Homemade Allspice Dram is an essential ingredient in the best Fall co*cktails, and now you can make this spiced liqueur yourself, right at home using rum and whole spices.
Have you heard of Allspice Dram? If you’re hitting the co*cktail scene this month chances are you’ll run into this allspice liqueur.
I had no idea it existed until I was talking with my daughter’s boyfriend about fall drinks for this series of posts. They’re now settled in Madison Wisconsin and he’s working at a very cool farm-to-table restaurant and craft bar. I figure if anyone has their finger on the pulse of current fall spirits, he does. The minute he mentioned Allspice Dram, and told me that it was an allspice infused rum liqueur, I knew I had to try it.
Allspice is a Jamaican spice— the dried fruit, or berries, of the Pimenta dioica tree.
It’s widely used in Caribbean cooking, and the name comes from the fact that the English, who first tasted it back in the 16th century, found the flavor to be a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. I think to this day a lot of people avoid buying it because in the back of their mind they think it’s just a mix of common spices.
After looking in my local stores, I hit the mega liquor store BevMo. They didn’t have any either, and it’s out of stock on their website. Turns out this is somewhat of an elusive liqueur, sometimes available, sometimes not, so many bars make their own. If you like the flavor of spiced rum, you will love this.
This recipe is slightly adapted from Serious Eats. It’s simple to put together, and the hardest part is going to be waiting for it to ‘stew’. In the meantime I put together a fun list of fall co*cktails and drinks that use Allspice Dram, below. If you love the idea of making your own liqueur, try my Homemade Pumpkin Liqueur, my Homemade Irish Cream. or my Instant Pot Limoncello!
Homemade Allspice Dram
Homemade Allspice Dram is an essential ingredient in the best Fall co*cktails, and now you can make it yourself, right at home!
Prep Time:3 days days
Cook Time:10 minutes minutes
Total Time:3 days days 10 minutes minutes
Ingredients
- 1/8 cup whole allspice berries
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cup rum, you can use light or dark, I used dark
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
Instructions
Crush the allspice berries in a spice grinder, or with a mortar and pestle. You want them roughly cracked and crushed, don't grind them into a powder.
Put the allspice in a sealable glass jar, a mason jar is perfect.
Pour the rum in the jar, put the lid on, and give it a shake.
Let the rum sit for a day, then break up the the cinnamon stick and add it to the jar.
After 2 days, strain out the rum with a fine mesh strainer. Then put it through a coffee filter to filter out the smaller particles.
Meanwhile, bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes. Let cool, then mix into the infused rum. Pour into your final bottle and let rest for 2 days before using.
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Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: allspice, co*cktail mixer, co*cktails, dram, rum
Nutrition
Serving: 1 · Calories: 1198 kcal · Carbohydrates: 168 g · Protein: 2 g · Fat: 3 g · Saturated Fat: 1 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 0.2 g · Sodium: 84 mg · Potassium: 524 mg · Fiber: 8 g · Sugar: 142 g · Vitamin A: 170 IU · Vitamin C: 12 mg · Calcium: 363 mg · Iron: 4 mg
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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notes:
- This is a potent liqueur, and a little goes a long way. You won’t be guzzling this down on its own. The allspice gives it a powerful spicy kick, and the holiday-like flavors linger on your tongue.
- Recycle bottles in your kitchen, (my ‘infusing jar’ is a Classico spaghetti sauce jar) or find lots of interesting bottles here.
Fall co*cktails made with Allspice Dram:
The Boozy Mulled Cider
Northern Spy
The Soothsayer
The Pumpkin Flip
Black Wednesday
Fall Ginger Smash
Winter Waltz
The Lion’s Tail
Jalisco Pear
The Tackler
Hot Buttered Rum
Lizzie’s Pippin
Solstice
Cheers!
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FAQs
Combine the rum and crushed allspice berries in a quart-sized glass jar, seal the lid tightly and give it a good shake. Steep for 10 days. Strain the allspice-infused rum through a fine-mesh sieve into a small saucepan and add the sugar.
What is a substitute for allspice dram? ›
Allspice dram substitute
You can make a quick substitute for allspice dram with rum, Angostura bitters, and simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water). Combine 1 oz of white rum, 3/4 oz of simple syrup and 5 dashes of Angostura bitters. Use this in place of the allspice dram in your drink recipe.
Does allspice dram go bad? ›
It isn't going to spoil, but the flavor will change over time if you keep it too long.
What is allspice made of? ›
Allspice is the dried, unripened berry of the myrtle pepper tree, or pimento, which is native to Jamaica and much of Central America. The berries are briefly fermented, then sun-dried until brown. Often mistaken for a blend of spices, allspice is a single-ingredient seasoning with loads of unique flavor.
Is allspice dram the same as allspice liqueur? ›
If you thought a Pimento Dram was a shot of vodka with a piece of roasted red pepper thrown in as a garnish, think again. The pimento in question is actually an allspice berry. Granted, Allspice Liqueur sounds more palatable, but really both nomenclatures are interchangeable.
What is St Elizabeth's allspice dram? ›
This spicy liqueur is made by steeping pimento berries in Jamaican pot still rum. The Pimento Dram is a dried, unripened berry from a West Indian tree called Pimenta dioica, which is related to the eucalyptus.
What is the closest spice to allspice? ›
The brand also recommends using a trio of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves to make a substitute but prefers these ratios: ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves. Use as a 1:1 substitute in a recipe that calls for one teaspoon of allspice.
How do you recreate allspice? ›
While allspice is a spice on its own, not a blend, it's very easy to create a similar-tasting mixture with spices you already have in your kitchen. Whisk 3½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1¼ teaspoons ground nutmeg and a pinch of ground cloves, then use as a 1:1 replacement for ground allspice in a recipe.
Is pimento dram the same as allspice dram? ›
Pimento dram is an herbal liqueur with a rum base that is flavored with the distinct taste of allspice. Also called allspice dram, this is not a mixer that you'll find too often as you explore co*cktail recipes. However, its dark spice is essential to many of the best tiki co*cktails as well as cool-weather drinks.
Are 10 year old spices still good? ›
Dried herbs and spices don't truly expire or “go bad” in the traditional sense. When a spice is said to have gone bad, it simply means that it has lost most of its flavor, potency, and color. Fortunately, consuming a spice that has gone bad is unlikely to make you sick.
An allspice dram made without added simple syrup at bottling can last 1 to 2 years and it can be kept on your bar. However, if an allspice dram is bottled with the simple syrup, it should be used within 1 to 2 weeks and stored in the refrigerator.
Why is it called allspice dram? ›
English explorers coined the term allspice as the berry seemed to embody the flavors of cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, and clove all at once. On the Caribbean island of Jamaica, this distinctive liqueur has been produced for generations.
Does allspice have side effects? ›
Allspice is considered safe in small amounts. While anecdotal evidence suggests potential side effects, such as nausea, vomiting, and drug interactions, when it's consumed in large amounts, no scientific evidence supports these claims.
Can I use nutmeg instead of allspice? ›
Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Substitute the following for every 1 teaspoon allspice: ½ teaspoon cinnamon. ¼ teaspoon nutmeg. ¼ teaspoon cloves.
What spices are in McCormick allspice? ›
McCormick Culinary Ground Allspice features a woody flavor combination reminiscent of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sourced especially for chefs, McCormick Culinary Ground Allspice is carefully ground for authentic flavor and soft, consistent texture in any chef-inspired recipe.
What does Jamaican allspice have in it? ›
It is also called the Jamaica pepper, kurundu, and myrtle pepper. What spice is this? Allspice is made up of the dried berries of the plant Pimenta dioica. Some think allspice tastes like a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Is allspice dram sweet? ›
This allspice dram tastes like the holidays all bottled up. Sweet, and toasty baking spices, like cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and obviously allspice all melded together. Use this dram in all of your favorite tiki co*cktails!
What berry is allspice made from? ›
Also known as a Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, or pimento, allspice is the unripe fruit of the Pimenta dioica, an evergreen tree in the Myrtle family native to the West Indies, Southern Mexico, and Central America.
