Gin cocktail

Bramble

Blackberries sinking through crushed ice.

Modern Classic Medium 6 min
★ 4.5 (143)
Bramble

Photo: Bramble8 by Erich Wagner (www.eventografie.de) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · All credits

  • 50 ml Jigger The large side of a standard jigger, filled to the top: 50 ml, with 25 ml on the other side. Gin
  • 25 ml Jigger The small side of a standard jigger, filled to the top: 25 ml, with 50 ml on the other side. Lemon juice
  • 12.5 ml Spoons Two and a half teaspoons. Simple syrup
  • 15 ml Spoons A tablespoon. Crème de mûre
  • 2 berries Blackberry (optional)

Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.

What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.

Quick version

  • Shake gin, lemon and syrup, pour over crushed ice, then lace with blackberry liqueur.

Method

  1. Fill a rocks glass to the brim with crushed ice and set it in the freezer while you shake.
  2. Shake the gin, lemon juice and syrup with ice and strain over the crushed ice.
  3. Pour the crème de mûre slowly over the top so it bleeds down through the ice.
  4. Tuck in a blackberry and a slice of lemon.

Serve it

  • Glass
    Rocks glass with crushed ice
  • Garnish
    Blackberry and lemon slice
  • Base
    Gin
  • Bramble

    Dick Bradsell made this in 1980s Soho, and it is the drink most often credited with starting the whole modern British cocktail revival. He built it out of the blackberries he picked as a boy on the Isle of Wight, which is a much nicer origin story than most drinks manage.

    Getting it right

    Do not stir the liqueur in. It is poured over the finished drink and left alone, so the first sip is sharp and bright and the last one is deep and berried - the drink changes as you go, which is half the pleasure. Crushed ice is not optional either: it is what slows the trickle down and keeps the whole thing cold without drowning it.

    Tasting notes

    Dry and brambly, with a sweetness that arrives late. The lemon does the work up front and the blackberry takes over at the bottom of the glass, which is the little bit of theatre you paid for.

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