The Bramble

You’ve probably all drunk an espresso martini at some point in your lives. The story goes that an American model asked Dick Bradsell to make her a drink that would “wake her up, then f**k her up” (classy) but I prefer Dick’s other creation, The Bramble Cocktail.

The Bramble is made by combining the ingredients of the sour (dry gin, lemon juice and simple syrup) but with the addition of Crème de Mûre (blackberry liqueur).

Sometimes, you just have to substitute those hard-to-find ingredients and experiment a bit.  I recently had a bar make a Bramble with Chambord (raspberry liqueur), for example. It was too sweet for me, but might appeal to some. For a less alcoholic version you could use a Blackberry cordial, there are plenty of recipes out there showing you how to make your own.

Ingredients for The Bramble Cocktail

60ml Sipsmith Gin

30ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

15ml sugar syrup

15ml Crème de Mûre

Method

Chill a rocks glass in the fridge/freezer.

Pour the gin, sugar syrup, and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker filled with iced and shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is very cold.

Fill rocks glass with crushed ice.

Strain the contents of the cocktail shaker into the ice-filled glass.

Pour over the Crème de Mûre (giving a ‘bleeding’ affect) and garnish with fresh blackberries (if you can find them) and a slice of lemon. Serve with a straw. Alternatively, you can just build it in a glass. Enjoy!