Allspice Syrup problems?

Has anyone else had problems trying to make homemade Allspice Syrup? Admittedly, I'm no wiz in the kitchen, but I managed not to ruin simple syrup so I thought I'd try my hand at Allspice syrup. I couldn't find whole allspice berries, so I used the ground stuff. I think this is the problem as twice now it's ended up very grainy. I've picked up a big container of whole berries and I'm planning on trying again this week. There's not a lot of info or feedback on the finer details of this process, so I assume people aren't having that many problems making this stuff. Here's what I need to know before I waste another cup of sugar and a few hours time:

1. What should I use to grind the berries? Would a mortar and pestle work or should I be using an electric coffee grinder type of thing?
2. After the steeping process is done, what should I be using to strain the syrup? I've tried a sieve but it came out quite grainy, and I've tried coffee filters but they came so clogged the liquid couldn't get through.
3. Is it supposed to be a bit grainy? Maybe that's unavoidable, but I think by using whole berries and grinding them myself (as the original recipe implies) the allspice will be a little coarser and thus easier to filter.
   If anyone can offer any feedback, it would be very much appreciated! I've been craving a good navy grog for weeks now and there's nowhere in this town to get the real deal...

Here's how I do it:

Make an Allspice 'tea' first, then strain the heck out of that and use it as your liquid in syrup making. This gets around the syrup clogging up the filter.

1. Grind your allspice berries with your favorite coffee grinder - don't get too crazy, you just want to open up the inside of the berry.
2. Put the ground mixture with water on to boil, remove from heat when you reach the boil.
3. Let steep for a few hours or more
4. Filter repeatedly in this order: Sieve/mesh, Cheesecloth, coffee filter. If you do the work to get the big and medium stuff out, the coffee filter won't clog so much.
5. use this 'tea' with 2x sugar in your regular syrup making procedure.

I use this procedure to make the syrup I add to my Pimento Dram Macerate as to get both the water soluble and alcohol soluble flavors out.

This has worked for me many times, your mileage may vary:

Take a big handful of whole berries and crack them with a mortar and pestle. Or one good spin in a blender. Or two good blasts with a coffee grinder. You want to crack the berries so they are very coarse. You want them to be nice and big and chunky.

2 cups of raw sugar (turbinado, demerrera, or 1 cup each white and brown sugars)
2 cups of water
the allspice from above.

Bring to boil
Reduce to simmer and cover for 15 or so minutes. Follow your nose, you might go for longer.
Turn off heat, leave covered, and don't touch the pan or nothing for 30 or more minutes.
Add 1/2 cup white overproof rum, or 1 1/4 cup vodka
Let sit for 30 more minutes.
Strain into bottle through cloth.
Enjoy.

Thanks, these are great tips! I'm going to try again this weekend and, hopefully, I won't screw it up again!

I had the same problem last time I made Cinnamon Syrup.
It took forever to filter it out using a paper filter and that was just making the "tea" to make the syrup with.

Today I picked up a mesh coffee filter for 9.99 at Bed,Bath & Beyond and it made a world of difference.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=12959796