Pimento Dram

[Chris Amirault]

Going to a party tonight and needed two bottled cocktails as contributions. Made a bottle of Jack Roses but wanted also to use some of the pimento dram. Since I had found some good juice oranges (a rarity here), I fiddled and came up with this cocktail, which I've named (with some trepidation) the Kingston Winter Cocktail:

2 oz rye (Rittenhouse)

3/4 oz pimento dram

3/4 oz orange juice

dash clementine bitters

[slkinsey]

Recently sampled some of Haus Alpenz's St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram at Death & Company, and picked up a bottle at Astor Wines & Spirits to use at home. Like everything in the Haus Alpenz portfolio, it is outstanding.

One of my first thoughts was that it reminded me of the "bay rum" aftershave my father used to wear sometimes when I was growing up. Bay rum is made with rum (originally) and the leaves/fruit of the West Indian Bay Tree (Pimenta racemosa) whereas pimento dram is made with rum and the fruit of the closely related Allspice Tree in the same genus (Pimenta dioica). I always wanted to know what that stuff would taste like.

As it turns out, Ted Haig's column in the most recent issue of [ur;=http://www.imbibemagazine.com/]Imbibe Magazine featured pimento dram, no doubt to coincide with the American rollout of St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram. It featured the Lion's Tail, which seems to be everyone's introductory pimento dram cocktail of choice, and a tiki drink by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry. Lion's Tail was nice, although I'm likely to dial back the pimento dram nex time around. At 2 ounces Wild Turkey 101 to 1/2 ounce pimento dram, the dram was still pretty overpowering.

[Mayur]

The St. Elizabeth's (as with homemade pimento dram) makes a nice benedictine substitute in a vieux carre. It also works nicely if you sub it in for half the usual mezcal in a jovencourt daiquiri or oaxaca old-fashioned.

[Mayur]

One of my first thoughts was that it reminded me of the "bay rum" aftershave my father used to wear sometimes when I was growing up.  Bay rum is made with rum (originally) and the leaves/fruit of the West Indian Bay Tree (Pimenta racemosa) whereas pimento dram is made with rum and the fruit of the closely related Allspice Tree in the same genus (Pimenta dioica).  I always wanted to know what that stuff would taste like.

(Confession: When the Old Bay Rum was available from the J Peterman catalog, I ordered some and ended up droppering it, bitters-style, into cocktails.)

[Mayur]

So lately with the St Elizabeth's (and I'm actually thinking that we need a new topic for it):

Rum Old-Fashioned (kinda)

2 oz. dark rum (used Zacapa 23 yr and Santa Teresa 1976 to equal success)

1/2 oz St Elizabeth's

1/4 oz simple

1/4 oz mezcal

1 dash Regan's

2 dashes chocolate bitters (Bittermens)

Stir with cracked ice, and strain into old-fashioned glass with ice (I use the huge-ass nearly-the-size-of-the-glass cube popular at numerous bars around here). Flame orange peel.

[perfumekev]

Yay

the St Elizabeth Allspice Dram is out!

This is fantastic stuff! it mixes so well with so many things.

from Haus Alpenz

you can order from LeNells and Shoppers Vineyard!

[Chris Amirault]

Just made another rum sour variation that I'm calling a Black Daq. I don't add any sweetener but you could dash in some 2:1 demerara syrup if you lose control of the lime.

1 1/2 oz Cruzan blackstrap rum

1 oz Lemon Hart demerara

1/2 oz pimento dram

1/2 oz lime (scant)

Hess house, Angostura, or Fee's whiskey barrel aged bitters (your call)

Shake, strain.

[Scotttos]

I made a quick and dirty variation of the Airmail last night just to see how the dram would work with champagne (it followed an ill conceived varition of a lemon juice-less french 75...). Turns out it works quite well : )

Dram Mail

2 oz White Rum (Brugal)

1/2 oz Honey Syrup (3:1 following This Man's lead)

1/2 oz Dram

Stir/Strain/Top with Champagne

I'll fiddle around with it tonight to see if some lime juice can fit in there, but off the cuff as is it was pretty tasty. They honey and dram together smelled (but did not taste) a lot like butterscotch.

Edited March 11, 2008 by Scotttos (log)

[eje]

About a quarter ounce of Pimento Dram in a Fluffy Ruffles variation is quite nice.

Say:

1 1/2 oz Aged Rum (like to try the elusive Scarlet Ibis here)

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

1/4 oz Pimento Dram

Lime Twist

Stir, strain, squeeze lime peel over drink.

[eje]

About a quarter ounce of Pimento Dram in a Fluffy Ruffles variation is quite nice.

[...]

←

Scored some of the Ibis today and thought of a particularly poignant name for the puppy this eve:

Ruffled Feathers

1 1/2 oz Scarlet Ibis Rum

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

1/4 oz Allspice Dram

Lime Twist

Stir, Strain, and squeeze lime peel over drink.

There's a bit of an empty spot in the mid to late tastes and I can't decide if it's a feature or an imperfection. So interesting with the lime out front in the scent and the spice in the early and late flavors. You kind of think, oh did I miss something, maybe I should have another sip. Be curious what anyone thinks.

[TMFIII]

About a quarter ounce of Pimento Dram in a Fluffy Ruffles variation is quite nice.

[...]

←

Scored some of the Ibis today and thought of a particularly poignant name for the puppy this eve:

Ruffled Feathers

1 1/2 oz Scarlet Ibis Rum

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

1/4 oz Allspice Dram

Lime Twist

Stir, Strain, and squeeze lime peel over drink.

There's a bit of an empty spot in the mid to late tastes and I can't decide if it's a feature or an imperfection. So interesting with the lime out front in the scent and the spice in the early and late flavors. You kind of think, oh did I miss something, maybe I should have another sip. Be curious what anyone thinks.

←

Erik, I'll give this one a shot tonight and report back to you. Any excuse to use the Ibis . . .

Cheers,

Marshall

[Scotttos]

About a quarter ounce of Pimento Dram in a Fluffy Ruffles variation is quite nice.

[...]

←

Scored some of the Ibis today and thought of a particularly poignant name for the puppy this eve:

Ruffled Feathers

1 1/2 oz Scarlet Ibis Rum

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

1/4 oz Allspice Dram

Lime Twist

Stir, Strain, and squeeze lime peel over drink.

There's a bit of an empty spot in the mid to late tastes and I can't decide if it's a feature or an imperfection. So interesting with the lime out front in the scent and the spice in the early and late flavors. You kind of think, oh did I miss something, maybe I should have another sip. Be curious what anyone thinks.

←

Erik, I'll give this one a shot tonight and report back to you. Any excuse to use the Ibis . . .

Cheers,

Marshall

←

Ditto, looks promising.

[TMFIII]

About a quarter ounce of Pimento Dram in a Fluffy Ruffles variation is quite nice.

[...]

←

Scored some of the Ibis today and thought of a particularly poignant name for the puppy this eve:

Ruffled Feathers

1 1/2 oz Scarlet Ibis Rum

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

1/4 oz Allspice Dram

Lime Twist

Stir, Strain, and squeeze lime peel over drink.

There's a bit of an empty spot in the mid to late tastes and I can't decide if it's a feature or an imperfection. So interesting with the lime out front in the scent and the spice in the early and late flavors. You kind of think, oh did I miss something, maybe I should have another sip. Be curious what anyone thinks.

←

Gave this little concoction a try last night. In the name of full disclosure, I was already a but tipsy from returning from a firm happy hour and I'm not a big fan of vermouth . . . I know, I know, sacrilege. But I digress.

The first thing that caught me off guard a bit was the nose of the drink. The lime oils and pimento dram shine through with a warm citrus profile. Upon first sip the first thing I tasted was the vermouth. (Probably my aversion/sensitivity to vermouth.) The second sip brought forth the warmth of the rum and the spicyness of the dram. Very pleasing.

All in all, I think it was a pretty good drink. For my own future trials, I will dial down the vermouth a bit (3/4 oz?) or use much better vermouth. This seems to be screeming Vya . . .

Cheers!

Marshall

[Chris Amirault]

I've got a co-conspirator here, and we're making some dram. I scored a bottle of LH 151 so I'm going to be using that along with some Wray & Nephew. I'm also cutting back on sugar (I thought it was too sweet), bumping up the nutmeg, and cutting out the Angostura.

Steep for two weeks:

1 c Lemon hart 151 demerara rum

1/2 c Wray & Nephew overproof rum

1/2 c allspice berries, crushed

5 black pepper berries, crushed

5 cloves, crushed

2 cinnamon sticks, broken

2 nutmegs, crushed

Strain. Add:

1 c Lemon Hart 80 demerara rum

simple made with 1 lb of demerara sugar & 2 c water

[Keith Orr]

I've got a co-conspirator here, and we're making some dram. I scored a bottle of LH 151 so I'm going to be using that along with some Wray & Nephew. I'm also cutting back on sugar (I thought it was too sweet), bumping up the nutmeg, and cutting out the Angostura.

Steep for two weeks:

1 c Lemon hart 151 demerara rum

1/2 c Wray & Nephew overproof rum

1/2 c allspice berries, crushed

5 black pepper berries, crushed

5 cloves, crushed

2 cinnamon sticks, broken

2 nutmegs, crushed

Strain. Add:

1 c Lemon Hart 80 demerara rum

simple made with 1 lb of demerara sugar & 2 c water

←

That seems like a lot of nutmeg, although I notice it's double what you had in an earlier batch. I find a little nutmeg goes a long way, even though I like it.

So how strong is the nutmeg in the finished product? How are you crushing the nutmeg and how fine are the pieces?

[Chris Amirault]

I feel like the earthiness of nutmeg could be a stronger undertone in the most recent batch, so I wanted to double it. We crushed them into broken-rice-grain size. It's now steeping in the cupboard, so I won't have an answer on flavor for a few weeks.

[maks_p]

2 oz. Appleton V/X

1/2 oz. lime juice

1/2 oz. yellow chartreuse

1/2 oz. St. E Allspice Dram

Still playing with the proportions a little, but I like the combination.

Edited November 16, 2008 by maks_p (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

I know it goes against the received wisdom, but I recommend against using Demerara rums in any liqueur project, pimento dram included. It's distinctive character, lovely though it may be, can create compatibility issues, flavor-wise, with other ingredients. I recommend mixing WNOP and dark Jamaican rum of your choice in equal measure to create a robust 100 proof dark rum that will give the end product much more versatility when matching with other ingredients.

[brinza]

I managed to get a hold of a bottle of the St. Elizabeth recently. It turns an ordinary hot toddy into something really special. I noticed too that a little of this liqueur really goes a long way. Using it is almost like working with bitters. It doesn't take much for it to make its presence known. I expect the bottle to last quite some time, which is a good thing.

[Chris Amirault]

I know it goes against the received wisdom, but I recommend against using Demerara rums in any liqueur project, pimento dram included. It's distinctive character, lovely though it may be, can create compatibility issues, flavor-wise, with other ingredients. I recommend mixing WNOP and dark Jamaican rum of your choice in equal measure to create a robust 100 proof dark rum that will give the end product much more versatility when matching with other ingredients.

←

I had done the W&N version before and wanted to try the double demerara version this time around. I may end up cutting it with some of the W&N later, but because that's 126 proof and not 151 I went with the extracting power of the LH 151 demerara for steeping.

[plattetude]

Just dropped a boatload of $ at a liquor store and finally picked up St. Elizabeth. I'm excited to sub it for Benedictine for one of my recent (unnamed) concoctions --

2 oz Laird's bonded

1/2 oz R&W Orchard Apricot

rinse of St. Elizabeth

2 dashes Peychauds

If that doesn't evoke falling leaves and nippy weather, dunno what will!

Christopher

[thirtyoneknots]

I know it goes against the received wisdom, but I recommend against using Demerara rums in any liqueur project, pimento dram included. It's distinctive character, lovely though it may be, can create compatibility issues, flavor-wise, with other ingredients. I recommend mixing WNOP and dark Jamaican rum of your choice in equal measure to create a robust 100 proof dark rum that will give the end product much more versatility when matching with other ingredients.

←

I had done the W&N version before and wanted to try the double demerara version this time around. I may end up cutting it with some of the W&N later, but because that's 126 proof and not 151 I went with the extracting power of the LH 151 demerara for steeping.

←

Having made it both ways, I found no appreciable difference in the allspice flavor's intensity, although to be safe I increased the steeping time on the WNOP by about 1/3. Also, having tasted it side-by-side with the Wray & Nephew Berry Hill, I'd say that when made with 50/50 WNOP/Meyers, the homemade stuff is close enough to merely pass for a different brand of commercial Pimento Liqueur of comparable quality. Haven't tried the St. Elizabeth though, and if it's really going for $30/375 ml, I'm unlikely to do so anytime soon; I could make half a gallon of it myself for that price.

ETA: Wouldn't it be nice if Wray & Nephew would release an aged overpoof? That stuff they bottle now would so heavenly with 8 years on it I bet.

Edited November 17, 2008 by thirtyoneknots (log)

[Friend of the Farmer]

My last bottle of the St Elizabeth Allspice Dram was $27.99 for 750ml from Shopper's Vinyard in NJ. We polished that off last weekend making Lion's Tail cocktails and mulled cider the prior. I'll likely get a half bottle at Crush Wine ($21 there) with wine for Thanksgiving unless I do a mail order haul from SV or DrinkUpNY.

The Berry Hill product sold today is not the same as Pimento of years ago. It's been reported on other forums that it's now made with GNS and molasses. Still a tasty product, but not what it once was. I've been a fan of Chuck Taggart's recipes and done a few variations on; next want to rif the St E if I can find some funky pot-still rum.

[Keith Orr]

I've got a co-conspirator here, and we're making some dram. I scored a bottle of LH 151 so I'm going to be using that along with some Wray & Nephew. I'm also cutting back on sugar (I thought it was too sweet), bumping up the nutmeg, and cutting out the Angostura.

Steep for two weeks:

1 c Lemon hart 151 demerara rum

1/2 c Wray & Nephew overproof rum

1/2 c allspice berries, crushed

5 black pepper berries, crushed

5 cloves, crushed

2 cinnamon sticks, broken

2 nutmegs, crushed

Strain. Add:

1 c Lemon Hart 80 demerara rum

simple made with 1 lb of demerara sugar & 2 c water

←

That seems like a lot of nutmeg, although I notice it's double what you had in an earlier batch. I find a little nutmeg goes a long way, even though I like it.

So how strong is the nutmeg in the finished product? How are you crushing the nutmeg and how fine are the pieces?

←

I can't get Wray and Nephew Overproof. Given the comments about using demerara, I was wondering what folks thought about using Cruzan Clipper at 120 proof to come up with a less rummy product at about the same proof?

[Kent Wang]

St. Elizabeth just hit Spec's here in Texas.

Wow, it tastes great. I could totally see it in eggnog.

Lion's Tail is pretty good. Any other recommendations?