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Market Matters- A Blackberry Bramble Cocktail Mandate

Blackberry Bramble Cocktail: Okay, I was at the Hollywood Farmers Market this morning. The blackberries are starting to make a big splash so that’s what I chose for my Market Matters post today.

But today is special. Not only do you get a recipe using blackberries– you also get to hear about this great idea I had for a TV Show.

It’s set in London during the 1980s and focuses on a glamorous gay man named Corey Bradshaw and his three best friends, Randy Hobbes, Charles York and Samuel Jones. Through a series of voiceovers and thematically intertwined story lines, the men discuss their sexual desires and fantasies as they travel through life and love in the Big City.

Blackberry Bramble Cocktail 

Naturally these guys will need a signature cocktail. I have chosen The Bramble for them. It’s perfect! It was created in the mid-1980s by Dick Bradsell at Fred’s Club in Soho, London. It’s exactly the sort of glamorous tippler my four heroes might enjoy as they romp their way through London’s Heaven-ly gay nightlife.

blackberry lemon garnishThough The Blackberry Bramble Cocktail is making a trendy comeback in England, it’s not a drink with which many people in the US are well acquainted. So not only will my show be a big hit, but it will also bring some much needed attention to a really remarkable cocktail.

Can’t you just see throngs of meterosexual men from sea to shining sea ordering these purple hued beauties as they compulsively follow the fashions and foibles of Corey and his cohorts.

If the show goes as expected, all sorts of 80s iconography will come back in fashion. I can just see the gobs of guys adopting mile-wide shoulder pads and flouncy gold highlighted bangs. Can you say Ton Sur Ton??

Be it a sports bar or a poker game this new breed of American man will also embrace The Bramble as their “boys night out” cocktail of choice. That’s because this drink is well balanced between sweet and sour. It has enough fruit flavor to mask the fact that this cocktail is liquor and not much else. Besides it has a great name with just enough sexual innuendo. The Bramble. Maybe we can get Cyndi Lauper to write the theme song? If anyone can find a fun rhyme for bramble it’s Cyndi!

And just so you feel like you are in the know I’ll tell you a bit more about this cocktail. There’s nothing too complex about it either. It is basically a short gin sour with a good drizzle of crème de mûre, (blackberry liqueur) “floated” on top. I use the quotation marks because crème de mûre doesn’t float– it sinks. For this reason you should serve it over crushed ice. The proper garnishes are a lemon slice and, to be true to Bradsell’s original, two blackberries.

Sippity Sup mixes The BrambleOkay, so who do I pitch this thing to at HBO?

The Blackberry Bramble Cocktail serves 1 CLICK here for a printable recipe

  • 2 oz gin
  • 1 oz lime juice
  • 1⁄2 oz simple syrup
  • 1⁄2 oz creme de mure
  • lemon wedge
  • 2 blackberries

Fill a shaker with ice and pour in all the ingredients except the creme de mur. Shake well and strain into a highball glass nearly filled with crushed ice. pour the liqueur on top so that it flows through the ice. Garnish with a lemon wedge and 2 blackberries.

SERIOUS FUN FOOD

Greg Henry

SippitySup

Blackberry Bramble Cocktail