Post #703414 by Sunny&Rummy on Tue, Dec 31, 2013 7:47 AM

The Bum's recommended starting point for cinnamon syrup is 3 crushed cinnamon sticks in a 1:1 simple syrup (1 cup of water and 1 cup of granulated sugar), bring to a boil and simmer a couple of minutes then remove from heat and steep at least 2 hours before straining and bottling. I use the cheap Badia canela cinnamon sticks and they are pretty short sticks so I use 5 of those in my syrup.

Jeff also recommends equal parts dram to vanilla syrup in the Spices #2, but the St. Elizabeth dram is has such a strong and concentrated flavor that I bring it way down — at 1:1 the allspice is overwhelming and at the recommended amounts in published recipes it overwhelms the drink in my opinion. To tell the truth, I don't keep Don's Spices #2 premixed on hand anymore. Instead when a recipe calls for it I sub straight vanilla syrup and then dash an appropriate amount of St. Elizabeth to give me what to my tastes is a balanced drink. Jeff's recommendation on a vanilla syrup is Fee Bros. but I usually just use the Da Vinci syrup you can find in the coffee aisle in the grocery store.