Firewater Friday - Homemade Pimento (Allspice) Dram

Pimento dram is a simple liqueur flavored with allspice berries. You may associate pimentos with olives, but those are pimento peppers.  It is called pimento dram because it is made with allspice which is the berry from the pimento tree.  

Pimento dram is strong, dark and spicy.  Unfortunately, it is not widely available in the United States but it is easy to make. 

All it takes is the ingredients and time.  


Pimento Dram

1 1/2 Cups White Rum
1/3 Cup Allspice Berries
1 Pound Brown Sugar
2 Cups Water



















Lightly crush the allspice berries.  You can place them in a plastic bag and run a rolling pin over them.  I used an old-fashioned coffee grinder.  

Place the crushed berries in a glass jar along with the rum. Let this infuse for about 10 days to 2 weeks. Strain the mixture through cheese cloth or a nylon stocking.

In a saucepan, add the brown sugar and water and heat until dissolved to create a brown sugar syrup. Allow the brown sugar syrup to cool completely.

Add the brown sugar syrup to the rum, and allow the mixture to rest for another 2 to 4 weeks.

The longer it sits the more mellow it gets.  You can add other spices like cinnamon or clove or cardamom. 

Try it in coffee or apple cider or as a mixer in cocktails!

Firewater Friday - Spice Infused Rum

Homemade spiced rum is very easy to make . . . all it requires is time for all the spices to do their magic.  After a couple of minutes of work and two weeks of waiting and you end up with a tasty rum that can't be beat.  

Spice Infused Rum

32 oz. White Rum
2 Cinnamon Whole Sticks 
1 Vanilla Bean
8 - 10 Whole Allspice Berries
8 - 10 Whole Cloves
1 Orange Orange, Zested

When you peel the orange make sure you get only the zest . . . not the pith, which is the white part underneath the skin.

Break the cinnamon stick into pieces but do not grind it up and add to a one quart jar.  Add the rest of the spices and the rum.  

Shake, shake, shake the jar.  Then shake the jar vigorously a couple times a day for two weeks.





The rum will get darker and darker ever day as the spices infuse into the rum.  

Strain the rum into another jar, flask, bottle.  I use a nylon stocking for a filter, but you can use cheesecloth or a coffee filter.  I like the stocking because it stretches over the mouth of the jar or around the lip of a funnel . . . it's far more flexible and easier to use.

Ta da!  Spiced rum!

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