Are you wondering, what is a Bramble cocktail? Don’t fret, we’ve got all the info you need and a delicious recipe to boot! A Bramble cocktail is a member of the Tom Collins family of gin-based cocktails, and for this gorgeous drink, a divinely good French blackberry liquor is the star ingredient. Tom Collins cocktails are traditionally topped up with a dash of soda water for fizz but this Bramble cocktail recipe goes without and is served on the rocks instead.
Gin Bramble Cocktail
PREP TIME 5 min
QUICK TIPS
INSTRUCTIONS
01
Add a handful of ice to a cocktail shaker or mason jar and pour over the gin, lemon juice and syrup.
02
Shake briefly to allow ingredients to chill.
03
Fill a tumbler with ice and strain the mixture into it before drizzling over the crème de Mûre.
04
Allow it to bleed into the drink and garnish with the lemon and blackberries if they are in season.
All the gin Bramble Cocktail ingredients you need
For the perfect Bramble gin cocktail, you’ll need just 4 ingredients. Let’s start with the ingredient that gives this cocktail its bramble namesake – Crème de Mûre. This age-old French liqueur is made with jammy sweet blackberries, harvested at their ripest. With its renowned flavor and deep purple hue, you’ll be reminded of summers spent blackberry picking, snacking on the juicy berries as you got lost amongst the wild hedgerows.
Our second hero ingredient in this juicy cocktail is top-quality gin. For a good base packed with fragrant botanicals, we recommend choosing a London Dry Gin like Bulldog or Bickens Premium Distilled.
Next up is lemon juice and it has to be freshly squeezed for the most lip-smackingly delicious cocktail. Finally, add simple syrup to balance all the sweetness. You can buy it ready-made or make your own easily by dissolving equal measures of sugar into simmering water. Allow to cool and keep in the refrigerator for up to one month.
How to make the best Gin Bramble cocktail recipe
Our Bramble gin cocktail is so easy to mix – simply combine the gin, lemon juice, and sugar syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into your chosen glass over ice (or on the rocks, as it’s called in cocktail lingo) and finish with the Crème de Mûre for an ombre effect as the purple liqueur bleeds into the drink just like freshly pressed blackberry. To garnish, add a lemon wedge, a blackberry, and a sprig of mint for one of the most delicious gin-based cocktails you’ve ever tasted.
Pro tip:
Opt for crushed ice when serving to really tame the sweetness of the blackberry. If you have a powerful blender, blitz a few ice cubes until crushed. Alternatively, buy a bag of ice cubes and, before opening it, drop the bag onto a hard surface a few times to break up the pieces.
Crème de Mûre vs Crème De Cassis
Crème de Mûre is a blackberry liquor, which is dark, jammy and sweet, and traditionally comes from France. Crème de Cassis, also from France, is a dark red liqueur made from juicy blackcurrants which is lighter and slightly more tart. A classic Bramble cocktail is traditionally made with Crème de Mûre. If you’ve only got Crème de Cassis, or prefer a tarter-tasting drink, then put your own twist on a Bramble and give it a go.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If you don’t have a bottle of Crème de Mûre, you could also substitute this for Chambord or Crème de Framboise, a raspberry liqueur or a Crème de Cassis, which is a blackcurrant liqueur. Failing all these, a quick berry coulis or a blackcurrant syrup would suffice too. If you do invest in a bottle, you will find plenty of scrumptious recipes to use it in, like a Blackberry Martini, give it a go - you’ll love it! If you like this combination of ingredient then try a Pisco Bramble, which is made with Pisco, a white brandy made in Peru from muscat grapes and this is then mixed with Chambord, the raspberry liqueur.
This Bramble cocktail recipe has an alcohol content is 17 percent ABV, which is a little stronger than your average gin and tonic.
The Bramble cocktail first came about in 1984 at Fred’s Club in London’s Soho, where bartender Dick Bradsell (of Espresso Martini fame) took inspiration from his childhood memories of blackberry picking on the Isle of Wight, a British island famous for its wild growing bramble bushes.
Our Gin bramble cocktail ingredients definitely include gin, as it’s a classic Tom Collins-style cocktail. A Bramble also includes Crème de Mûre, which is a vodka-based liqueur made from blackberries.
The Bramble gin cocktail gets its name from the prickly and rambling hedge that blackberries grow on. Think of those wild brambly bushes you see in English and French hedgerows. The blackberry bush is also a member of the rose family, and the little white flowers bear the juicy blackberries.
