Post #155533 by Dr.Cocktail on Thu, Apr 28, 2005 12:55 PM

Hakalugi beseeched me to reply to this thread, so here I am!

Yes, Pimento Dram MUST be rum-based. It was as a folk liqueur, it was when Sangster's made it, and it is in the Wray & Nephew incarnation.

The reason the recipe calls for 151 Demerara is the high proof of the rum makes for very efficient flavor extraction and allows for better control of the eventual proof. Personally, in the best of all worlds, I think the rum to use would be a combo of W&N Overproof and Myers's. That said, I sampled Chuck Taggart's last batch and found it almost perfect. Really, you could screw around with the formula forever (especially with MY harebrained theories) but in a tasting of the Real Thing and Chuck's batch...man, in a drink I don't think you could even tell the difference. So...everyone descend on http://www.gumbopages.com/ and let him know the Tiki hordes are outside him door with torches and pitchforks awaiting his final formula!

thine,
--Doc.