Tippleman's falernum

Has anyone tried this stuff yet? Falernum seems to be a pretty divisive subject around here and I was wondering what verdict people had come to.

http://shop.tipplemans.com/products/falernum

Tippleman's "Double-Spiced" Falernum.

I found a new / revised Falernum offering from Tippleman's. The bottle volume is about 120ml smaller than the previous bottle shown in the first post in this thread, above. Bear with me as I share a few thoughts about this elixir. The payoff at the end is a recipe from behindthebar.com which uses this expression of a "strong" Falernum syrup.

So now we have a new smaller bottle with a new Falernum formulation. I can't tell how new it is, though. The whole "double-spiced" thing had me thinking of buying a bottle, but then I decided against it, at least for the time being. I make my own Falernum, and I have in the past made "strong" Falernums by upping the ginger / clove / lime ratio. So do I need theirs? I'm thinking not right away. I cringe a bit when I think that in a few more years there could be 10 or more Falernum formulations in general use. This is evolutionary progress for Falernum, but it makes home barmanship a bit tougher and in some ways a little less fun if you're into precisely following others recipes and recreating their drink. Can you really re-create someone's drink if you do not have their EXACT exotic syrup or bitters on hand? While I do like to be precise with someone else's recipes, as you'd expect, it is a bit of a dilemma. I will adapt my mix and innovate as the need arises, mostly because I do not like having too many single-purpose bottles on my bar shelves. So for now I'm being cautious probably until someone else comes along and raves about this product. I am always tempted when new stuff comes out, which is to be expected from us bar types.

And thinking about it further, after reading their ingredient list on their web site, it is very clear that Falernum syrups in general are continuing to evolve. Is this good? Yes and no. Bartenders must be careful to judge the type or Falernum called for in a recipe. If a recipe does not specify the brand or type of Falernum, then go with the traditional, like the recipes Jeff Berry, Paul Clarke, and others have published. But I have come to expect that eventually we will be seeing "peach falernum," "orange falernum," "cherry falernum," aged or unaged in various barrels, and much more without regard to the tradition that Falernum is ginger / clove / lime centric. What has been convention until now will no longer necessarily adhere to that convention. The mantra of the cocktail movement currently seems to be that "anything goes" as long as it has flavor merits. So the edge of the traditional Falernum landscape is seeing erosion and evolutionary changes.

Tippleman's hails from Charleston, SC, so this product definitely gets my attention on that basis alone. The Charleston craft cocktail scene is very dynamic and alive and is influencing other cities like Savannah who are currently working hard to step up their cocktail game. Check out Charleston if you get a chance to visit their fine city. Savannah is pretty dang cool as well - "the jewel of the South" - with new craft bars like Husk opening up soon.

With regard to the ingredients in Tippleman's Double-Spiced Falernum, here are the ingredients listed on their web site as of this posting:

"Double Spiced Falernum"
An Especially Spiced Syrup with Bold Island Spices, Ginger and Lime
We’ve added a punch to this classic bar syrup by freshly milling lots of whole spices like nutmeg, clove and allspice, hand peeling the skins of limes and saturating it all in the finest cane sugar we could find. Fresh ginger juice is added to make a robust syrup with notes of vanilla, lime leaf and clove.

SPECIFICATIONS
13 fl oz/ 384ml
Average Pour Size: 3/4 oz
Yields about 17 cocktails

INGREDIENTS
*Golden Cane Sugar, Water, Lime Zest, Ginger Juice, Allspice, Nutmeg, Cloves, Citric Acid *

"behindthebar.com" presented the Holiday recipe below which uses Tippleman's Double-Spiced Falernum.
(The recipe may have been posted originally by Caitlyn Hartley on the kegworks.com site.)

Holiday Cocktail Recipe: Spiced Cranberry Sour

Falernum may be first and foremost a tiki ingredient, but it’s also redolent with the spices we typically associate with the holidays (think ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and clove). Here we combine it with tart cranberry and bourbon for a cocktail that’s appropriate for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any revelry in between.

Spiced Cranberry Sour
Yield: 1 Cocktail

Ingredients
2 ounces bourbon
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce cranberry juice
1/2 ounce Tippleman’s Double Spiced Falernum
1 egg white
Cranberry bitters
Angostura Bitters
Orange, for zest
Rosemary sprig

Tools
Citrus juicer
Cocktail jigger
Cocktail shaker
Strainer

Glassware
Coupe

Directions
Dry shake the egg white until foamy. Then shake vigorously with bourbon, juices, falernum, and ice.
Strain into a chilled coupe glass.
Garnish with orange zest, rosemary sprig, [and dashes of] Angostura and Dillon’s Bitter Cranberry dots [atop the drink].

I blame sobriety!

Edited: Moved pic to top of post, and clarified a few wonky sentences/statements.

[ Edited by: AceExplorer 2017-12-18 11:18 ]

"I will also adapt and innovate if the need arises"

I find I have to do this as well, in this new era of plastic bags I find it hard to locate a store that has brown paper bags for my cheap quart of beer.

It just is not the same in a plastic bag though.

I cut the double spice with rum for a more standard stuff.

On 2017-12-18 11:29, The_Alchemist wrote:
I cut the double spice with rum for a more standard stuff.

Cool, how does it taste? After you cut it down, it may still be stronger than Taylor's Velvet Falernum.

I checked and can't buy the product here in Total Wine, and they won't ship it to Florida from Charleston probably because production is very limited. It's only $16/bottle, so I might look for it when I'm in Savannah at the end of the month. If I can't get it there, then I might consider making the 2-hour drive to Charleston. I am intrigued by the hand-crafted small-batch aspect of the product. Not sure that driving 4 hours round trip is worth it if I can somehow mail-order it.

I have a confession to make and hope it doesn't get me (deleted) - I'm more about the flavors of the mixers than I am about the rum. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy a little buzz. But I just haven't (and probably won't) trained my palate to appreciate the difference between a fine Jamaican rum and a good Guyana rum. Having said that, I can appreciate double spiced Falernum. It would really punch those falernum flavor through :D :wink: :P

On 2017-12-18 12:47, MadDogMike wrote:
I have a confession to make and hope it doesn't get me (deleted) - I'm more about the flavors of the mixers than I am about the rum. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy a little buzz. But I just haven't (and probably won't) trained my palate to appreciate the difference between a fine Jamaican rum and a good Guyana rum. Having said that, I can appreciate double spiced Falernum. It would really punch those falernum flavor through :D :wink: :P

No worries, Mike, everyone has different approaches and we all change with experience. A double-strength ingredient in a classic cocktail could throw it out of whack balance-wise, but if it still tastes good, why not? In the end it's all about enjoyment and camaraderie. But for most of us, our palates do have a tendency to develop over time as we drink more.

Mad Dog
U are a mad Dog

2 words

More practice

:)

Cheers

On 2017-12-18 12:40, AceExplorer wrote:
On 2017-12-18 11:29, The_Alchemist wrote:
I cut the double spice with rum for a more standard stuff.

Cool, how does it taste? After you cut it down, it may still be stronger than Taylor's Velvet Falernum.

I checked and can't buy the product here in Total Wine, and they won't ship it to Florida from Charleston probably because production is very limited. It's only $16/bottle, so I might look for it when I'm in Savannah at the end of the month. If I can't get it there, then I might consider making the 2-hour drive to Charleston. I am intrigued by the hand-crafted small-batch aspect of the product. Not sure that driving 4 hours round trip is worth it if I can somehow mail-order it.

I don't really have access to other falernums. I live in a control state and I"d probably have to get like $100 of bottles to get the alcoholic ones and the others just aren't stocked. But it works very well in the drinks I've used it in.

Cool, thank you! I'm going to be in Savannah in two weeks to see a Pink Floyd tribute band, and while I'm there, will look for it.

I use the stuff in my tribute to Trader Vic's Navy Grog. Taste pretty damn close to what I get in TV ATL

1 Tipplemans Syrup
1/2 Sugar Syrup
1 Lime
1/2 Grapefruit
3 TV Dark Rum