Prohibition Bramble

We all know what to do when you have lemons, right? Well, when you have blackberries and lemons and gin, you make Brambles.

It's been a while since I've used my muddler.  But blackberries alone don't make the flavor of this cocktail. It is the combination of the berry and lemon juice, sugar and herbaceous gin that do the trick. I used my Prohibition-style bathtub gin, that simulates how people would flavor raw spirit back when buying gin was illegal. Despite the steeped, less refined gin, the Bramble is more interesting for it. 

You have to start with muddled berries for this drink. Fresh lemon juice and simple syrup are the ingredients that help you taste the berry juice. Have a fine mesh strainer in addition to the strainer you use for your shaker when you make this. You don't want the mess of all those seeds showing up in the drink.

• 2 oz. gin (homemade steeped gin used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• 5 blackberries

Muddle four blackberries in a shaker with lemon juice and simple syrup. Add the gin and cracked ice and shake. Double strain into an Old Fashioned glass full of fresh crushed ice and garnish with the remaining berry.