The Italian Bramble (Non-Alcoholic Cocktail) + a Styling and Photography Workshop
Hello all! Can you believe it’s February already!? How the hell did that happen?
I am quite excited about today’s post because A: I tested this new non-alcoholic cocktail which tastes super good and, B: I am going to tell you more details about our new workshop happening in Italy this spring! As you can see, it’s all about Italy today.
For those of you who don’t know what a Bramble is, let me tell ya: a Bramble is a British cocktail made out of dry gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and crème de mûre (blackberry liqueur). Since I wanted to do a non-alcoholic version of this, I mixed most of the flavouring agents in the original recipe, and added a few Italian touches such as bitters (making a reference to Campari), sparkling soda (San Pellegrino, pretty Italian, yes? haha), and Juniper berries which add a “gin” touch without the booze – quite an awesome twist! And by the way, I kept the lemon in there but added a touch of rosemary, because, why not going all out with it!
This drink is far from being boring and can be an all-season star, but hey, who am I to stop you if you do want to add some campari or gin.
Cocktails have become one of my favourite things to style lately, so if you want to get some more insight into how to do it yourself, read on and find the full recipe along with some workshop details – a workshop where you can learn how to do this and many other yummy things!
The Italian Bramble (Non-Alcoholic Cocktail) a Styling and Photography Workshop
The Workshop
What’s Cooking In Puglia is our latest workshop to be hosted in southern Italy in a 16th century farmhouse (right in Manduria!). As if the destination is not enough to get you excited, we also have the coolest teachers and activities: recipe development with Jodi Moreno of What’s Cooking Good Looking, food and travel photography with Joann Pai of Slice of Pai and Jen Chase and of course lots of styling with yours truly.
On top of eeeverything, we are going to explore, eat, and enjoy the beauty of this Italian region. Seriously, you cannot miss this chance of getting four teachers under one mighty inspiring roof! To sign up and read more about the workshop head over here.
The Italian Bramble Recipe
Makes 4
Ingredients:
– 1 cup frozen blackberries
– 10 juniper berries (you can get them in the canning section of a specialty store or at a gourmet shop)
– 1/3 cup sugar
– 3 lemons, juiced
– 1 small sprig of rosemary
– 6-8 cups of ice
– Sparkling water
– 1 small apple sliced and blackberries as garnish
Instructions:
1. Place 4 glasses in the freezer. Leave them there to frost.
2. Put the frozen blackberries, juniper berries, and sugar in a pot with a tiny splash of water and bring it to a simmer. Smash the fruit with a whisk until it breaks down. Simmer for 15 minutes, then remove from the hear. Cool down for a couple minutes and place in a blender on high speed until pureed and smooth. Strain through a fine mesh and place strained content in the fridge to cool down.
3. Rinse your blender and add the lemon juice and small rosemary sprig and blend for 20 seconds. Strain juice into a clean cup and set aside.
4. Place the ice in the blender and break it down in batches. Just pulse it a few times; you want it to be chunky.
5. Take the frosted glasses out of the freezer, fill half way through with crushed ice, then pour equal amounts of the lemon/rosemary mix into each glass, add a splash of sparkling water and top each glass with ice all the way to the top. Finally pour about 3oz (2 shots) of the juniper and blackberry reduction in each glass. Garnish with apple slices and a blackberry and serve.
This cocktail leans toward the sour side of things, if you’d like it to be a touch more sweet you can either increase the amount of sugar or add more of the blackberry mix into the drink.
Hope you guys enjoy it! Cin cin to food styling and delicious drinks!
