Every year around this time there are certain seasonal ingredients that I reach for time and time again: cranberries, maple syrup, cinnamon sticks, rosemary, amari… the list goes on. But right at the top is the subject of today’s Bottle Buy post: Allspice Dram. This liqueur is basically what it would taste like if you could bottle up the holidays, and adding just a bit to a cocktail makes it instantly festive.
Allspice Dram, also called Pimento Dram, is a liqueur flavored with allspice. Which may seem obvious from the name, but it wasn’t that long ago that I learned that allspice is its own spice, and not some combination of other spices. It’s an easy mistake to make given the fact that it really tastes like a combination of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. But it is in fact is the dried unripe berry of Pimenta dioica, which is native to Jamaica, where it is called pimiento. Unsurprisingly, Allspice Dram hails from the island as well, and it’s made by infusing Jamaican rum with the allspice berries and adding sweetener. It’s a Tiki staple, and is included in many classic recipes by Donn the Beachcomber and Trader Vic. But it was used in cocktails long before Tiki was invented, brought back from the Caribbean by early explorers who mixed it into punches and drinks.
Like many liqueurs, Allspice Dram disappeared from the market in the mid-twentieth century but has been revived in recent years. The first company to bring it back to market was Haus Alpenz, who makes the St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram that I have in my bar. It remains the easiest to find. But if you can’t get your hands on a bottle, you can also make your own.
I recommend Allspice Dram for your home bar because it’s so versatile and so perfect for winter cocktails. A quarter to half ounce will instantly make your Whiskey Sour or Margarita more seasonal and interesting. It’s fantastic in an Old Fashioned, a Hot Toddy, or a holiday punch. It would be great on ice cream or in dessert recipes that call for liqueur. And, best of all, St. Elizabeth is available in a 375 ml bottle as well as a standard 750 ml size, which is ideal for a liqueur that’s used in small quantities.
Allspice Dram
Price: $30 for 750 ml, $20 for 375 ml
Alcohol Content: 22.5%
Popular Cocktails: Lion’s Tail, Three Dots and a Dash, Navy Grog, Ancient Mariner
One of the most famous Allspice Dram cocktails is the Lion’s Tail. It’s a bit of an odd bird. Bourbon and Allspice Dram are delicious together, as are Allspice Dram and lime, but bourbon and lime is not a combination you see often. I think there’s reason for that; the ingredients in the Lion’s Tail don’t quite harmonize as well as I would like them to, which keeps it from being something I make time and time again. But it’s unique and a classic and certainly worth trying, especially as an introduction to Allspice Dram.
History: The Lion’s Tail is a prohibition-era drink. It first appears in print in 1937 in a British publication, the Café Royal Cocktail Book by W. J. Tarling. Tarling credits the cocktail to someone named L.A. Clarke. The Straight Up notes that bourbon was not easy to come by in London in 1937, as Prohibition had only ended five years prior and production had not yet ramped back up, so the drink may have been created much earlier. As for the name, Ted Haigh, author of Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, speculates that the name comes from the phrase “twisting the lion’s tail,” which was American slang for provoking or criticizing Great Britain.
Lion’s Tail
2 oz. bourbon
3/4 oz. Allspice Dram
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass or coupe.
Recipe adapted from Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails.