Got my St. Elizabeth Allspice (Pimento)

Picked up a bottle of the St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram for my Birthday Friday. Man that stuff is good. Unfortunately it also carries a $38 price tag. ouch. If you can afford it, you won't be dissapointed in the quality or flavor.

Lee

(I-Tiki)

Have you previously made your own Pimento Dram? If so, how does home-made compare to the Made-in-Jamaica stuff?

I picked up a bottle here in NYC a couple of weeks ago. Little better on the price but still steep - around $24.

It compares with the Berry Hill and could substitute in a pinch, but its not as strong and is lacking the other spices of the Berry Hill (and the Berry Hill is a lot cheaper if you can get it).

Leisure Master,

Where in NYC did you find it? I've been keeping my eye out, but haven't spotted it.

Here's what I found online:

Shopper's Vinyard (Clifton NJ) has the 750ml size for $27.99, does mail order. Nice price right now on the Kubler Absinthe at ~$40.

In NYC, Crush Wine and Astor both have the 375ml at $23.99.

If comparing to other Dram, it may be more helpful to compare to home production/recipes and older/historic bottles of the Jamaican pimento dram. The Berry Hill has a strong molasses that seems be unique to the newer productions of Berry Hill. The spirit base is also different.

On 2008-03-12 19:59, paranoid123 wrote:
Where in NYC did you find it? I've been keeping my eye out, but haven't spotted it.

Paranoid - van oosten has it right - I got it at Astor (Lafayette & E3rd I think) for about $24 bucks. Its pretty good, but a small bottle for the price. You may want to check out that deal in NJ or contact Reggae Treats to see if you can get some Berry Hill for half the price.

I'm not an alcoholic, I'm an enthusiast.

[ Edited by: leisure master 2008-03-13 06:26 ]

Leisure Master - if you know how to get Reggae Treats to sell the Berry Hill at half price, do let us all know! They've got some rums I can't get in my lousy home market.

The best price I could get with Reggae Treats was with three bottles and shipping by sea, came to $34.50/bottle ($28.50 + $18/3 bottles shipping). The Shopper's Vinyard 750ml came to $33.99/btl ($27.99 + $18/3 bottles shipping).

van Oosten - whoa, I agree with you!

Its been a while since I ordered pimento (I bought 4 bottles almost a year ago) and they have really raised the price! I do like it a lot, but $28.50 is pretty steep, especially before shipping. I think I paid like $14 per bottle last year (like $20 each with shipping).

Sorry for the outdated info.

I'm not an alcoholic, I'm an enthusiast.

[ Edited by: leisure master 2008-03-13 10:55 ]

Hi, Just picked up a bottle of St. Elizabeth, Wow a little goes along way. I added an 1/8 of a tsp. to a Bai Hai Mai Tai, and it was tasty and different. I've got all of Beachbum Berry's books, and found four or so recipes calling for Pimento in them. Anybody have any more, or is it kind of like experimenting by adding a little here and a little their to existing cocktails..Thanks for the help.

I really look forward to when i`ll get a bottle of this!
According to Eric, St Elizabeth uses a very high grade Jamaican Allspice that is only from Jamaica and an old-fashioned, high ester Jamaican pot-still rum. The cane sugar is from Europe and also the water.

I picked some St elizabeth dram Allspice ($24) up today at Morell in NYC in rockfeller center (ONE rockfeller PLaza) they have velvet falernum ($17) en route too! this week.

you can buy from their website too.

falernum: http://morrellwine.com/search.php?cat=wine&textfield=falernum&GO=%3E

Party on!

Hi, Sneaky J, was that 750ml or 375ml on the St. Elizabeth? Thanks!

Morrell has the 375ml Allspice. More of the 750ml will arrive in mid-May. So if you like it, you'll probably have to ask your store to order in the larger bottle (as most retail likes the half-bottle to start).

For folks in the Boston area, I just ordered a half bottle of the St. Elizabeths from Cambridge Wine & Spirits next to the Whole Foods in Fresh Pond. They may be a source for others in the area too. They said the distributor didn't yet have access to the full bottles.

Again for those in the Boston area, I just picked up a full bottle of the St. Elizabeth's at Marty's Fine Wines in Newton (next to the Newton Whole Foods). They had a few bottles on the shelf at $35.

Has anybody done a side by side comparision with Berry Hill Pimento, and if so what are the differences? I have both but have not used the St Elizabeths yet. I guess I will find out...just need to pick the right cocktail.

Cool article about St. ELizabeth - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/28/WIE8V37DN.DTL and another http://drinkboston.com/2008/05/21/i-say-pimento-you-say-allspice/

[ Edited by: IntermiXXX 2008-06-21 08:14 ]

Does anybody know if the St.Elizabeth Pimento Dram is available in the UK or Europe.
I have tried a lot of reputable online shops with no luck.
It would be interesting to compare it with Berry Hill and Sangsters Pimento Dram (Defunkt)
Cheers.

Give it about 3 or 4 more months - much abrew to get things in place for UK and Germany.

On 2008-06-30 20:15, van Oosten wrote:
Give it about 3 or 4 more months - much abrew to get things in place for UK and Germany.

Hopefully, the sooner the better, as Reggae Treats are no longer shipping 'Berry Hill' to USA or Canada,
and seem to be having some difficulty with parcels being shipped through London to other European destinations.
I can't live without my 'Navy Grogs'
Best wishes.

On 2008-07-01 13:28, Squad 701 wrote:

On 2008-06-30 20:15, van Oosten wrote:
Give it about 3 or 4 more months - much abrew to get things in place for UK and Germany.

Hopefully, the sooner the better, as Reggae Treats are no longer shipping 'Berry Hill' to USA or Canada,
and seem to be having some difficulty with parcels being shipped through London to other European destinations.
I can't live without my 'Navy Grogs'
Best wishes.

Where did you see that they are no longer shipping to the US? Thanks!

Where did you see that they are no longer shipping to the US? Thanks!

I received the information in an e-mail from Jamaica.
If you notice up the top of their Alcoholic Beverages page you will notice :

Sangsters Rum Cream, Berry Hill Pimento Liqueur, Old Tom Gin, Lillifield Rum Cream, Rum Finzi Coconut Rum, RUMONA Jamaican Rum Liqueur are all in stock. The widest top quality selection of Jamaica Rums, Liqueurs and Rum Creams. All those hard-to-find (outside of Jamaica) liquors are in stock. If there is something that you need that is not listed, we will gladly locate it and list it for you. WE DO NOT SHIP ALCOHOL TO CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Thanks, Squad 701! Had a chat with Reggae Treats They will not ship to Canada, but will ship to US if some non-alchoholic items are purchased. sssshhhh, for a declaration on a certain form..... So, I have ordered a couple bottles.

BevMo now carries St. Elizabeth. The stuff is very potent, so a little goes a long way, but is very good none the less.

On 2008-06-21 10:58, Squad 701 wrote:
Does anybody know if the St.Elizabeth Pimento Dram is available in the UK or Europe.
I have tried a lot of reputable online shops with no luck.
It would be interesting to compare it with Berry Hill and Sangsters Pimento Dram (Defunkt)
Cheers.

We should have some limited Germany availability (including online) by mid/late September, UK to follow. Sorry for the delays.

On 2008-07-27 10:02, van Oosten wrote:

On 2008-06-21 10:58, Squad 701 wrote:
Does anybody know if the St.Elizabeth Pimento Dram is available in the UK or Europe.
I have tried a lot of reputable online shops with no luck.
It would be interesting to compare it with Berry Hill and Sangsters Pimento Dram (Defunkt)
Cheers.

We should have some limited Germany availability (including online) by mid/late September, UK to follow. Sorry for the delays.

Thanks Van Oosten,
Looking forward to getting some, will be travelling to Hamburg in October to stock up :)
At the moment I have 2 shipments of Berry Hill lost in the post from Jamaica !
Just surviving on half a bottle is making me very very nervous :)
Best wishes.

Squad 701

St Elizabeth finally available in Georgia. Bottles on the shelf at Tower on Piedmont.

Tower is famously tough on new products - do let them know you appreciate their efforts, and please don't remind me how much I miss Daddy D's barbeque. Aw hell, I already did myself...

anybody else disappointed by this product?

It has a nasty aftertaste, and i've found that in most recipes calling for pimento/allspice dram, I must use a third to a half of the quantity called for if i want the drink to be at all palatable. :(

also, this dram is made in Austria, not in Jamaica.

anybody got a cocktail where they find this stuff works well?

I thought these commercial versions were overpriced, which is why I made my own. It's pretty easy. This is the recipe for Chuck's Jamaican Pimento Dram No. 3, which you can find here: http://imbibemagazine.blogspot.com/2007/01/you-asked-doc-reveals.html

I decided not to use Demerara 151 and subbed Trader Vic's 151 (which is probably Cruzan 151).

yup, that's a tasty formula, i compared recipes here, think i'll update that thread with my st elizabeth tastings.

I got it at a good price- $17. just didnt taste how i was expecting.

[ Edited by: thePorpoise 2011-05-29 17:45 ]

I've had a few bottles of the St. Elizabeth dram, but recently decided to make my own. I found it straightforward to make, but there's no whipping up a batch; the recipe I followed from Beachbum Berry Remixed takes 6 weeks of "aging" all together.

The result was worth the wait. It's a bit more cost-effective than the St. Elizabeth, and just as tasty. Made up an Ancient Mariner, a 3 Dots and a Dash, a Montego Bay, and a homemade Planter's Punch variant so far. The biggest surprise for me was that unlike making my own orgeat, cinnamon, and passion fruit syrups, this one wasn't dramatically better than "store bought". It actually came out quite similar to the St. Elizabeth. Next up: testing in a Trader Vic's Navy Grog.

Kevin

did you make the rum-based dram, or the water-based ram?

I made mine rum-based; Cruzan specifically.

kevin

huh.

you oughta try the Chuck Taggart recipe linked above (uses brown sugar, and Lemon Hart 151)

On 2011-05-31 22:23, thePorpoise wrote:
huh.

you oughta try the Chuck Taggart recipe linked above (uses brown sugar, and Lemon Hart 151)

I think I'd be more inclined to try that recipe were LH151 not in "constrained supply". :) 2.5 cups is a lot of Hart Of Darkness and 151 Swizzles!

I've bookmarked it to try sometime, probably when (if?) the new LH151 formulation is on the market. Interestingly, the process isn't much different from the Remixed version...mix all-spice berries with rum, let sit, combine with a simple syrup and let sit again.

I want a Navy Grog now.

kevin

I'm impatient; i made sample sizes of the various homemade recipes (a few ounces of each), didnt age them at all, and compared them in cocktails the same afternoon.

My bottle of home brew Pimento, sent to me lo these many years ago by JTD is now down to the dregs. I ordered the St. Elizabeth as it is sanctioned by Martin Cate.

All these lists are missing my new favorite, Jasper's Jamaican. I first made it ages ago as the recipe calls for it and gave it a 4 ( out of 10 ). At the Rumposium at Hukilau, I was served a version made by the Rum Rat Pack and it was a great drink that I came home craving. After a few attempts, I got the taste as they made it by halfing the lime and pimento and doubling the sugar. Excellent! But pimento depleting.

It is such a simple recipe that it will be the benchmark when the St. Elizabeth arrives early next week. I hope it is good as I got 1.5 liters of it! More next week.

It is very strong- and sort of astringent.

you will definitely want to reduce portion used from that called for in the drink recipes, imo.

On 2011-07-14 12:49, Swanky wrote:
All these lists are missing my new favorite, Jasper's Jamaican. I first made it ages ago as the recipe calls for it and gave it a 4 ( out of 10 ). At the Rumposium at Hukilau, I was served a version made by the Rum Rat Pack and it was a great drink that I came home craving. After a few attempts, I got the taste as they made it by halfing the lime and pimento and doubling the sugar. Excellent! But pimento depleting.

checking my bar notes, i did something to similar effect when i made the Jasper's Jamaican-- i doubled the rum!

Jasper's Jamaican is a fine drink. On my favorites list. And if you like St. Elizabeth, give The Bitter Truth Pimento Dram a go as well. It turns the allspice up to "11", so ease it in gently or it will overpower your drink.

On 2011-07-14 12:49, Swanky wrote:
All these lists are missing my new favorite, Jasper's Jamaican. I first made it ages ago as the recipe calls for it and gave it a 4 ( out of 10 ). At the Rumposium at Hukilau, I was served a version made by the Rum Rat Pack and it was a great drink that I came home craving. After a few attempts, I got the taste as they made it by halfing the lime and pimento and doubling the sugar. Excellent! But pimento depleting.

It is such a simple recipe that it will be the benchmark when the St. Elizabeth arrives early next week. I hope it is good as I got 1.5 liters of it! More next week.

Sounds like I've got some Jasper's Jamaican work to do!

Kevin

Got the St. Elizabeth and it is indeed a good brew. It is not nearly as strong as the home brew I was using, but that is okay as I had to half it in most recipes... My home brew I had a slight hint of cinnamon.

I like it and the Jasper's recipe with it is the same, except use the full amount of pimento liqueur it calls for. Perfect!

Finally got to the Jasper's Jamaican tonight (homemade pimento dram)...really excellent indeed. Might try one next with Smith & Cross and see how that bounces off of the allspice.

Kevin