A twist on the classic Bramble, GungHo!, which is number 44 on the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list, sells approximately 75 of these cocktails a week for between £8 and £10 per drink, with each serve costing around £4.82 to produce.
In addition, once all the preparation is done, Barnett explained the popular serve is easy to master.
He said: “[This cocktail] is a unique twist on the classic Bramble, where the blackberry part of the drink is showcased as a mousse on top, using responsibly foraged blackberries.
“Cocktails are great as they are a high-cost item, and with sufficient prep and fridge space, they can be made quicker than the average pint.
“They can also bring new customers and interest to an establishment and are considered value versus your typical spirit and mixer.
“Moreover, we use only local ingredients to recreate this iconic drink with practically zero.”
Let's get into it...
Ingredients:
- 50ml London Dry Gin
- 25ml lemon juice
- 900g beet sugar
- 700ml vodka
- 200g blackberries
- 400ml blackberry liqueur
- 400ml filtered water
- 2g powdered xanthan gum
- 2g cellulose
- 2 ice cubes
- 2 teaspoons lactic acid
Equipment required:
- Cocktail shaker
- Measuring jigger
- Teaspoon
- Cocktail strainer
- N02 Cream Whipper
- Dehydrator
Method:
Sugar syrup (Yield: 50 serves):
- Melt the refined beet sugar with 600ml of boiling water and stir until fully dissolved and transparent
Blackberry mousse (Yield: 50 serves):
- Add 200g blackberries to 700ml vodka
- Strain the liquid out and using a spoon, press the blackberries into a paste against a sieve to get the final juices out
- Dry the blackberry paste in a thin layer in a dehydrator or on low heat fan oven (approx. 60-70 Celsius)
- Mix the 700ml of blackberry infused vodka with 500ml sugar syrup
- Add 2 teaspoons of lactic acid to finish off your blackberry liqueur
- Mix 400ml of blackberry liqueur and 400ml of filtered water and add to a 1L N02 cream whipper with 2 ice cubes, 2g powdered xanthan gum and 2g cellulose
- Seal, shake well and charge the canister twice with n02, shaking vigorously in between charges
- Leave to set refrigerated for 1hr+
Berry powder garnish (Yield: 1 serve):
- Blitz equal parts of dried blackberry paste, freeze-dried strawberry powder and refined beet sugar, enough to sprinkle over the top of the finished cocktail, with 3% volume of powdered citric acid in a spice grinder.
The cocktail (Yield: 1 serve):
- Chill a coupette or martini glass in a freezer or with ice
- Add plenty of ice, 50ml London Dry Gin, 25ml lemon juice 12.5 ml sugar syrup to a shaker tin and shake hard until the tin is frosty
- Strain into the empty and chilled glass
- Layer 1.5cm of the blackberry mousse onto the cocktail and sprinkle a pinch of the berry powder on top before serving
- Once made, store the prepared sugar syrup in a sterilised container and keep chilled for up to one month, the remaining mousse can also be kept chilled and will keep indefinitely.
Top tip:
- This drink is best consumed without a straw; the mousse on top is sweet but the cocktail beneath is on the sour side and the combination of both should bring a lovely balance.
Cost breakdown:
- Sugar Syrup per 100 serves: 80p - 10p per cocktail
- Blackberry Mousse per 50 serves: £20 - 40p per cocktail
- Berry Powder per 50 serves: £9 - 18p per cocktail
- 50ml Gin (based on a £19 bottle): £1.63 per cocktail
- 25ml Lemon Juice: £2.51 per cocktail
- Resale value: £8.75 each as part of GungHo!’s 2 for £17.50 deal or £10 each with a £9.38 median (£7.8 excl. vat)
If you have any drinks recipes or top tips to share as part of The Morning Advertiser's Drinks Masterclass series please contact rebecca.weller@wrbm.com for more information.
