Bramble: preparing the best recipe for this gin cocktail

14.06.2021

To prepare the Bramble, this classic gin cocktail, bartender Dick Bradsell gives it a modern twist.

Through Robb Report, journalist Jason O’Bryan discovered the Bramble cocktail the Dick Bradsell way.

Unlike a myriad of cocktails, the Bramble does have a creator that we know today.

To prepare it, the legendary British bartender mixed gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and crème de mûre (blackberry liqueur) at Fred’s Club in 1984. His original concept was to create an English cocktail, “inspired by the blackberries I used to get on the Isle of Wight.”

The name, Bradsell explains, is because “a bramble, by the way, is the bush on which blackberries grow“. And to remove any doubts about the use of ice, Bradsell clarifies that he used crushed ice “since that’s what the machine had done.”

The Bramble is a perfect cocktail for spring, which in a few days we will be saying goodbye to with the official entrance of summer in many countries around the world. A cocktail that manages to be refreshing for the transition from winter to spring thanks to the ice, and that brings freshness thanks to the gin that is softened by the complex and plush blackberry liqueur.

Dick Bradsell left an unbeatable legacy with this cocktail that, once the season arrives, thousands of bartenders around the world recreate. A cocktail from the 1980s that became a classic, easy to prepare, easy to remember and that can be recreated in different ways, existing in various versions. For example, we can easily exchange the blackberry for raspberry, or for cassis, or replace the liqueur with fresh blackberries.

One thing we must do to remember Bradsell’s memory in this cocktail is to never prepare a Bramble with vodka.

Recipe for The Bramble

60 ml of gin

22.5 ml lemon juice

15 ml simple syrup

7.5 – 15 ml crème de mûre (to taste)

Type of glass: rocks

Garnish: slice of lemon, blackberry

Preparation: add gin, lemon juice and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker with a handful of crushed ice. Shake briefly to aerate and incorporate the ingredients. Then, pour the contents into a rocks glass. Add more crushed ice to the top and splash the crème de mûre over the top. Garnish with the lemon slice and a blackberry.

Don’t drink and drive. Enjoy responsibly.