The bramble has to be one of my favourite cocktails. The fact it has gin in is always a good pointer, add to that the sharpness of the lemon and it’s a winner for me. For those that aren’t familiar it’s Crème de Mûre, lemon juice, sugar syrup and gin.
Now, I don’t have any Crème de Mûre but I do have a heck of a lot of blackberry bushes in our field. Work with what you have right? What happens if I infuse gin with blackberries, add sugar and lemon juice? Bramble gin happens.
It seems everyone has a really good crop this year thanks to the sun we’ve had, so if you’ve never been picking now is the perfect time to start. The first rule is to wear old clothes. The really plump juicy ones explode like tiny bombs of impossibly steadfast stain and if you manage to avoid that, they’ll get you with their thorny second line of attack. Long sleeves work well as protection against the scratches and if you’re picking with heavy handed little ones, disposable gloves might be a good call. My final word of advice is to always pick above waist height, especially on road sides hedgerows (think great danes wee).
If you’re reading this in the future *wavy hands* and they aren’t in season, this should work fine with frozen blackberries stocked by most supermarkets.
For every 500ml of gin, you’ll need:
250g Blackberries 1tbsp lemon juice 100g sugar a litre jar/bottleLayer the sugar and berries in the bottom of a sterilised bottle. 
Pour over the lemon juice and gin. Seal tightly and give it your best shake. 
Keep it somewhere cool and dark (like a kitchen cupboard) shaking once or twice a week to keep the berries infusing. Leave for around 3 months, just in time for Christmas parties.
When ready, the sugar will be fully dissolved, giving more body to the dark glossy gin. Strain through a muslin cloth or a fine sieve lined with kitchen roll in to sterilised bottles. Dish out to impress your guests or keep it hidden away all for yourself.
I’ll come back and update you with a photo when this batch is ready for drinking. I suggest trying it out with soda water, tonic or neat with plenty of ice.
Callie (@CallieThorpe) says
This looks amazing! I guess it’s the same principle as Sloe Gin? xx
Angela says
I used to make something very similar with strawberries and brandy at the height of the strawberry season. The leftover sozzled fruit makes for a very, very adult trifle when you decant into bottles. Waste not, want not, and all that, right?
I shall have to try a Bramble the next time I’m out for cocktails! Gin isn’t usually my thing, but I could be persuaded if there is fruit, too 🙂
Hannah says
Oh my, I am DEFINITELY doing this! We’ve recently done a huge blackberry haul from a golf course near the house and it’s great to have something a little different to try 🙂
TheFreshFresher says
Damn it, I used up my blackberry stash on my Blackberry and Gooseberry Jellies (admittedly I did try adding gin, so we’re on the same wavelength somewhere). Wish I had seen this before!