To the shaker add:

• 1 egg white
• 1 barspoon of blackberry jam
• 1 dash of rhubarb bitters
• 1 dash of plum bitters
• .5oz of simple syrup
• .75oz of fresh lime juice
• .5oz crème de mûre (a sweet blackberry liqueur)
• .75oz black strap molasses rum
• 1oz aged white rum

The process:

• Shake hard for 5-10 seconds but be careful to hold the shaker together, as the air inside will want to expand. This "dry shake" emulsifies the thicker ingredients and allows the egg white to break down into a foam similar to meringue.
• Add ice and shake hard again for 10 seconds. This "wet shake" will chill and dilute the cocktail.
• Using the hawthorne strainer, strain the drink into the empty half of your shaker set. Discard the ice.
• Dry shake one last time for 5 seconds to really build up the foam.
• Pour through the fine mesh strainer into your glass.
• Garnish with a few blackberries on a skewer and enjoy.” 

About our mixologist: Dustin Crawford is co-owner – with partner Kip Rodier – of the 33 Room in Peoria Heights. Prior to that, the U.S. Marine Corps veteran traveled the world before returning home to work his magic behind the bar at various central Illinois establishments, including 2 Chez.