Post #304710 by PiPhiRho on Mon, May 7, 2007 5:14 PM

I had to make a syrup. I made the syrup myself, not really expecting much of a result but it actually came out better then I expected on the first try. I think I got the syrup a little weak, so the next time I try I will use more sugar and boil the spices a little longer.

The syrup is the secret. It is what makes this work. I won't go into the history of this, but suffice it to say I have been trying to reproduce the TV Navy Grog for some time. It was getting my hands on some pimento liqueuer and making an Ancient Mariner that gave me the idea.

Making the syrup.

the syrup is not perfected yet, but the first try came out pretty good so here is what I did:

I went to the Mexican section of the supermarket where there are pre-packaged spices. I got one package of cinnamon sticks and two of dried allspice berries. If your local supermarket doesn't have a Mexican section, improvise. There are like 5 or 6 cinnamon sticks in a package, and I don't know hoe many allspice berries in a package but I used two of them. Be sure you get the ALLSPICE Pimento and not the black peppercorn pimento 'cause they call them both pimentos.

Using my ice crusher hammer, I busted up the cinnamon up so the the sticks cracked and split but did not pulverize. I did the same to crack but not pulverize the allspice. I put the spices in a pot with a single vanilla bean, sliced lengthwise with a knife but not cut in half. I filled the pot with water and put it on the stove to boil. When it started boiling, I reduced the heat to low and let it simmer like that for about 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally. I figured it was done when the water durned to a tea color and tasted spicy.

I turned off the heat and filtered the "tea" to get just the liquid and discarded the solids. Then I put the liquid into a clean pot and brought it back to a boil. When it strted boiling I again reduced the heat to the lowest setting and let it settle down so that it was not visibly bubbling. Then I added the sugar. I had about 6 cups of liquid and I ended up adding about 4 cups of sugar a half cup at a time and stirring until the sugar completely dissolved. I think I should have used an equal amount of sugar, that is, 6 cups rather than 4 but it seemed sweet enough to me. What didn't work after was the viscosity. It was still a little too fluid once it had cooled.

When all the sugar had dissolved and the liquid had cooled a bit, I bottled the syrup and let it cool overnight. The next day I tried mixing drinks. Here is the recipe that seemed to work best.

• 1 1/4 oz Fresh Squeezed Lime (took 2 limes - see the thread on limes)
• 1/2 oz Grapefruit juice
• 1 1/4 oz syrup
• 2 oz Pusser's Navy Rum (blue label)
• 1 oz Cruzan Black Strap Rum

Put all the ingredients except the black strap into a shaker with crushed ice. Shake and pour into a double old fashioned glass. Top with the black strap rum. Add lime shell and mint sprig. I don't have the rock candy stick. The syrup is sweet enough that it probably is not needed.

This is a work in progress, but so far this recipe works pretty well and tastes pretty darn close to a Trader Vic's Navy Grog. I am going to call it Pirate Grog, and the recipe may change as I play with the combinations some more and maybe make my second batch of syrup.