Bramble
- 1½ oz gin
- 3/4 oz crème de mûre
- 3/4 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 oz simple syrup
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Alternatively, bleed the liqueur over the other ingredients in a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a lemon twist.
The Bramble is a contemporary classic invented in the mid 1980s by Dick Bradsell at Fred's Club in London. He says that he wanted to invent a truly British drink and remembered childhood days blackberry picking on the Isle of White. Sadly you can't find a decent British made blackberry liqueur and I wouldn't trust citrus fruit grown in England either.
The Bramble has caught on worldwide. We noticed it featured on a cocktail menu in Christchurch on a recent trip to South Island, New Zealand. For a long time crème de mûre, a blackberry liqueur, was not available locally for us so we substituted the more widely available cassis blackcurrant liqueur. Finally we have located a supply and now the taste of summer days blackberry picking in England comes shining thourgh. Maybe not, but the drink is definitely superior when made with crème de mûre and the taste of blackberries is delightful and comes through clearly.
The drink is basically a gin sour so we serve ours straight up. Dick's original method, however, suggests you bleed the crème de mûre over the other ingredients in a rocks glass filled with crushed ice.