DIY Allspice Pimento Dram Recipe

Allspice dram is a simple liqueur flavored with allspice berries. It's also known as pimento dram, because allspice is a berry from the pimento tree. Allspice dram adds a dark, strong, and spicy counterpoint to rum and sweet ingredients in tiki drinks. For years, allspice dram was damn-near impossible to find in the states. Even though you can find it on store shelves now, it's still much more fun (and affordable!) to make it at home.

Recipe  Makes about 3 cups

 Ingredients

• 1 cup light rum (Bacardi Gold)
• 1/4 cup whole allspice berries (Bulkbarn)
• 1 cinnamon stick (Bulkbarn)
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 cup brown sugar 

Directions

1. Crush the allspice berries in a mortar and pestle or grind them in a spice grinder. You want coarse, large pieces and not a fine grind.
2. Place the crushed allspice in a sealable glass jar and pour the rum on top. Seal the jar and shake well. Let this mixture steep for 4 days, shaking daily. On day 5, break up the cinnamon stick and add it to the mixture.
3. After 12 days total steeping, strain out the solids through a fine-mesh strainer. Then strain again through a coffee filter into your final bottle or jar.
4. Heat water and sugar on medium until boiling, stirring to dissolve, about 5 minutes. Let the syrup cool, then add it to the strained allspice infusion. Shake and then let rest for a minimum of two days before using.

Special Equipment

mortar and pestle (or spice grinder), fine-mesh sieve, coffee filters

 

 Store at room temperature for 1 to 2 months. It isn't going to spoil, but the flavor will change over time if you keep it too long.

DYI Falernum Recipe

Paul Clarke's Falernum #9 Recipe

During tiki’s heyday, falernum, a syrup made with rum infused with clove, citrus, and nut flavors, was added to rum drinks like the Zombie. Before falernum was widely available, Cocktail Chronicles blogger Paul Clarke tinkered with making his own. After eight experiments over a year (thus #9), Clarke finally found a recipe he was happy with.

This recipe was featured as part of our DIY Home Bar project. | from: Beachbum Berry Remixed , by Adapted from Paul Clarke

Ingredients:

    2 tablespoons blanched, slivered almonds
    40 whole cloves, crushed
    3/4 cup (6 ounces) white rum
    Finely grated zest of 9 medium limes, with no traces of white pith
    1 (3-inch piece) fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
    1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons superfine sugar
    3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon warm water
    3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, strained
    1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions:

    1Toast the almonds and cloves in a small, dry frying pan over medium heat until the almonds are golden and the cloves are aromatic, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat to cool slightly, about 3 minutes.
    2Place cloves, almonds, rum, lime zest, and ginger in a 2-cup nonreactive container with a tightfitting lid. Cover, shake to combine, and let mixture sit for 24 hours at room temperature.
    3Combine sugar and water in a 1-quart container with a tightfitting lid. Cover and shake until all the sugar has dissolved and the mixture looks clear, about 5 minutes. (By not heating the sugar-water mixture, the simple syrup will be less dense and crisper than a cooked syrup.) You should have 1 3/4 cups; set aside.
    4After 24 hours, strain the rum mixture through a moistened cheesecloth or several layers of paper towels set in a fine mesh strainer over a small bowl. Taking care not to rip the cloth or paper towels, press the solids against the strainer to extract all the liquid. Discard the solids.
    5Add the strained liquid, lime juice, and almond extract to the reserved simple syrup. Shake until combined. Keep refrigerated for up to 1 month.



Total Time: 20 mins, plus infusing time

Active Time: 20 mins

Makes: 2 1/2 cups



Beachbum Berry Remixed