With blackberries in season, a Bramble recipe

Bramble

60ml Bombay Sapphire Gin
30ml lemon juice
15ml sugar syrup
15ml De Kuyper Blackberry Liqueur

Shake the gin, lemon and sugar with ice and then strain into a old fashioend glass over crushed ice. Drizzle the blackberry liqueur on top. Garnish with a lemon slice and in season blackberries.

Adapated from a recipe by Dick Bradsell.

Story by Sam Bygrave
In association with De Kuyper

There was a time in the mid-2000’s when this drink, the Bramble, was on cocktail menus all over the country. But in recent times, the Bramble — created by famed London bartender Dick Bradsell — has receded from the spotlight. And that’s a shame.

Bradsell said he invented the drink in Fred’s Club in Soho in the 1980’s, and it’s inspired by his memories of the fresh blackberries he’d pick in his childhood years on the Isle of Wight.

Bradsell has been described by Gaz Regan as having a “reputation for being quirky, strange, lovable and a bit of a curmudgeon.” He also makes a killer drink, counting the Treacle and the Pharmaceutical Stimulant to his credit.

The Bramble’s secret is it’s simplicity. It also lends itself to adaptation; indeed, that’s the genius of keeping cocktail recipes simple. Adi Ruiz of Bulletin Place has told us before about the Black Cherry Bramble they’ve made, swapping in the first of the season black cherries for blackberry; the gin, lemon, sugar remain, but a dash of pastis was added.

And lest you think such simple substitutions are a form of cheating, it’s worthwhile to note the way Bradsell came up with this drink.

He has said that his Bramble is a simple twist on a version of the Singapore Sling he used to make at the Zanzibar bar back in the 80s— it’s the same ingredients but served short and sans soda.

Blackberries are in season from November to the end of summer, so give this modern classic another look now the weather is warmer.

Notes on ingredients

De Kuyper Blackberry Liqueur
De Kuyper’s Blackberry Liqueur uses top quality blackberries, eau-de-vie, sugar and elderberry to bring out a full-bodied taste of blackberries.
Bacardi Lion

– Blackberries are in season during the summer months, and are, in fact, not berries at all. They are actually drupelets, as a raspberries.
– De Kuyper is the world’s largest producer of cocktail liqueurs, and has a history dating back to 1695.
– De Kuyper is a family business — in fact, it’s the ninth oldest family business in the Netherlands.