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Cocktail History
The Bramble is a classic cocktail that was created in the 1980s by Dick Bradsell in London, England. Cocktail legend claims Bradsell’s goal was to made a British cocktail that was inspired by his childhood memories of berry picking on the Isle of Wight. He achieved this by adding blackberry to the sour template traditionally made with gin, lemon, and simple syrup. The name itself is self-explanatory; it comes from the fact that berry bushes are called brambles.
Cocktail Ingredients
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Gin: This is a spirit made with juniper berries, botanicals, and alcohol. We used Broker’s Premium London Dry Gin because it features a clean and crisp juniper flavor that doesn’t overpower other ingredients in cocktails. For a mocktail version of this drink, try MONDAY Zero Alcohol Gin in place of the gin.
Lemon Juice: This is the liquid juice of a lemon. We used freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Blackberry Syrup: This is a sweetener made with blackberries, white sugar, citric acid, and water. We made ours at home using Alex’s sous vide recipe.
Blackberries: This a glossy black berry formed by multiple small fruits that each contain a seed.
Lemon Wedge: This is a slice of lemon that has been cut into a wedge shape.
Bartending Tools
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:
Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. We used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Muddler: This is used to muddle ingredients. We used the HQY Stainless Steel Cocktail Muddler.
Boston Shaker: This is used to shake ingredients. We used the Boston shaker from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Hawthorne Strainer: This is used to strain out ice and solid ingredients after the cocktail is shaken. We used the A Bar Above Hawthorne Strainer.
Paring Knife: This is used to cut ingredients. We used the OXO Good Grips 3.5 Inch Paring Knife.
Juicer: This is used to juice citrus. We used the ALEEHAI Manual Fruit Juicer.
Cocktail Pick: This is used to hold the garnish. We used one from the I-MART Stainless Steel Cocktail Pick Set.
Tasting Notes
The Bramble features a sweet, subtle scent of citrus, goes into the immediate punchy flavor of fruity blackberry backed by lemon bitterness, and leaves with a lingering dark blackberry flavor.
Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: This is one delicious classic! Our use of a flavored blackberry syrup really helped to take the fruit flavor (and color) up a level. And while we both adore exploring the complex taste of gin, the Bramble hides the botanical spirit’s sharp edges very well, making it extremely crushable for warm and cool weather alike.
Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.
Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.
Alex’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“This drink is honestly a fantastically simple warm-weather drink. While I love gin and all of its complex flavors, many of the greatest gin cocktails more or less mask gin’s rougher edges, and this one is a great example of that. The slight sweetness from the blackberries and accompanying syrup balance the bitter citrus really well and make this drink very easy going down. My blackberry simple syrup lends a bit of a hand too, I think, with a deeper and more emulsified flavor of the berry in the drink.”—
Kendall’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Hello, blackberries! I’m with Alex on this one; this drink is very tasty and dangerously easy to drink because the citrus and syrup hide the gin’s usually very present botanicals quite well. And speaking of the syrup, wow, does it take this recipe to the next level. It’s so rich and delicious… I highly recommend making some with Alex’s recipe and trying it in this cocktail or our Harvest Run recipe so you can see just how incredible it is for yourself.”
Recipe
This cocktail recipe was adapted from The Essential Cocktail Book: A Complete Guide to Modern Drinks by the editors of PUNCH and Megan Krigbaum.
Add five blackberries and ¼ oz blackberry syrup to a shaker.
Muddle gently.
Add gin, lemon juice, ½ oz blackberry syrup, and cubed ice to shaker.
Shake for 10-20 seconds.
Strain into a lowball glass over fresh crushed ice.
Garnish with one blackberry and lemon slice.
Ingredients
Directions
Add five blackberries and ¼ oz blackberry syrup to a shaker.
Muddle gently.
Add gin, lemon juice, ½ oz blackberry syrup, and cubed ice to shaker.
Shake for 10-20 seconds.
Strain into a lowball glass over fresh crushed ice.
Garnish with one blackberry and lemon slice.
Make It a Mocktail: Use MONDAY Zero Alcohol Gin in place of the gin to try a booze-free version of this drink.
Shop Glassware & Tools
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More Berry Cocktails
If you like this berry-flavored cocktail recipe, here are a few others we’ve tried that you may enjoy:
Blueberry Mint Julep: A bourbon cocktail made with blueberry syrup, mint, and blueberries
Winter Berry Gin Fizz: A gin cocktail made with lime juice, cranberry syrup, raspberry liqueur, soda water, cranberries, and rosemary
Harvest Run: A bourbon and apricot brandy cocktail made with blackberry syrup, cinnamon syrup, crème de cassis, mint, and a cinnamon stick
Florodora: A gin cocktail made with lime juice, raspberry syrup, simple syrup, ginger ale, a lime slice, and raspberries
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