Pimento Dram

[mkayahara]

Agreed. In Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, he calls for something like 3/4 oz. allspice dram and 1 tsp. simple syrup... I prefer to reverse those proportions with St. Elizabeth.

[Hassouni]

my homemade pimento dram was apparently not powerful enough for the KC lion's tail recipe, so I think 3/4 next time will do it

[EvergreenDan]

Has anyone tried rye in a Lion's Tale? I originally thought that the drink was about a play between the warmth of the bourbon and the warmth of the spices. But maybe it should be a contrast, playing spice against warmth. With a large amount of rye, I think this begs for a sipping-quality rye. Also, I'd love to hear from anyone else trying Becherovka. I thought it was wonderful (pat, pat, pat).

[EvergreenDan]

Just tried a rye Lion's Tail. All personal preferences being equal, bourbon works better. A rye fan should feel free to substitute with confidence, though.

[FrogPrincesse]

A Lion's Tail prepared for my husband last night. It's still a favorite. Spicy and a litle tart, a great drink. I use the recipe that was published in Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails (revised edition). We like it with the full amount (1/2 oz) of allspice dram.

[Rafa]

A question for those more experienced than I.

I'm making my first batch of allspice dram this weekend, and the flavor profile I'm going for is heavily inspired by Bittercube's Jamaican #1 bitters: big allspice up front, with a bright bite from ginger and a nice drying finish from black pepper. That is, I want the black pepper to be strong enough to be a distinct component of the overall flavor, but I don't want it to overwhelm the more conventional spices.

I notice the recipes in this thread don't call for more than six black peppercorns, but I assume others don't want as heavy of a pepper presence as I do. How much black peppercorn can I use before it starts hogging the spotlight? If I'm using half a cup of ground allspice, can I get away with an eighth cup, or even a quarter, of pepper?

I'm going to be using Kevin Liu's method for almost-instant allspice liqueur (everything but the sugar and water in a blender on low for five minutes), and I'll probably use Wray & Nephew White Overproof, maybe with some Gosling's thrown in.

Thanks,

r.

Edited March 8, 2013 by Rafa (log)

[Adam George]

I'm going to be using Kevin Liu's method for almost-instant allspice liqueur (everything but the sugar and water in a blender on low for five minutes), and I'll probably use Wray & Nephew White Overproof, maybe with some Gosling's thrown in.

Thanks,

r.

I can't comment on recipes, but that method is brilliant.

Has anyone tried rye in a Lion's Tale? I originally thought that the drink was about a play between the warmth of the bourbon and the warmth of the spices. But maybe it should be a contrast, playing spice against warmth. With a large amount of rye, I think this begs for a sipping-quality rye. Also, I'd love to hear from anyone else trying Becherovka. I thought it was wonderful (pat, pat, pat).

I don't have either in stock yet, but I may give it a try with some Swedish Punsch Liqueur when both it and St Elizabeth come in.

[FrogPrincesse]

Just saw this at the store. So they switched to a clear bottle from a dark one, but the product inside also looks quite a bit lighter. Reformulation?

[tbessie]

Adding to this old thread - does anyone know if choice of sugar makes a big difference? All the recipes say to use brown sugar; has anyone tried white sugar, tubinado sugar, etc?

 

- Tim

[Hassouni]

Adding to this old thread - does anyone know if choice of sugar makes a big difference? All the recipes say to use brown sugar; has anyone tried white sugar, tubinado sugar, etc?

 

- Tim

 

I use demerara (or turbinado) for everything that doesn't need to be clear, the flavor is much more interesting. I wouldn't use "brown sugar" though.

[tanstaafl2]

I use demerara (or turbinado) for everything that doesn't need to be clear, the flavor is much more interesting. I wouldn't use "brown sugar" though.

 

 

I would definitely agree. Turbinado/Demerara sugar, especially a rich 2:1 version is a lovely thing, at least in Tiki drinks. Never made my own Pimento Dram but I think it would work well in it.

[Hassouni]

I would definitely agree. Turbinado/Demerara sugar, especially a rich 2:1 version is a lovely thing, at least in Tiki drinks. Never made my own Pimento Dram but I think it would work well in it.

 

Mine is not much more that tons of allspice infused into Wray & Nephew, and sweetened with dem sugar. In fact, it might not be anything more than that (Can't remember, it's been a while since I made any)

[FrogPrincesse]

On ‎5‎/‎4‎/‎2013 at 10:46 PM, FrogPrincesse said:

Just saw this at the store. So they switched to a clear bottle from a dark one, but the product inside also looks quite a bit lighter. Reformulation?

 

Nobody commented and I am still troubled by this. The other change I've noticed is that the price seems to have increased significantly - I paid more than $30 for a new bottle (which is only 375 mL)! Anyway, I had no choice as I was out and didn't feel like trying to make my own.

 

I should have kept some from the old bottle but I didn't, so this is purely from memory.

The new product seems less viscous, a bit more citrus-forward, less intensely allspice flavored (to the point where the old product was borderline bitter/tannic). I think it will be actually a bit more mixable (I loved the old one but tended to reduce the amount as it was extremely concentrated!).

[Craig E]

Tonight I made a Mustache Ride, a Lion's Tail riff from Brad Thomas Parson's Amaro book. 

• 1 1/2 oz. Bulleit bourbon (4 Roses)
• 1/2 oz. Cynar
• 3/4 oz. lemon
• 1/2 oz. "Joey Sunshine's Maple Simple Syrup" (1/3 oz. maple syrup)
• 1/2 oz. St. Elizabeth allspice dram (homemade)
• cherry and lemon twist garnish

Flavors work together well, though there's no question that the allspice dram is the boss. The sweetener is supposed to be this complicated maple syrup syrup with black peppercorns, fennel seeds, cloves, allspice berries, cloves, nutmeg, star anise, and bay leaf. Sounds delish but I have my suspicions that in this drink those extra flavors would be either redundant with, or blown away by, the pimento dram.

Edited March 15, 2017 by Craig E (log)

[EvergreenDan]

I can't decide whether I would eat the lemon peel on the way to the Luxardo cherry or not. 1/2 oz of St Elizabeth is a lot. That stuff is very powerful.

[abenc85]

2 minutes ago, EvergreenDan said:

I can't decide whether I would eat the lemon peel on the way to the Luxardo cherry or not. 1/2 oz of St Elizabeth is a lot. That stuff is very powerful.

 

I don't think I've ever seen more than 1/4 oz called for in a recipe

[Craig E]

3 hours ago, EvergreenDan said:

1/2 oz of St Elizabeth is a lot. That stuff is very powerful.

I used my homemade version, following the Serious Eats recipe. I haven't had the bottled stuff so I'm not sure how the intensity compares, but as I said this was quite a "drammy" drink. Next time around I might try dialing it back. 

 

3 hours ago, abenc85 said:

I don't think I've ever seen more than 1/4 oz called for in a recipe

This Dead Man's Mule is terrific, and also calls for 1/2 oz. which to me wasn't too much when up against absinthe, orgeat, lime juice, and ginger beer.

[abenc85]

40 minutes ago, Craig E said:

This Dead Man's Mule is terrific, and also calls for 1/2 oz. which to me wasn't too much when up against absinthe, orgeat, lime juice, and ginger beer.

 

I have bookmarked this on the 1oz of Orgeat alone! Sounds incredible