Widow's Laurel (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

There's an old calvados recipe called the Widow's Kiss that I'm sure I've made in all my years of blogging. Can't find it right now, but I'm sure it will turn up. This variation is supposedly less boozy, but you can't really tell. It is intensely bitter and spicy with sweet vermouth, allspice dram and Drambuie together in one cocktail. 

Almost like an apple brandy Manhattan, this is a long and deep drink that will take you a while. It is perfect for a cold evening after dinner...or before.

• 2 oz. calvados (Laird's applejack 86 used)
• 1/2 oz. Drambuie
• 1/2 oz. Antica formula vermouth (Cocchi dopo teatro used)
• 1 tsp. allspice dram (homemade used)
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 3 brandied cherries on a pick

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with the cherries. 

Tom Bomb (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This cocktail is pretty sweet with orgeat, Donn's spices (allspice dram) and honey syrup. I think that was what was needed to overpower the rank nose of Ransom Old Tom gin. Yes, this cocktail takes an acquired taste like Ransom and turns it into a "bomb" drink that will easily destroy anyone. All it took was three forms of sugar and some pretty wild flavors.

Donn's Spices is a mix of St. Elizabeth allspice dram and vanilla syrup. I used my own allspice dram and vanilla vodka mixed with cane sugar syrup for this recipe. My homemade orgeat spoiled, however, so I bought Fee's from my local wine shop. While it isn't my cognac orgeat, I had said before making the last batch that I was done squeezing almonds to make syrup; and their slogan is "Don't squeeze use Fee's." So I did.

• 1 1/2 oz. Ransom Old Tom (Homemade Schiedam gin used)
• 1/4 oz. Donn's Spices (50/50 vanilla syrup and allspice dram)
• 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/4 oz. orgeat (Fee's used)
• 1/4 oz. acacia honey syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker whit ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktial glass. 

Circe (Original Recipe)

 

It stands to reason that a Calypso cocktail needs a companion cocktail named Circe. These are the exotic demi-gods of Homer's Odyssey and the only women that delay Odysseus on his journey home from Troy. 

The Calypso cocktail is very Tiki and is loaded with pineapple juice, rum and spiced with falernum and nutmeg. I went in a different direction for Circe--not as sweet and a little challenging. Lime and grapefruit juice keep it tart while MurLarkey three tea whiskey and my homemade allspice dram shift the bitter and spice notes to other tropical islands.

The combination is seductive but a little bit tart, just like Circe. The half-submerged grapefruit twist garnish hints at things lurking beneath the dark sea.

• 1 oz. white rum (Mt. Defiance used)
• 1 oz. MurLarkey three tea whiskey
• .5 oz. allspice dram
• .5 oz. lime juice
• 1 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• Cherry and grapefruit twist garnishes

 Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and double strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a grapefruit twist and cherry speared on a cocktail pick.

 

Village To Village (Death & Co. Recipe)

There's villages and boroughs in New York, where Death & Co. began its mission to bring about craft cocktails. Tequila and rum comes from villages, too. And look how pretty, how relaxed this cocktail is. It's the balm from the tropics that salves that weary city dweller. 

I've made my own ingredients in this cocktail as usual. This is my allspice dram, a rum based and brown sugar liqueur, and my own ginger brandy that I used to flavor my syrup for this drink. 

The overall effect is kind of a fall or winter drink with apple and allspice and ginger. Angostura bitters lift the scent and add more allspice and cinnamon to the nose and the first sips.

• 1 1/2 oz. blanco tequila (El Jimador used)
• 1/2 tsp. allspice dram (homemade used)
• 1 1/2 oz. fuji apple juice
• 12 oz. acacia honey syrup
• 1/2 oz. teaspoon ginger syrup (simple and ginger brandy used)
• garnsih 2 dashes Angostura bitters and mint sprig

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with three ice cubes. Shake to combine and strain into a pilsner (rocks glass used) Garnsih with bitters and the mint sprig. 

 

Winter (Difford's Guide Recipe)

 

Allspice, ginger, rich rum--what else do you need to make a cocktail taste like all the flavors we love in winter? I'm a big fan of this drink, mostly because it is another one of the great cocktails I've found on Difford's guide that combine tiki ingredients and a classic cocktail feel. You get the coup presentation with a simple piece of candied ginger garnish. Then there's the dark, colonial style rum and all the burst of the tropics from allspice dram and Angostura bitters. 

I'm showing off George Bowman's small batch rum in this cocktail. The Bowman distillery in Virginia doesn't make their own rum, but they bottle this blend from the Caribbean. It tastes a lot like Jamaican or Guyana, so very spicy and heavy oak and vanilla notes. It is the kind of thing you expect colonial Americans to pay top dollar for during the rum trade.

There's still a few months of winter left, so be sure to make this cocktail and enjoy it. Of course you could do it in the summer, but I'd rather make it a Swizzle with the same ingredients. That would absolutely work. 

• 2 oz. dark Jamaican rum (Bowman's used)
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. sugar syrup
• 1/6 oz. (2 tsp.) ginger brandy (homemade used)
• 1/6 oz. (2 tsp.) pimento dram/ allspice dram (homemade used)
• dash Angostura bitters
• piece of candied ginger

Combine liquid ingreients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with piece of ginger.

Flannel (Difford's Guide Recipe)

 

Difford's Guide says that the Flannel is a good fall-weather drink, and it is. I was drawn to it because it has a lot of flavors we associate with cold weather drinks and punch. There's allspice dram (also known as pimento dram), orange zest, and cognac. 

There's even an unusual ingredient--apple sugar syrup. This can be made in several ways. First, by cooking sugar in an apple cider solution to make the syrup. You can also macerate apples in sugar and use the drippings. I did a quick and dirty shortcut by adding applejack to my simple syrup. That was an easy way to get this drink to the table and into me!

• 1 1/2 oz. cognac (Martell single distillery used)
• 1/2 oz. pimento dram (homemade allspice dram used)
• 1/2 oz. apple sugar syrup
• 1/2 oz. orange juice
• orange zest twist. 

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into an Old Fashioned glass with a large format ice cube. Garnish with the orange twist.

 

Zombo (Original Recipe)

Wait! Isn't that tequilla and whiskey in the photo? 

Why yes! Corralejo is my favorite tequila. And it just stands to reason that it would make an excellent Zombie with its caramel notes and rich body. This is my own tiki creation based on a simple zombie recipe. The spices mean a lot in this drink. Allspice and cinnamon are added in liquor form, as is anise in the form of Pernod. Luxardo maraschino makes an appearance, as does triple sec.

There isn't usually any pineapple juice in a Zombie, but that's the beauty of making your own cocktail. You can do what you want. And at the time I wanted tequila and a reason to use up a fresh pineapple. Yes I squeezed it by hand, but if you are blending, just throw the pineapple pieces into the mix and buzzzz!

Ok. Try to keep up. Here's what you need to make this.

• 1 1/2 oz. tequila
• 1 oz. light rum
• 1/4 oz. 151-proof rum
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/4 oz. MurLarkey cinnamon whiskey
• several dashes allspice dram
• several dashes Pernod
• pineapple spear and leaves

Combine all ingredient except pineapple spear and leaves in a shaker or blender. After shaking/blending, pour into a cool tiki mug and garnish with pineapple.

Kingston #1

 

I was really excited to make this drink because it is an unusual pairing of rum with kummel. You don't see that every day. I was also eager to try my own allspice dram (in the Monkey 47 bottle with the allspice label) This drink uses allspice dram (also known as pimento dram) as a sweetener and a substitute for Angostura bitters.

I was not disappointed. This cocktail is bold wtih a ton of tropical and European spices fighting for attention. The allspice dram is appropriately sweet and provides the sugar, while orange juice gives the kummel and allspice space so that you can taste them. Kummel is also sweet and lends a honey richness that is hard to pin down but familiar all the same.

You'd think with all that going on, I wouldn't be able to taste a quality rum. Not so! Vitae Barrel Aged rum is finished in bourbon barrels. It's my sipping rum, and I'm glad I used it here. Everything about this drink suggests a labor of love. You really have to pause and appreciate the richness it offers.

•  1 1/2 oz. dark rum (Vitae barrel aged used)
• 3/4 oz. kummel
• 3/4 oz. orange juice
• several dashes allspice dram

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

DIY Allspice Dram

I've got lots of time on my hands and a stockpile of basic liquors from which I can produce a variety of specialty items. This summer, I decided it would be nice to have allspice dram for tiki cocktails. Allspice Dram has  tropical spice profile similar to Angostura Bitters, but it is less bitter and more forgiving if you overpour. In fact it is delicious by itself, and some drinks can be done with allspice dram as the principal spirit.

Making allspice dram requires more patience than many other liqueurs, especially those made of fresh ingredients. The allspice flavor comes from infusing dried allspice berries, and that takes time. The spirit has to be rum, but preferably a 100-proof rum with a little character, so something slightly aged. Demerara rum is probably the best option, but if you only have white rum, a higher proof means a better infusion and a higher proof for your liqueur.

• 1/4 cup allspice berries
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar 
• 2 cups 100-proof rum

This simple infusion starts with toasting 1/4 cup allspice berries in a saucepan (medium-high heat) for about five minutes. This releases a lot of the flavor and it will make your kitchen smell amazing. Allow the berries to cool before crushing them with a mortar and pestle or by using a rolling pin on a cutting board. I've had some success with a large wooden spoon.

Put the berries and rum in a sealable jar and store it in a dark place for 15 days or longer. Give the jar a shake every few days to stir things up.

After the infusion is complete, strain out the solids and pour the infusion into a sauce pan. Heat on medium (higher heat evaporates too much of the alcohol) and add the brown sugar. Stir slowly for fifteen minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved. After the liqueur is cool you can store it in a bottle for six months. Flavor appreciably dissipates after this time.