Mixology Monday VII: Marionberry-Mint Daiquiri

For our first foray into Mixology Monday, Imbibe senior editor Kate Darling shares her favorite summer drink recipe. Thanks, Cocktail Chronicles, for hosting!

The Marionberry-Mint Daiquiri was born of necessity. After an overly enthusiastic berry-picking outing, we had more fresh Oregon marionberries than we could eat. Usually my inclination would be to bake a pie, but with the thermometer hovering in the upper 90s, I wasn’t about to turn on the oven. Instead, I infused some of the berries in light rum (Bacardi). Two days into the infusion process I added some fresh mint, which had been winning a battle against the rest of my garden. Two days later we were sipping bright, tart Marionberry-Mint Daiquiris whilst soaking our feet in the kiddie pool. I started out shaking them with ice and straining into a glass, which gave the drinks just enough water to soften the tartness, but they weren’t staying as cool as we needed them to be, so we started stirring them with ice and sipping them on the rocks. And so it came to be the summer of the Marionberry-Mint Daiquiri on the rocks. (Speaking of inventions born of necessity, our pear tree yielded so much fruit this year that, come December, our friends and family will be on the receiving end of a few gallons of our inaugural pear-walnut liqueur. That recipe, however, is top secret, mostly because we forgot to write it down.)

Marionberry-Mint Daiquiri
1 1/2 oz. marionberry- and mint-infused light rum (recipe below)
3/4 oz. fresh-squeezed lime juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup (1 to 1 sugar and water)

Shake with ice and strain into glass. Or pour over ice and stir. Garnish
with fresh berries.

Marionberry & Mint Infused Rum
750 mL light rum
3 cups fresh berries (frozen could work in a pinch, but fresh is optimal)
4-8 mint leaves

Infuse berries in rum for four days, adding mint leaves after the second day. Strain and enjoy!