Sours
Bramble
Made with blackberry syrup · Dick Bradsell, Fred's Club, Soho, 1984
- rocks
- crushed
- shake
Bramble
- 2 oz60 ml London dry gin
- 1 oz30 ml fresh lemon juice
- ¼ oz7 ml simple syrup
- ½ oz15 ml blackberry syrup, to drizzle
- Shake the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup with ice.
- Strain into a rocks glass packed with crushed ice and mound more ice on top.
- Slowly drizzle the blackberry syrup over the ice so it bleeds down through the drink.
- Garnish with a lemon slice and two blackberries and add a short straw.
Garnish: lemon slice and 2 blackberries
The syrup
Or use
Blackberry Syrup½ oz15 ml
Blackberry syrup is blackberries simmered briefly in 1:1 simple syrup, mashed, steeped and strained through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the seeds.
Substitution: drizzle ½ oz blackberry syrup in place of the liqueur; it has no alcohol and a little more sugar, so the drink is slightly lighter and the simple syrup drops to ¼ oz.
As printed: crème de mûre (blackberry liqueur)
In this recipe
Classic Simple Syrup¼ oz7 ml
Simple syrup is equal parts sugar and water, heated just until the sugar dissolves.
Reduced from ½ oz to balance the sweeter blackberry syrup.
As printed: sugar syrup (12.5 ml, about ½ oz)
Where it comes from
Dick Bradsell created the Bramble at Fred's Club in Soho in 1984, wanting a distinctly British drink and drawing on childhood blackberry picking on the Isle of Wight. At heart it is a gin sour on crushed ice finished with blackberry liqueur.
Source: IBA Official Cocktails: Bramble by International Bartenders Association.
Checked against: IBA: Bramble · NYT T Magazine: Case Study: The Bramble · Kindred Cocktails: Bramble · Punch: Bramble · Wikipedia: Bramble (cocktail) (history)
Gear for this drink
Mixology & Craft 16-Piece Cocktail Shaker Set
OXO SteeL Angled Measuring Jigger
Best for Measuring syrup into drinks
Cuisinart Fine Mesh Stainless Strainers (set of 3)
Best for Every infused or fruit syrup