Hot dram! Complex Jamaican liqueur's American revival captures imaginations of connoisseurs

When Eric Seed first informed his wife, Ellen, of his plans to introduce a liqueur known as pimento dram into the United States, her response made him realize that he might have a problem.

"Her face sort of twisted up, and she said, 'Pimento?' " says Seed, whose Edina, Minn. company, Haus Alpenz, imports and distributes sometimes obscure, small-production spirits.

Made with the pimento - a dried berry more commonly known as allspice - pimento dram is a traditional rum-based Jamaican liqueur. But as Seed's wife demonstrated, the name tends to summon unpleasant images of the briny red strips found in olives and, in much of the South, pimento cheese.

Many cocktail enthusiasts have been making their own homemade versions of pimento dram in recent years. Now Seed's pimento dram - called St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, produced in Austria - is available in the Bay Area.

While the name may be offputting, pimento dram's flavor is a different story. "Allspice brings with it all these different elements," says Martin Cate, who used homemade versions of pimento dram at Forbidden Island in Alameda but is now switching to Seed's version. "There's hints of anise, there's nutmeg qualities, there's cinnamon - I mean, that's the name, right? There's so much going on that it adds a layer of complexity and depth to the drink that, in some cases, is not necessarily definable."

While never common in the United States, pimento dram enjoyed a certain degree of popularity in the mid-20th century. Bartenders utilized the liqueur's spicy depth and evocative aroma in an array of cocktails, and it was an important ingredient in many of the exotic rum drinks and tiki punches served at establishments such as Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic's.

Regular imports dried up in the late 1970s and early '80s, but in recent years pimento dram has resurfaced as an object of fascination among classic-cocktail connoisseurs. Shoppers can occasionally procure bottles of Wray & Nephew's Berry Hill - a commercial product made in Jamaica - from online merchants, and do-it-yourself recipes appear on blogs such as the Gumbo Pages, published by Chuck Taggart, a Los Angeles-based cocktail aficionado.

Seed's St. Elizabeth uses dried Jamaican allspice berries (which Seed says have a stronger clove note than do the more common Mexican varieties), raw sugar and an intensely aromatic, pot-stilled Jamaican rum. He tried several homemade versions along with the Wray & Nephew product while developing his own version.

Cate, presumably the Bay Area's top pimento dram aficionado, says he's already a fan. "It's just sugar, rum and allspice berries - it's not doctored, and it's not padded out," he says. "The allspice is super potent and powerful, so there's this rich, wonderful spice with that numbing feel you get on your tongue after a while. It's got a strong bite, but it has this wonderful kind of floral, almost bubblegum nose from the rum."

Cate uses pimento dram in old-school tiki drinks such as an interpretation of the Nui Nui, a Don the Beachcomber concoction that dates to the 1930s, as well as in new drinks such as Lizzie's Pippin, made with apple brandy, apple cider and aged balsamic vinegar. At Christmastime, Cate served friends an apple brandy-based drink called the Reveillon, created by Chuck Taggart. Mixed with house-made pimento dram, the holiday drink was also served at Arnaud's French 75 Bar in New Orleans and Zig Zag Cafe in Seattle.

Zig Zag bartender Murray Stenson mixes pimento dram in cocktails such as the brandy-based None But the Brave and in a variation of the Northern Spy, an apple brandy-based drink created by Josey Packard of Alembic, on Haight Street. "I really like (pimento dram) with apple brandy or Calvados," Stenson says. "It gives it a baked apple taste that's pretty unique."

In larger doses, pimento dram contributes a richness to a drink evocative of autumn fruits and baking spices. In the drips and dashes with which it is typically deployed, however, the liqueur plays a much more subtle role.

"It's not entirely dissimilar from the use of bitters," Cate says. "It's a concentrated, intense flavor that can affect the depth and character of the whole drink."

While many in the cocktail community will still refer to pimento dram by its traditional moniker, Seed says he's heard a lot of support for his retooling of the name. He recounts, "One customer said, 'Look - that name may be a contributing factor for why it died the first time.' "
Lizzie's Pippin

Makes 1 drink

* 1 1/2 ounces Laird's Straight Apple Brandy
* 1 1/2 ounces organic apple juice
* 1/4 ounce St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
* 1/4 ounce wood-aged balsamic vinegar (6% acidity)
* 1/4 ounce simple syrup (2 parts sugar, 1 part water)
* -- Apple slices, for garnish

Instructions: Combine all the ingredients except the garnish in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with apple slices.

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