Hop Splash Bramble

While non-alcoholic hop waters can be enjoyed on their own, we thought they could also serve as a fun cocktail ingredient. Brambles are one of our favorite cocktails and adding a hoppy kick sounded promising.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces gin
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• 1 ounce simple syrup
• 1/4 ounce creme de mure
• 2 ounces Sierra Nevada Hop Splash hop water
• muddled fresh blackberry
• Garnish: fresh blackberry

Start by adding the simple syrup and blackberries to your shaker. Muddle the blackberries, then add the creme de mure, lemon juice, and gin. We subbed creme de cassis (black currant) for the creme de mure (blackberry) because that’s what we had on hand. They both have that beautiful purple color and similar flavor profiles.

For the gin, we went with Hendrick’s. Gins vary a lot, some having a strong juniper flavor, and others with a milder citrus flavor. We were concerned that too much juniper would be a bad combo with hops, and Hendrick’s provides a mellower rose, cucumber flavor.

Shake those ingredients and strain them into a glass over ice. Top the glass off with the Sierra Nevada Hop Splash and stir. Throw in a couple of blackberries for garnish.

We found the addition of the Citra and Amarillo hops in Hop Splash adds a really fun and interesting twist on the decades-old Bramble. It gave the drink a big, dank nose that managed to overpower the other ingredients, and almost had us worried. The flavor was milder though, playing really nicely with the gin and blackberry. This will be a go-to this summer by the pool!