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The Bramble not only looks appealing
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Luxurious enhanced Gin Sour
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Perfect balance of fresh, sweet, sour and fruity
A perfect Bramble cocktail tastes fresh, sweet, sour and fruity with a kick from the Damrak Gin. A Bramble Cocktail is basically a Gin Sour but enhanced by the luxurious, full and fruity flavour of the Bols Creme de Cassis. Not only does the Bramble tastes amazing, but the cocktail is also very visually appealing.
How to make a Bramble?
Due to its fresh simplicity and versatile nature, the Bramble has found its way onto menus in bars all over the world. The cocktail is visually appealing due to the blackberry liqueur that elegantly weaves its way through the cocktail and crushed ice.
Bramble ingredients
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45 ml Damrak Gin
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10 ml Bols Crème de Cassis
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20 ml Fresh Lemon Juice
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10 ml Sugar Syrup
Bramble tools and glassware
Rock glass
Shaker
Jigger
Strainer
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Add all ingredients except for the Bols Blackberry to a cocktail shaker.
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Shake the cocktail with cubed ice for 8 seconds and strain over crushed ice in a rocks or old fashioned glass.
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Add the Bols Blackberry as a beautiful layer on your cocktail. You will see it slowly drizzle through your ice.
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Garnish the cocktail with a fresh blackberry and a slice of lemon.
The history of the bramble
The Bramble is an iconic cocktail of the 1980s, created by the one of the most influential bartenders in history: Dick Bradsell (1959-2016). Bradsell, also the inventor of the Espresso Martini, created the Bramble cocktail at Fred's Club, London in 1984. The cocktail can be considered a modern classic, born out of the contemporary international cocktail culture. Bradsell used gin in a decade in which everything was about vodka. Yet this accessible cocktail was able to persuade die-hard vodka drinkers to switch to gin. Thanks to Dick Bradsell's Bramble, gin slowly came back into fashion.
Bramble recipe variations
Recipe variation 1 – Go Dutch
Make a Dutch version of the Bramble, the Genever Bramble. The Bols Genever adds a nice malty note to the cocktail. The grains in the malt wine taste great with the Bols Blackberry. If you want a more floral, lighter and less malty Genever in the Bramble, the Bols Genever Original is the perfect spirit to use.
Recipe variation 2 – Choose another berry
The modifier in this drink is Bols Blackberry. However, you can also make a great Bramble cocktail with Bols Blackberry or Bols Blueberry. Berries in general taste great in gin cocktails and especially in this Bramble cocktail.
Recipe variation 3- (Homemade) syrup
Though it may sound unusual, blackberries and basil make for a very interesting combination. Simply replace the sugar syrup in the recipe with a (homemade) basil syrup. Chilli syrup is also a good complement to the sweet blackberry liqueur and fresh lemon juice.
Alternatively, you can also leave out the sugar syrup and instead shake 5 leaves of basil in the cocktail or lightly bruise them on the bottom of the shaker before shaking. You can do the same with a small piece of fresh chilli. This method adds a more subtle herbal or spicy flavour than the syrup versions.
