The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails

The Bramble


The Bramble was created by British bartender Dick Bradsell in 1989 while working at Fred’s Club in London’s Soho, which had opened the year before. Bradsell based the drink on a version of the Singapore Sling he made previously at the Zanzibar, a private members’ club. It was at this Great Queen Street landmark that he met Fred Taylor, who wanted to open a members’ club for a younger clientele. Dick was hired as the opening bartender at Fred’s Club. There, he moved the Zanzibar’s Singapore Sling to a shorter Old-Fashioned glass, dropped the soda and Bénédictine, and gave it a more British name. Garnished with a lemon slice and fresh blackberries, this streamlined version more clearly resembled a classic Gin Fix or Sour. The drink was intended to be a salute to British flavors: despite lemons that hailed from Spain, the crème de mûre evoked memories for Bradsell of the blackberries that grow on the Isle of Wight.

Recipe: Pour 60 ml dry gin, 30 ml lemon juice, and 15 ml rich simple syrup over crushed ice in a double Old Fashioned glass; drizzle 15 ml crème de mûre (blackberry liqueur) on top and garnish with a blackberry and a lemon slice.

See also Bradsell, Dick; Fix; Singapore Sling; and sour.

Bradsell, Dick. Personal interview, January 15, 2011.

“Dick Bradsell and His Bramble.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuP3YWHnBk8 (accessed February 4, 2021).

By: Anistatia R. Miller and Jared M. Brown

A century-old French brandy distillery as illustrated in 1894. Note the twin Dutch-style “Moor’s head” still tops protruding from the stone firebox and the lack of a wine-warmer to feed the stills.

Wondrich Collection.

The Bramble Primary Image A century-old French brandy distillery as illustrated in 1894. Note the twin Dutch-style “Moor’s head” still tops protruding from the stone firebox and the lack of a wine-warmer to feed the stills. Source: Wondrich Collection.