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. Source: Wondrich Collection.