Help Wanted

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not much of an innovator when it comes to creating cocktails. My collection of drink manuals is rapidly taking over my kitchen, and with these thousands of recipes to choose from, rarely do I venture into the unknown.

But sometimes, when I have a particular ingredient or a particular flavor in mind, there’s just nothing out there I can find. Usually, I think, somebody, somewhere has probably come up with the drink I’m searching for, but it’s not to be found in print (in my collection, anyway) or online. In these cases I’m left to fend for myself, just me and my mixing glass, along with the contents of my liquor cabinet and whatever imagination I can bring to bear to create a suitable drink.

This is one of those drinks.

Following on the experiments with pimento dram, the very first cocktail I made with the new stuff is one I had no reference base for. None of the many cocktail manuals I own have any drinks calling for allspice liqueur or pimento dram; only on CocktailDB have I found any satisfaction, and that only fleeting.

But this drink just seemed so obvious–a Jamaican liqueur, mixed with a nice aged Jamaican rum, with a little toss of bitters to bring out the cinnamon and spice. Elementary, eh? Yet totally missing from the mainstream literature.

Pity, that. I find this a truly enjoyable drink, the best base for enjoying pimento dram I’ve yet come across (and I apologize for tooting my own proverbial horn, here–but really, this is a damn fine drink, and it just seemed so obvious). Perhaps if this drink were to grace more published guides, demand for pimento dram would reach such a peak that the interested parties would see fit to make it widely available in this country. These are things I imagine while sipping this concoction–a spicy Jamaican liqueur, blossoming to such popularity that it pushes the Jagermeisters and Banana Schnapps of the world right off the liquor store shelves. A man’s gotta dream.

Oh, and the help wanted part? Along with my reluctance to create new drinks comes an absolute loathing of coming up with new names. I need help, people, and I need it from you. I’ll mull the idea over for a while, but should anyone come up with a good suggestion for a name for this drink (or know the actual name for an existing drink of this type), be sure to post it in the comments, or e-mail me so I can take it into consideration. But even if you’re as stumped as I am for a name, do try this drink, even if it means making your own pimento dram. It’s like a hammock in a glass.

[Your Name Here]

  • 2 ounces aged Jamaican rum (Appleton V/X and Appleton Extra both work very well)
  • 1/4 – 1/2 ounce pimento dram, to taste
  • 1 dash Fee’s Old-Fashioned Aromatic Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a chilled glass.

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6 Responses to Help Wanted

  1. Going further, I’d be tempted to call it a Glass Hammock. Sassy sounding, but perhaps it connotes a certain brittleness that I suspect Pimento Dram lacks in spades.

    I’ve just now set my own crushed allspice to soaking in its bath of Lemon Hart, so it’ll be at least 40 days before I can sample the Hammock myself. When I catch up, I’ll let you know what I think of the drink and the name 🙂

  2. I agree that you’ve just about named the drink already. Carry is close but I’d go a little further: how ’bout calling it The Jamaica Hammock?

    I don’t like “Jamaican Hammock” as much but it’s an obvious variation. “Rum Hammock” is another possibility but I submit that “hammock” could come to define a style of drink kinda like “collins” or “daiquiri”. For example, subsititute Cuban rum for a “Cuba(n) Hammock”, Bermuda rum for a “Bermuda Hammock”, and so on.

    Okay, so the lack of pimento dram in the US is a buzz-kill and maybe spirit + modifier + bitters isn’t exactly the pinnacle of ground-breaking mixology but then again maybe IT IS something just this simple that is, in fact, the pinnacle of mixology. What is a daiquiri, after all, but rum + lime + sugar?

    Seriously, I see no reason that xxx-rum + pimento dram + bitters couldn’t or shouldn’t become known as the “Xxx Hammock”.

    Well done.

  3. …and taking the “hammock” concept one step further by making one in a blender with ice and a banana you get a “Frozen Banana Hammock”. Ba dum bump. Yes, I’m here all week. Try the veal…

    I wonder, though, if “Frozen Banana Hammock” isn’t just silly and suggestive enough to get the drink added to the menu of most any “-tini” bar with a blender. Might be one way to get pimento dram reintroduced to the US…

  4. I’m a bit late to this,… But how about the “Your Name Here Cocktail”? I’m sure it’s not taken!

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