‘Tis the season for all things eerie… even the seemingly innocent blackberry has its share of nefarious skeletons in the closet! According to British and Irish folklore, when the archangel Michael cast Lucifer out of heaven, he landed on a thorny blackberry bush and spat — or by some accounts, um, peed — on the prickly culprit and cursed it. Thus the nickname “devil’s fruit” was born. Cursed or not, I love blackberries for their mildly sweet, earthy and slightly tart flavour. And together with the botanical notes in gin and the autumnal essence of apple cider and ginger beer, this cocktail is sinfully good.

Select a good brand of ginger beer for your cocktail; it will make a world of difference.

*You can crush the ice in a sealed zip-top plastic bag, pounding it with a rolling pin, mallet or the base of a butter knife.

**Use store-bought frozen blackberries or fresh blackberries placed in the freezer for at least 3 hours.

Pour the crushed ice into a large glass coupe or small wine glass (to hold 10 ounces).

Stir together the gin, apple cider and ginger beer. Pour the mixture into the serving glass.

Blitz the frozen blackberries and lime juice in a blender (or use a small food processor or stick blender) for about 10 seconds or until the berries become slushy. Spoon the blackberry slush evenly across the top of the cocktail.

Garnish with frozen blackberries on a small skewer. Scatter the lime zest overtop.

Yield: Makes 1 drink