Allspice Dram
A spiced rum-based liqueur infused with allspice berries and warming spices - a tiki-bar staple also known as pimento dram.
Origin
Jamaica, where 19th-century distillers infused local pot-still rum with the island's abundant pimento (allspice) berries.
History
Allspice dram, also called pimento dram, dates back to Jamaican rum producers infusing pimento berries into pot-still rum sometime in the 1800s. It circulated as an ingredient in classic tiki-era recipe books through the mid-20th century, but genuine bottlings largely disappeared from the American market by its final decades, leaving bartenders to either skip it or improvise their own infusions. St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, produced by the Austrian distillery Purkhart, revived a commercial version in 2008, closely modeled on the traditional Jamaican style, and it quickly became a staple in the craft cocktail revival's renewed interest in tiki drinks.
Flavor profile
Warm baking-spice sweetness (clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper) layered over a smoky, funky Jamaican pot-still rum base.
Tasting notes
Clove and warm baking spice lead, with a rummy, slightly funky rum character underneath and a lingering peppery heat. It's used in small amounts, a few dashes to half an ounce, to add depth and spice to tiki drinks and fall-leaning cocktails rather than as a base spirit.
Substitutes
- A homemade allspice-infused simple syrup with a splash of dark rum, as a rough approximation when no dram is on hand.
- A dash of allspice-forward bitters plus a touch of extra dark rum, in a genuine pinch.
- Clove-forward orgeat or a spiced syrup, in drinks where a milder version of the same warmth will do.
Common cocktails