Blackberry Thyme Margaritas

I'm super jealous of my sister.  She lives in Oregon, and always says that if you pay for blackberries in the summer, you've done something wrong.  I love going to visit her for many reasons, but a plethora of blackberries is certainly up there.  Here, blackberries are one of the more expensive fruits, but I love them so much, I buy them anyway. 

When I was searching for a margarita recipe to make over the weekend, I came across this one.  There were several "interesting" combinations, such as celery, jalapeno, and pineapple-chile.  This one was certainly different, but I was intrigued.  The thyme was very understated, and I think just added a nice fresh and herbal note to the drink.  The blackberries gave the drink a gorgeous hue, and you can't go wrong with tequila, right? 

Blackberry-Thyme Margaritas
adapted from Bon Appetit, July 2007
makes 2 drinks 

• 18 blackberries
• 3 small sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 cup crushed ice
• 1/3 cup tequila
• 1/4 cup simple syrup
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 Tablespoon orange liqueur, such as Cointreau
• 1/4 cup sparkling wine or sparkling water

Place 16 of the blackberries in a food processor with the thyme leaves.  Pulse 30 seconds.  Push the blackberry puree through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl to remove seeds, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible.  

Combine the blackberry puree,  ice, tequila, syrup, lime, Cointreau, and sparkling wine into a blender.  Puree until smooth and well combined.  Divide between glasses, and garnish with additional thyme and the reserved blackberries