Black Widow
A Black Widow is three blackberries muddled in the shaker with 45ml of vodka, 20ml of blackberry liqueur, 15ml of fresh lemon juice and 10ml of sugar syrup, shaken hard and double strained into a chilled coupe, with a blackberry on a pick. About 2.2 UK units. It is a house recipe for Halloween, and the name describes the colour. Blackberries and crème de mûre make a purple deep enough to read as black in low light. For true black, a pinch of food-grade activated charcoal does it without changing the taste in our experience, but the MHRA has concluded that charcoal can reduce the absorption of other medicines, so tell your guests. Under the colour it is a berry sour. The vodka stays out of the way, the liqueur brings body and sweetness, and the lemon stops the fruit tasting of jam.
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Single blackberry on a cocktail pick
Ingredients
3
Three, ripe, pressed until they burst. Frozen berries, thawed, give up their juice and colour with less pressing.
45ml
At 40% ABV, and chosen because it adds strength without adding flavour, so the fruit carries the drink.
20ml
Crème de mûre, at our working figure of 18% ABV; Drinkfinder lists Giffard’s at 16%. It deepens the colour and brings body and sweetness, which is why the syrup is short.
15ml
Squeezed the same day. It is the sharp edge that stops the berries tasting like jam.
10ml
Sugar and water, 1:1 by weight, kept to 10ml because the liqueur already brings sugar.
Instructions
Chill a coupe.
Muddle the blackberries in a shaker until they burst.
Add the vodka, blackberry liqueur, lemon juice and sugar syrup.
Fill with cubed ice and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
Double strain into the chilled coupe.
Garnish with a single blackberry on a cocktail pick.
Our version
A house recipe written for Halloween, with no older recipe behind it: a berry sour on vodka, coloured by muddled blackberries and blackberry liqueur.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Press the blackberries until they burst, then stop. Crushed seeds make the drink gritty, and seeds are what the fine strainer is there to catch. Double strain every time. Pulp clouds the surface, and the drink depends on looking dark and glossy in the glass. Keep the syrup at 10ml. The liqueur is already sweet, and the drink should finish dry enough that a second one appeals.
Behind the Black Widow
Flavour Profile
The Idea
A house recipe, written for Halloween: a drink that looks dark and threatening and tastes of ripe fruit. The name refers to the colour, and no older recipe stands behind it.
An Honest Black
The colour comes from fruit. Three muddled blackberries and 20ml of crème de mûre give a purple that reads as black by candlelight, and both bring flavour as well as colour.
Food-grade activated charcoal takes it to true black. A pinch is enough, and in our experience it does not change the taste. The MHRA has concluded that charcoal can reduce the absorption of other medicines, so say so when you serve it.
A Berry Sour in Costume
Take the theatre away and the structure is a sour: 45ml of spirit, 15ml of lemon and the sweetness split between liqueur and syrup. Vodka keeps the frame neutral, so the blackberries are what you taste.
The Black Widow Beside Its Relations
Three blackberry drinks with lemon
Spirit
- Black Widow
- 45ml vodka
- Berry Sour
- 50ml gin
- Bramble
- 50ml gin
Blackberry
- Black Widow
- Three muddled, 20ml liqueur
- Berry Sour
- 20ml crème de mûre
- Bramble
- 15ml crème de mûre, drizzled
Fresh lemon juice
- Black Widow
- 15ml
- Berry Sour
- 25ml
- Bramble
- 25ml
Sugar syrup
- Black Widow
- 10ml
- Berry Sour
- 10ml
- Bramble
- 12.5ml
Egg white
- Black Widow
- None
- Berry Sour
- 15ml
- Bramble
- None
Glass
- Black Widow
- Coupe, no ice
- Berry Sour
- Coupe, no ice
- Bramble
- Rocks, crushed ice
UK units
- Black Widow
- About 2.2
- Berry Sour
- About 2.4
- Bramble
- About 2.3
| Element | Black Widow | Berry Sour | Bramble |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit | 45ml vodka | 50ml gin | 50ml gin |
| Blackberry | Three muddled, 20ml liqueur | 20ml crème de mûre | 15ml crème de mûre, drizzled |
| Fresh lemon juice | 15ml | 25ml | 25ml |
| Sugar syrup | 10ml | 10ml | 12.5ml |
| Egg white | None | 15ml | None |
| Glass | Coupe, no ice | Coupe, no ice | Rocks, crushed ice |
| UK units | About 2.2 | About 2.4 | About 2.3 |
How to Serve It
Double strained into a chilled coupe, with one blackberry on a pick against the rim. For a party, mix the berries, liqueur and syrup ahead and keep them cold, then add the vodka and lemon and shake each round to order.
For the rest of a Halloween table, the Cauldron Punch serves fifteen from one bowl and the Witch’s Brew changes colour in the glass.
Make it at home
The Spirit
VodkaVodka is spirit made from a farmed crop, usually grain or potatoes, distilled and refined so that the taste of that crop is deliberately reduced. Under the retained Regulation (EC) 110/2008 its minimum is 37.5% ABV and it may not be given a predominant flavour, which separates it from flavoured vodka and from gin; our recipes count it at 40%. In a mixed drink it adds strength and body while the other ingredients carry the taste.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in a Black Widow?
How do I make it black rather than deep purple?
Why double strain?
Can I use frozen blackberries?
Can I prepare it ahead for a party?
Can I use gin instead of vodka?
How strong is a Black Widow?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- MHRA Yellow Card scheme, “Case study: Charcoal and drug interaction” (regulator’s page: the MHRA concluded that charcoal has the potential to reduce the absorption of other medicines; patients on other medication should seek advice from a pharmacist or doctor).
- Drinkfinder, “Giffard Crème de Mûre 70cl” (UK retailer listing: Giffard crème de mûre, 16% ABV).
You Might Also Like
Bramble
A Bramble is 50ml London Dry gin, 25ml fresh lemon juice and 12.5ml sugar syrup, shaken hard and strained over crushed ice in a rocks glass, with 15ml of crème de mûre poured over the top so it bleeds down through the ice. A lemon slice and blackberries finish it. About 2.2 UK units. These are the IBA’s measures. Dick Bradsell created it at Fred’s Club in Soho: Punch dates it to 1984, Bradsell’s own account in Difford’s Guide says the mid-eighties or thereabouts, and the Oxford Companion says 1989. He wanted a British cocktail, and he took the idea from going blackberrying as a child on the Isle of Wight. Bramble is the everyday name for the blackberry bush. Underneath, it is a gin sour. The liqueur on top makes it change as you drink: tart and sharp at first, darker and fruitier towards the bottom of the glass.
Berry Sour
A Berry Sour is 50ml of London Dry gin, 20ml of crème de mûre, 25ml of fresh lemon juice, 10ml of sugar syrup and 15ml of egg white, dry shaken, shaken again with ice and double strained into a chilled coupe, with two blackberries on the foam. About 2.4 UK units. The egg white is raw, so leave it out for anyone allergic to egg. It is our gin sour built from the Bramble’s bottles. Dick Bradsell says in Difford’s Guide that he created the Bramble in the mid-eighties at Fred’s Club in Soho (the Oxford Companion says 1989), and its method pours the crème de mûre over crushed ice so it bleeds down through the drink. Here the liqueur goes into the shaker, and the glass stays one even colour all the way down, under a white head. The trade is deliberate. You lose the Bramble’s shift from sharp to dark as you drink; you gain a silkier texture and a drink that tastes the same at the bottom as at the top. The juniper should still come through the fruit.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 19 October 2026