The boy and his poison: The Purple Haze

My attitude towards cocktails is along similar lines to my attitude to hot food from service stations or first dates in Wetherspoons - incongruous and almost certainly a grave error. Nevertheless, when you turn up to your local and find a drink on the specials board full of seasonal flavours and charged with refreshing Prosecco, it thought it would be worth waiving my prejudices in the name of my role as daring Domestic Sluttery cocktail hunter.

It turned out to be a great decision. Between the sweet autumnal tastes of blackberries and apple, the unusual warmth of the sloe gin and the fizz of the Prosecco, the Purple Haze has the perfect balance of flavours. It's definitely glamorous enough to roll out as an aperitif, but the ease with which you can throw one together also makes it a great indulgent treat-for-yourself drink.

You'll need:

• 50ml sloe gin
• 25ml apple juice
• A clutch of blackberries (5 or so but no need to be specific)
• Prosecco or any sparkling wine you have to hand (not too dry)

Make it:

1. Put your blackberries into the base of a cocktail shaker and crush with the end of a rolling pin until they're pulped
2. Add the sloe gin and apple juice. 
3. Mix and check the flavour, depending on the tartness of your blackberries and sweetness of your sloe gin you may have to add a little lemon juice or sugar syrup to compensate but the mixture above didn't need much tweaking. 
4. Strain into the base of a champagne flute
5. Top up with Prosecco