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This floral and fruity Strawberry Rose Bramble Cocktail with fresh strawberries comes together in just minutes for a vibrant pink drink that tastes like the coming of spring. The simple ingredients are fresh and bright, making this a go-to cocktail for summertime, parties, or holiday celebrations.
This recipe was published on February 13, 2023. It was updated with additional recipe information on April 19, 2024.
If you like floral fruit-forward drinks, my Rose Cocktail will be your new favorite! This simple yet elevated cocktail is made with gin, homemade rose syrup, strawberries, and lemon juice. The sweetness of the rose syrup pairs well with the dry gin, and the citrus adds bright tartness. A bramble is traditionally made with blackberries, but my strawberry bramble is a fun twist on a cocktail made with muddled berries.
The drink comes together in minutes, making it ideal for even a cocktail novice. I love serving this strawberry rose cocktail for holidays, parties, or summer nights when fresh strawberries are in season. If you prefer a mocktail, just substitute sparkling water for the gin! For more fresh strawberry recipes, try my brilliant berry vegan crumble, strawberry blend banana ice cream, or very berry chia pudding.
Ingredients
Strawberries: Fresh strawberries give this gin and rose cocktail a cheery vibrant flavor. Strawberries at their peak of ripeness offer the best flavor. Look for a deep red hue and a fresh strawberry smell.
Rose Simple Syrup: Rose syrup tastes how a rose smells. It elevates the natural flavor and blends perfectly with the botanicals in gin. Use my recipe to make this easy syrup with rose water and sugar, which will sweeten this cocktail to perfection. You can also purchase premade rose syrup.
London Dry Gin: Gin flavored with juniper berries and other herbal spices, is the best spirit to use for this floral drink. Not all gins are created equal, so I recommend a high-quality London Dry Gin. I like Hayman’s Royal Dock Gin for its juniper, coriander, and citrus notes.
Lemon Juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice pairs well with the dry gin and sweetness of the syrup and strawberries. The tart citrus also gives this drink a refreshing and summery feeling.
How to Make Strawberry Rose Bramble Cocktail
- Make the simple syrup. Start by making the rose simple syrup. My recipe makes 1 cup, so you can make it in advance and use it for this cocktail. Keep the rest refrigerated to add it to other drinks.
- Muddle the berries. Muddle 2 trimmed large strawberries at the bottom of each cocktail glass. Muddle the berries until most of the juice has been released and the strawberry pieces don’t clump together.
- Add ice. Top the muddled berries with about 1/2 cup of cubed or crushed ice per glass.
- Shake the remaining ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Add the gin, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and rose simple syrup to a cocktail shaker with cubed ice. Shake well, then divide the rose gin cocktail into glasses.
- Garnish as desired. Garnish each gin rose cocktail with crushed dry rose petals, sliced strawberries, or a slice of lemon.
Recipe Pro-Tips
- Use a gin you enjoy the flavor of. Whenever possible, I recommend selecting a high-quality gin for this rose syrup cocktail. My go-to is Hayman’s Royal Dock Gin.
- Select ripe, fresh berries. Fresh strawberries with deep coloring and a sweet strawberry taste will offer the best flavor to rose cocktails. Ripe berries will also be easier to muddle!
- Mash the berries with a muddler. Thoroughly muddle the berries to express all of their juice. This will add more juicy strawberry flavor to the sipper and make it easier to mix up.
- Replace ice with frozen strawberries. For a stronger drink with more fruit flavor, slice and freeze additional strawberries and use them in place of the ice in your glasses.
Recipe Variations
Try your hand at other rose flavored cocktails by varying this recipe with fresh seasonal fruits, mixed fruit, or make an alcohol-free mocktail.
- Peach Gin Rose Bramble: Swap the strawberries for a ripe peach during peach season. Cut the peach into quarters before muddling. Garnish with a lemon wedge.
- Mixed Berry Bramble: Muddle a mix of blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries in the bottom of each glass and follow the rest of the recipe as directed.
- Lime Rose Cocktail: Substitute freshly squeezed lime juice for the lemon juice and serve with a lime wedge and sprig of mint.
- Strawberry Rose Mocktail: For alcohol-free drinks with rose syrup, omit the gin and shake together the lemon juice and syrup before adding it to the muddled berries. Top the glasses with flavored or unflavored sparkling water or still water.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this rose simple syrup cocktail anytime you want a bright, floral, and refreshing beverage.
- Garnish with mint, lemon, rose petals, or strawberries, and serve with Summer Peach White Bean Salad.
- Add a cocktail skewer of mixed seasonal berries such as blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries to serve at cocktail hour.
- Sugar the rim of your glasses with rimming sugar for extra sweetness when serving with desserts like Easy Peach Sorbet.
- Serve with lime wedges so guests can squeeze extra citrus flavor into their drink.
Storage Directions
This drink is best enjoyed immediately, but you can make the rose simple syrup ahead of time and store it in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
I love to use the extra syrup from making rose mixed drinks to flavor other beverages. The rose simple syrup has the most inviting floral notes that draw you in and leave you wanting more! Use extra to flavor tea, coffee, sparkling water, still water, or make other cocktails with rose syrup, like my Pineapple Rose White Wine Sangria.
A Bramble cocktail is most commonly made with crème de mûre blackberry liqueur, lemon juice, London dry gin, simple syrup, and garnished with blackberries or raspberries. It is fresh, bright, tangy, and sweet. It is usually enjoyed in the spring and summer seasons, but I happily drink them all year round. My strawberry gin cocktail takes a delicious detour from the traditional bramble gin cocktail, adding rose simple syrup and fresh strawberries.
You can make this drink with strawberries, blueberries, peaches, raspberries, or blackberries. While the brambly blackberry bush provides the origin of the name “bramble”, muddled berries or fruit all make excellent sources of color, texture, and sweetness in mixed drinks. You can make mixed drinks with almost any fresh fruit you have on hand, and even combine one or more fruits.
More Fruity Drink Recipes
- Pomegranate Margarita
- Apple Cider Nutmeg Mocktail
- Pomegranate Aperol Spritz
- Winter Sunrise Hibiscus Whiskey Cocktail
- Mezcal Watermelon Margarita
Strawberry Rose Bramble Cocktail
Equipment
- 1 Cocktail shaker
Ingredients
- 4 oz London Dry Gin, Such as Hayman's Royal Dock Gin
- 2 oz fresh lemon juice, freshly squeeze
- 1 oz rose simple syrup, recipe here
- 4 fresh strawberries, trimmed and tops removed
- dried rose petals, for garnish; optional
Instructions
- Muddle 2 trimmed large strawberries at the bottom of each cocktail glass. Muddle the berries until most of the juice has been released and the strawberry pieces don’t clump together.
- Top the muddled berries with about 1/2 cup of cubed or crushed ice per glass.
- Add the gin, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and rose simple syrup to a cocktail shaker with cubed ice. Shake well, then divide the rose gin cocktail into glasses.
- Garnish each gin rose cocktail with crushed dry rose petals, sliced strawberries, or a slice of lemon.
Notes
- Use a gin you enjoy the flavor of. Whenever possible, I recommend selecting a high-quality gin for this rose syrup cocktail. My go-to is Hayman’s Royal Dock Gin.
- Select ripe, fresh berries. Fresh strawberries with deep coloring and a sweet strawberry taste will offer the best flavor to rose cocktails. Ripe berries will also be easier to muddle!
- Mash the berries with a muddler. Thoroughly muddle the berries to express all of their juice. This will add more juicy strawberry flavor to the sipper and make it easier to mix up.
- Replace ice with frozen strawberries. For a stronger drink with more fruit flavor, slice and freeze additional strawberries and use them in place of the ice in your glasses.
I made these for my friends tonight. I muddled 2 raspberries and 1 ripe strawberry per glass. I did 3X this recipe for 5 drinks, which was enough! I created the rope simple syrup per the recipe, and garnished with dries rose petals.
I hadnt tried this before and was concerned the rose may be overpowering, but it was actually a perfect balance.
Everyone loved it, the aesthetic too!
This looks delicious! But I’m having trouble finding the rose simple syrup recipe. What am I missing?