Post #788484 by mikehooker on Thu, Jul 12, 2018 12:58 PM

On 2018-07-12 12:25, kkocka wrote:

On 2018-05-22 10:07, davidphantomatic wrote:
...so I decided to try out the Hamilton stuff.
Maybe the bottle needs to be shaken, but the first drink I made, a Three Dots, wasn’t terribly remarkable.

So I haven't experienced it myself, but I do know that the flavor is much less subdued compared to St. Elizabeth and that you'd either have to double the amount of Hamilton, or know that it's much more subtle. I think Jason Alexander described St. Elizabeth as one-dimensional in comparison to Hamilton's Allspice dram, so maybe it helps to be super versatile and knowledgable about how to use is rather than a 1-to-1 direct substitution. Just a guess.

I use both of them regularly. They have entirely different flavors and can't be used interchangeably. The Hamilton has a lot of sweetness and is way more mellow and forgiving, whereas it's easy to throw a drink off balance with a smidge too much St. Elizabeth cuz it's so potent. That said, Elizabeth is typically my go to in classic recipes, such as the Three Dots. But I like to keep both on hand for different applications (Hamilton usually being employed in original creations). Navy Grog is the one drink I still experiment with both, depending on the rum combo. Doing a Trader Vic style Navy Grog with Hamilton Navy Strength and Pimento Dram makes for quite an interesting drink.

[ Edited by: mikehooker 2018-07-12 15:27 ]