Post #752351 by AdOrAdam on Sat, Oct 10, 2015 3:02 AM

This thread is taking a bit of a 'homemade' vs 'brought' theme.

My thought is if anyone thinks their homemade is better than all the shop brought brands then great, please share the recipe!

Maybe TC needs a 'best homemade falernum recipe thread'?

I'm actually quite surprised that so many people come out on the side of Taylors - I'd definitely recommend trying Fees, to quote my earlier post 'If Taylors can be more refined, Fee Brothers can bring the party. ' - think of it as a different slant on what you are used to.

My hope is to find out people's impression on other brands vs Taylors & Fees to give another suggestion of something that's good.

Sidenote:

I met Martin Cate at a UK Rumfest seminar in 2013 & asked him what he was using for syrups, to paraphrase his answer:

'We use Taylors falernum & Saint Elizabeth allspice dram - sure we could make better but by doing this we are supporting Caribbean producers making a Caribbean product'

So his decision to use Taylors may not entirely be based on its quality. He also said Smugglers Cove makes its own orgeat but if he told me the formula, he'd 'have to kill me' :)

It's widely know that Beachbum Berry has recommended Fees in his books.

All the Mai Kai recipes on the Atomic Grog recommend Fees. Having tried a few drinks (SOS & Jet Pilot) at the Mai Kai that contain falernum, Id agree with Hurricane Haywards reverse engineering that whatever ingredients they use is close to Fees style.

So that's 2-1 for Fees Vs Taylors from the professionals?