Big Sky Bramble
I just got back from a media trip at the 320 Ranch in Montana with Traeger Grills. It was strictly a grilling event but given what I do, of course I had to get behind the bar to do what I do best. I knew I wanted to incorporate local Montana ingredients like huckleberry, juniper (grown on site) and honey but also wanted to incorporate smoke from the grill. So I had the idea to make a bramble type cocktail. For the smokey element, I smoked some local raw honey along with some juniper berries on the Traeger to just get a kiss of smoke.
I then constructed the cocktail originally using gin like a traditional bramble, but the juniper botanicals overpowered the recipe so I switched to a reposado tequila and knew it was the perfect fit. They also had some locally made huckleberry liqueur which was the perfect last ingredient to top the cocktail and bring that sweet/sour/fruity element to the cocktail. Finally topped it with that smoked juniper berry branch to give it that botanical pop and tricking your brain into thinking you're drinking a bramble when you're actually drinking something closer to a margarita.
Given the ingredients and location, it was just fitting to call this the 'Big Sky Bramble'
Cheers y'all.
ingredients:
1.5oz | 60ml Reposado Tequila
¾ oz | 22.5 ml Smoked Salted Honey Syrup (Recipe below)
¾ oz | 22.5 ml Lemon Juice
½ oz | 15 ml Huckleberry Liqueur
Smoked Juniper (Garnish)
Fresh Huckleberry (Garnish)
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SMOKED SALTED HONEY SYRUP
2 cups Raw Honey
1 cup Water
1 tsp Sea Salt
5 Smoked Juniper berries
Combine all ingredients into a saucepan and place onto a smoker at 300F for 20-30 mins. I used a Traeger Ironwood with Signature Smoke pellets. Stir until incorporated then pour into a smoked quart-sized mason jar. You can do this by lighting pellets on a heat proof surface like a cast iron pan, then snuffing the fired pellets using the mason jar. The smoke should coat the inside of the jar.
instructions:
Combine all ingredients except huckleberry liqueur in a shaking tin and shake with ice. Pour over crushed or pebble ice. Top with huckleberry liqueur. Garnish with smoked juniper and fresh huckleberry.
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I’m your huckleberry 🤠
I just got back from Montana with my friends at @traegergrills. It was strictly a grilling event but given what I do, of course I had to get behind the bar. I knew I wanted to incorporate local Montana ingredients like huckleberry, juniper (grown on site) and honey but also wanted to incorporate smoke from the grill. So I had the idea to make a bramble type cocktail.
For the smokey element, I smoked some local raw honey along with some juniper berries on the Traeger to just get a kiss of smoke. I then constructed the cocktail originally using gin like a traditional bramble, but the juniper botanicals overpowered the recipe so I switched to a reposado tequila and knew it was the perfect fit. They also had some locally made huckleberry liqueur which was the perfect last ingredient to top the cocktail and bring that sweet/sour/fruity element to the cocktail. Finally topped it with that smoked juniper berry branch to give it that botanical pop and tricking your brain into thinking you’re drinking a bramble when you’re actually drinking something closer to a margarita.
Given the ingredients and location, it was just fitting to call this the ‘Big Sky Bramble.’ Cheers y’all.
Big thanks to @i_drewcifer for the R&D help!
🎥: @tobojosh / @grillvaultbbq