BRAMBLE ON...

How a blackberry bush inspired a modern classic cocktail

While on recent holiday in Lisbon, one of our editors visited the Sky Bar, one of the most breathtaking rooftop bars in the city located atop the Hotel Tivoli Avenida Liberdade Lisboa. On the cocktail list was a drink he’d heard about here and there over the years but had never experienced, so he decided to order one. It didn’t take more than a sip for him to fall hard for the Bramble, a cocktail whose good looks are rivaled only by its refreshingly balanced savor.

While the recipe reads like a classic from the Prohibition era, the Bramble was created in 1984, by renowned mixologist, Dick Bradsell, also famous for creating the espresso martini. According to Liquor.com, the Bramble was named for the bush that blackberries grow on and was inspired by the fresh berries that Bradsell used to pick as a child on the Isle of Wight.

A well-balanced blend, the Bramble features gin as its base, lemon juice, and the complementary sweetness of Creme de Mure, a blackberry liqueur. The mixture is strained over crushed ice to tame the sweetness.

Summer is the ideal time to mix one up – when blackberries are in season. And for those Gin detractors, this cocktail will change your mind about the juniper-based liquor forever.

{The Bramble}

Ingredients

· 2 ounces gin

· 1 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed

· 2 teaspoons simple syrup

· ½ ounce Creme de Mure

· Lemon half-wheel

· Fresh blackberry

Prep

Add the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup into a shaker with ice and shake well until chilled.

Fill an Old-Fashioned glass with crushed ice and then fine strain mixture over it.

Slowly pour the Creme de Mure over the top of the drink.

Garnish with a lemon and a fresh speared blackberry.

Bramble on!