Bourbon Bramble

There are certainly no thorns to this bramble. 

The Bramble cocktail was originally created in London by bartending legend Dick Bradsell. In the 1980s, Bradsell and Dale DeGroff were known for creating cocktails with fresh, real ingredients, which was a big contrast to the neon-colored, pre-mixed cocktails of the time. While they had a particular fondness for bringing back some of the classic Prohibition era cocktails like the Sazerac, they also spent a lot of time inventing new cocktails of their own. Bradsell’s greatest hits included the Espresso Martini (currently enjoying a trendy comeback) and the gin-based Bramble. 

The Bramble was named for the bramble bush – a thorny bush that grows blackberries. Bradsell claims he was inspired by the memory of picking blackberries as a kid and wanted a cocktail that showcased the berries in all of their glory. And the OG Bramble did exactly that. With gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and creme de mure (blackberry liqueur), the Bramble was a fresh idea with a refreshing flavor. 

But as we like to say – why have a gin cocktail when you can have a whiskey one? The Bourbon Bramble pays homage to its gin ancestor with bright lemon juice and sweet creme de mure, but includes fresh blackberries and basil. The basil in particular helps balance out the new flavors introduced by the bourbon. 

Dick Bradsell may want to throw us into a bramble bush for preferring the bourbon version of his famed cocktail, but we’ll just have to take our chances.