Allspice Dram...
Your complete guide to what it is, how to make it and the best cocktails to try it in
Whether you’re into the craft cocktail scene, love the whole tropical or tiki vibe, or you’re simply looking for a little taste of fall in a glass, Allspice Dram delivers on all fronts.
Sometimes known as Pimento Dram or Allspice Liqueur (or a combination thereof), they’re all the same thing – a liqueur that’s been made by infusing pot-stilled Jamaican rum with pimento berries – producing a deep, dark and dare I say, ‘mysterious’ cocktail modifier. Used as a dry counterpoint to the sweeter ingredients found in many Caribbean and exotic style drinks, it’s one of the vital ingredients in tiki legend Don the Beachcomber’s secret Spices #2.
In this article we’ll give you everything you need to know about this intense and versatile liqueur, from how to make it – three versions: slow infusion, almost-instant, and non-alcoholic – the best brands to buy, substitutes for if you’re in a pinch, and of course how best to use it in cocktails.
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First off, what is Allspice?
Native to the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, it’s one of the most prevalent spices found within Caribbean cooking. If you’ve ever eaten Jamaican Jerk or Mexican Moles, then you’ll have already tried allspice. Often misconceived as a collection of spices blended together, it’s actually the dried berries of the Pimenta Dioica tree.
The locals called it ‘pimiento’, but in the early 1500’s, when seafaring British explorers tried it for the first time (during Christopher Columbus’ second journey to the New World) and tasted the flavors of of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove all in one place, they of course re-named it ‘allspice’.
With such deep seated culinary roots, you can see how this spice moved naturally from food to drinks, making its way from the table into local rum based infusions. From there it was only a hop and a skip to craft cocktail forerunners Donn Beach and Trader Vic using it in their Caribbean inspired libations.
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Why use Pimento Dram in cocktails?
A tiki staple, it brings island notes to those summer classics and with its nose of autumn fruits and warm baking spices it’s an essential ingredient in all the best Fall and Christmas cocktails. Originally used in rum drinks as a spicy background element, Pimento Dram is an intricate modifier that adds complexity and depth to any drink.
Closer to a bitter than anything else, it acts almost like seasoning in a meal. Using it subtly, adding just the right amount to a cocktail without overpowering it can take a bit of practice – but damn it’s worth the effort!
Oh, and don’t drink it neat. If you do, you’ll pull an involuntary pirate face and your tongue will go numb. No really! Haha… in fact, try it! 
Best Allspice Drams available to buy
Back in the ‘80s, Pimento Dram was incredibly hard to come by. Wray & Nephew, the only commercial producer at the time, had stopped all exportation to the U.S. It wasn’t until 2008 that wider access to this wonderful liqueur opened back up thanks to Haus Alpenz importing the Austrian made St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram.
These days we’re lucky to have a few more options available to us – we’ve outlined three of the most popular below. Just remember that when gauging one against another, the original allspice liqueurs were all ‘house’ recipes with their own unique ingredients and combinations, so there’s no ‘one true’ flavor profile. Personal taste is going to play a big part in finding what works best for you.
The Bitter Truth Pimento Dram
Created in Germany in 2006 by enthusiasts turned professionals, Stephan Berg and Alexander Hauck, it sits at a comfortable 22% alcohol by volume (44% proof). They started out making their own bitters at the bars they worked in due to the lack of quality commercial options available. The Bitter Truth Pimento Dram was a natural next step for them.
Strong allspice nose. Thinner in body than some. It’s intensely spicy, with the clove bursting to the fore, backed up by notes of cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper. The bitterness of the spice is balanced nicely by the sweetness of the syrup, and if you drink enough of it you’ll get that pleasant tongue numbing quality unique to allspice.
St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
Introduced in 2008 by Haus Alpenz, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram is bottled at 22.5% alcohol by volume (45% proof) and has a body more typical of a liqueur than the Bitter Truth. Dark bronze in color with a ruby tint, it tastes strongly of allspice, pungent clove and dark berry fruits, backed with layers of demerara and floral tones of the rum.
The focus is clearly on the assertive allspice and herbs, softened as they build towards a healthy bite of apple pie with a dusting of light brown sugar.
Just hand me that bottle now, I’m getting hungry! 🥧
Hamilton Pimento Dram
Created by Ed Hamilton of ‘Ministry of Rum’ fame, the Hamilton Pimento Dram is a blend of molasses fermented pot stilled rums from the Worthy Park Estate.
Made from fresh Jamaican pimento it’s ground and blended in a tank of light rum, then after seven days it’s filtered and the sugar and water are slowly added until the ABV is lowered to 30% (60% proof). No colourings are added within the process.
Less bracing than the St. Elizabeth, less heat and not as syrupy, it has a funkier nose and is very full flavored. Robust and round it comes across as more refined, meaning it’s far less likely to overpower a drink. However, if you’re used to the sweetness of either the Bitter Truth or the St. Elizabeth, you may want to add a ¼ oz of demerara syrup to your recipe when using the Hamiltons.
So why make your own Allspice Dram rather than buy it?
With such an easy process and the only real cost being the rum, the question is, why wouldn’t you? You get to have it on hand whenever you need it, you can tweak the flavor profile to fit exactly what floats your boat and of course you get massive kudos from your cocktail loving friends! So dig in and start on one of our easy to follow recipes today – and make sure you stock-up on Allspice Berries! 
For when you need that Pimento Dram recipe to hand…
Homemade Allspice Dram
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Allspice Berries (approx 25g)
- 1 cup 151 Overproof Rum (approx 236 ml) - a demerara is perfect
- ¼ cup Appleton 12 year old Rum (approx 60 ml)
- 1 ½ cup Demerara or Turbinado Sugar (approx 340g) - exact weight will vary dependent on type of sugar and how tightly packed it is
- 1 ½ cup Water (approx 354 ml)
Method
- Lightly toast the allspice berries until they start releasing their aroma. Do not burn them! Allow to cool then crush them into a rough powder.
- Combine the allspice with the rums in a sterilized airtight jar and let the mixture steep for 10-days in a cool dry spot away from daylight. Give it a good shake daily.
- Strain the spiced rum mixture through triple layered cheesecloth (or muslin) into a jug. Give it a squeeze at the end to get all the liquid out. If the liquid is still cloudy, restrain through a wettened coffee filter. Don't be tempted to taste it, it'll numb your tongue and make your face go 'gnnnngghh' 🤤
- Make a simple syrup (1:1 ratio) by adding your sugar and water to a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is clear once more (about 5 mins). Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Combine your spiced rum infusion with the simple syrup in a sterilised glass bottle with an airtight seal. Give it a good shake to mix it all up.
- Now, the hard bit... leave for around a month in a cool, dark place. During this time the flavors will blend and mellow nicely, producing a far more balanced profile.
Notes
'Almost-Instant' Allspice Dram
Ingredients
- ½ cup Allspice Berries (approx 50g)
- 6 Black Peppercorns
- 10 Whole Cloves
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- ½ a whole Nutmeg
- 1 cup 151 Overproof Rum (approx 236 ml) - a demerara works really well
- 1 ¼ cup White Granulated Sugar (approx 300 ml)
- 1 ¼ cup Water (approx 300ml)
Method
- Combine all the spices and the rum in a blender. Blend on low for 5 mins. Whilst you're waiting, start on the next step.
- Make a 1:1 simple syrup by adding your sugar and water to a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is clear once more (about 5 mins). Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Strain the spice and rum mixture through triple layered cheesecloth (or muslin) into a jug. Give it a good squeeze at the end to get all the flavoursome liquid out. Bearing in mind the final mixture is a dark cloudy brown, you're never going to get a clear liquid from this, however, if it's still too cloudy for your liking, strain it a second time.
- Combine your spiced rum infusion with the simple syrup in a sterilised glass bottle. Give it a good shake.
Notes
Allspice Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Allspice Berries (approx ½ oz) - OR, use 1 teaspoon of pre-ground allspice powder
- 2 cups White Granulated Sugar (approx 400g)
- 2 cups Water (approx 473ml)
Method
- Pulverize the allspice berries in a spice or coffee grinder until you have a fine powder (around 20 seconds should do). If you're using pre-ground powder then you've nothing to do at this step!
- Add your ground allspice to a saucepan with the sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved and the water has turned brown and clear (making a 1:1 simple syrup).
- Lower the heat, cover the saucepan and simmer gently for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat, keep it covered and allow the mixture to steep for 45 minutes.
- Strain your infusion through cheesecloth (or muslin) to remove the ground allspice powder and then decant into a sterilised glass bottle.
Notes
Accept no substitute… Shop our original Allspice designs
Allspice Substitutes
The best quality allspice berries have a really high percentage of volatile oils within them – these are what we’re extracting through the infusion processes described in the recipes above. However, once the berries have been ground, the oils will dissipate quickly (hence why berries are better than using pre-ground powder) and their flavors will be lost after a few weeks or months.
So if you don’t have any allspice to hand or you only have some old pre-ground powder, and you’re in a real hurry to whip up a batch of ‘Almost-Instant Allspice Dram’, what can you use instead?
Simply grind up cinnamon, nutmeg and clove and use at a 1:1:1 ratio – making sure that the measure is based on the same amount of ground product, eg. 1 tbsp of each. A dash of ground black pepper will also bring up the kick. This’ll get you pretty close to the expected flavor profile of real allspice.
And if you’re really desperate – you’ve just GOT to have that ‘Three Dots and a Dash’ pre-mix ready for tonight’s party! – and you’re scrabbling around in the back of your larder for ingredients, then pumpkin or apple pie spice mixes will do in a pinch. Most of the time they have cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in, plus they’ll also have allspice, which is a win.
To be honest, most grocery stores these days sell pimento berries or the ground equivalent, so you really do have to be full-on desperate to start using pie mixes instead – but hey, we’re not gonna get all Judgie McJudgerson about needing a cocktail fix in a hurry 😉🍹🌴
Top 5 Allspice Dram Cocktails
- Jaspers Jamaican – Hailing from Montego Bay, Jamaica, it’s a simple drink that allows the Allspice to come into its own without dominating the other flavours. A personal favorite, it’s quite forgiving of those with a lazy pour
, allowing you to spice it up or down according to taste.
- Rum Barrel – Blended. Full of rum (and about 12 other ingredients!). In a barrel. ‘Nuff said.
- Three Dots and a Dash – Morse code for ‘Victory’! A must try blended tiki classic.
- Ancient Mariner – Beachbum Berry’s initial reproduction of Trader Vic’s Navy Grog (which was itself a reproduction of Don the Beachcomber’s Navy Grog. Ya get me?)
- Lion’s Tail – Derived from American slang for provoking the British, ‘twisting the lion’s tail’. It’s a prohibition sour, spiced up with that all important tiki ingredient – Pimento Liqueur.
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