Bloody Blackberry Bramble

The spookiest night of the year has finally arrived– it’s Halloween!

This year, my finacé and are are dressing up as King and Queen Midas! We are decked out in gold from head to toe and I have to admit, we did a really great job with our costumes this year! While we both have to work during the day, and we don’t have trick-or-treaters coming around, we decided to throw a little party just ourselves. Other than pumpkin carving and watching some scary movies, we are planning on having one or two of these delicious Bloody Blackberry Bramble Cocktails (maybe two drinks max…it is a Wednesday after all! :P).

For the full recipe, click here!

A Blackberry Bramble is a classic British cocktail containing lemon juice, gin and blackberry liqueur– most often Crème de Mûre. My version of this cocktail contains most of the same ingredients, but it is prepared a bit differently with crushed ice to give the drink a bloody look– perfect for Halloween!

Apart from the crushed ice, I opted to make a blackberry syrup rather than buying some blackberry liqueur, which can get expensive! I simply simmered some blackberries in a pot with some lemon zest, sugar and water until the blackberries had all broken down, released all their dark juices, and the juices had concentrated into a delicious, thick syrup. I opted to strain the blackberry syrup through a sieve to remove any seeds as I didn’t want any seeds in my finished cocktail. This whole process didn’t take too long at all…maybe 15 minutes or so and cost way less than a bottle of fancy liqueur!

To assemble the cocktail, I added some freshly squeezed lemon juice to a glass, followed by some gin (my favourite is Hendrick’s), and 4-5 ice cubes.I gave everything a stir with a spoon until everything was nice and chilled. I then topped the drink off with a few scoops of crushed ice and shaped it into a dome…kind of like a snow cone. The crushed ice is the trick to getting that trickling bloody look once you pour the blackberry syrup on top as it slows down the syrup from entering the liquid portion of the drink too fast.

I added about 2 tablespoons of blackberry syrup over each done of crushed ice and watched the magic happen! I love watching the streams of dark red flow throughout the drink and I really like how it gets darker and darker over time! It looks super cool and is perfect for Halloween!

You can also make this into a mocktail version and give it to kids–they would go nuts for a drink like this! I would just simply replace the gin with some water and keep the lemon juice and that would be perfect for kids. I would also maybe give them an extra fresh blackberry on their garnish as blackberries are packed with so many great vitamins, plus they taste so good!

So whether you are staying in or going out, make sure to have a Bloody Blackberry Bramble this Halloween night! And if you choose to drink, make sure that you have a safe ride home! Have a happy and safe Halloween everyone!

For the full recipe or my Bloody Blackberry Bramble, click here!