Cocktails Made From Washington Wildberries

Summer in Washington State means stunning hikes and camping trips full of wildflowers and wildberries. 

Here are some of the wildberries you’re likely to see around the state in forests, fields, meadows and market stands — plus how you can incorporate them into some mixed drinks!

Cocktails made with edible berries found around Seattle

As much as we love hunting around for these berries, be sure to have a trained expert acquire these for you so that you can be sure you’re getting the right kind of berry. 

One really nice thing about living near our luxury Seattle apartments is that there are farmers markets all over the place that are likely to have these berries available for purchase from a certified source, so use them as a source and a resource when you’re looking to get your hands on some of Washington’s wildberries!

In the article below, we cover just a few of the berries that you may find at a farmers market or farm stand around Seattle — plus how you can incorporate them into your next mixed drink!

Salmonberry cocktails

Salmonberries are a PNW treasure. These big, orange-red berries are one of the first berries to pop up in the spring, where you'll often find them in thickets near streams or forests. They’re tangy and sweet and a clear sign of warmer weather to come. 

Salmonberries have a fruitiness and sweetness similar to raspberries, so any drink that calls for raspberry will certainly find its match in a salmonberry substitution!

A good place to start is this salmonberry margarita, which incorporates the juiced berries into a tequila, lime and orange liqueur base. Honestly, you can’t go wrong! 

This salmonberry gin cozy calls for Salmonberry Orgeat Syrup rather than fresh salmonberries, but you can make your own by mashing, boiling and reducing fresh berries into a sweet, gooey syrup! 

Huckleberry cocktails

There are actually several kinds of huckleberries in Washington, and all of them are great finds!

Red huckleberries are usually found hiding in the undergrowth of forests, where they grow as shrubs rather than thickets. Their sweet and tart taste makes them a popular addition to pies and jams, but they're also great when enjoyed straight from the bush. They’re on the smaller end, size-wise, so you’d need to pick a lot to make something out of them!

Close cousins to red huckleberries, mountain huckleberries prefer the higher elevations and are usually found in large, low thickets. These tough little berries have a similar sweet-tart flavor but often have a slightly deeper color and grow larger than red huckleberries. They resemble blueberries more than anything, and they’re a popular berry to munch on while hiking in the late summer season!

Unlike their deciduous relatives, evergreen huckleberries keep their dark green leaves year-round. These shrubs produce small, dark blue/purple berries with a sweet and slightly tart flavor, similar to mountain huckleberries but just a little smaller. They’re more common along the coast and, as such, may be harder to find in the Washington Cascades.

Huckleberry lends itself to sauces, jams, jellies and desserts, so making it into a cocktail is a no-brainer. Try it in this huckleberry lemonade, huckleberry mule, huckleberry cosmopolitan or this huckleberry lemon drop martini.

Wild blackberry cocktails

Blackberries are all over Washington state’s roadsides nowadays, but there are two varieties in particular that you’re most likely to see. 

Introduced from India in the 19th century, Himalayan blackberries are known for their aggressive growth and thorny vines. You can spot these anywhere from ravines to trails to roadsides, parking lots, city parks and everywhere in-between. Despite their invasive nature, they produce large, sweet berries that are a favorite of many — just be careful when picking them, as the sharp thorns can be viscous!

While the Himalayan blackberry has been wreaking havoc on Washington’s native plants and ecosystems, there is still an indigenous blackberry that you might be able to spot in and amongst the chaos of invasive vines. Native trailing blackberries are a less aggressive relative to the Himalayan variety, produce smaller, sweeter berries and are found in more natural settings. While they might not be as prolific as their invasive cousins, their berries are definitely worth the search.

Any cocktail featuring blackberries can only become better by using fresh, wild blackberries, so start with your favorite recipe and see how it goes from there! 

Otherwise, try out this blackberry mojito for a light and refreshing summer sipper, this blackberry sidecar for a more elegant drink and a black martini for a bold, vibrant cocktail that’s as dark as the berries themselves!

Salal berry cocktails

Salal berries are small, dark purple berries that grow on evergreen shrubs, often forming dense mats in the forest understory. They have a unique flavor, sometimes described as a cross between a blueberry and a cranberry, with a slightly tart sweetness. 

While not as commercially popular as other native berries, salal berries are packed with antioxidants and have a long history of use by indigenous peoples. They can be eaten fresh, but they're also delicious in jams, jellies and baked goods.

Although commercial salal is less commonly found in large quantities, you can still capture the magic of this wildberry with salal berry liqueur, which is made with PNW-sourced wild salal! Use it in the same way you would a blackcurrant or blackberry liqueur, but expect a little more richness and a hint of saltiness from the dark liquor. 

Kina-Salal is also a popular salal-based tonic that uses wild salal berries as a base. It’s especially good in this mulled Kina-Salal wine, this twist on the classic Dubonnet and this berry-based Manhattan.

Thimbleberry cocktails

Thimbleberries are not as popular or well-known as huckleberries, blackberries or salmonberries, but they’re just as easy to spot on roadsides and just as tasty a treat! 

Named for their domed, thimble-shaped fruit, thimbleberries are soft and delicate with an almost papery texture. The plants have big, showy white flowers before producing the edible berries, which turn bright red before drying and flailing off the stem. Be gentle if you pick them, as they can be easily crushed!

Thimbleberry-based drinks are maybe the hardest to find recipes for — an as-yet untapped area of opportunity, perhaps!

Start with this thimbleberry margarita made using thimbleberry jam, which you can probably work your way up to making on your own! Then, use the jam in this thimbleberry whiskey creation and finish it off with a sip of this thimbleberry smash. 

Have fun!

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Featured photo by Guillermo Leal on Unsplash