August is the peak of blackberry season — the perfect time to make a Bramble. Although, to be fair, it is an excellent cocktail for hot weather in general, so there is no reason to limit it to August.
Bramble is the English name for a blackberry bush.
The cocktail was created in 1984 by Dick Bradsell, a famous English bartender and the creator of many cocktails that have since become modern classics. At the time, Bradsell was working at Fred’s Club in Soho, and, by his own recollection, he wanted to come up with a cocktail that would be distinctly English. But somehow, nothing was working. Suppliers of various spirits would periodically come into the bar, offering samples of new products and trying to make a sale. At some point, Bradsell was offered a taste of Crème de mûre, a blackberry liqueur. And the very first sip transported him straight back to his childhood on the Isle of Wight.
England is rich in wild blackberries. Impenetrable, thorny thickets take over any neglected roadside, clearing, or abandoned plot of land. The Isle of Wight is no exception. According to Bradsell’s memories, they spent the whole summer scratched up and covered in blackberry juice stains that simply would not wash out.
I have to say, the modern American Pacific Northwest is remarkably similar to England in the blackberry department. Thickets of European blackberry take over virtually any piece of land that is left unattended for even a short while. The native American blackberry is much more modest in its ambitions for world domination. So I understand Bradsell perfectly.
He immediately decided that a cocktail with a blackberry note was a very English thing. Of course, Crème de mûre is a French liqueur, but that was beside the point. For the base, Bradsell chose a classic gin sour, because nothing could be more English than gin.
The cocktail proved to be a success, quickly gained worldwide popularity, and eventually became one of the official cocktails of the International Bartenders Association, in the category “New Era Drinks.”
Let’s make a Bramble.
Ingredients:
1 2/3 oz / 50 ml gin
5/6 oz / 25 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
5/12 oz / 12.5 ml simple syrup
1/2 oz / 15 ml Crème de mûre (blackberry liqueur)
Process:
Combine all the ingredients except the Crème de mûre in a shaker with ice cubes. Strain into a glass filled with crushed ice. Pour the Crème de mûre over the top.
Garnish: a lemon wedge and a few blackberries.
