Bitter Truth Pimento Dram - allspice liqueur

Those not familiar with this liqueur may find the name somewhat misleading, at least initially. Pimento dram? The first thing that came to my mind was the red pepper plug traditionally stuffed into olives, and not being a big olive fan, I passed over this liqueur a number of times until I looked closely at the label and noticed that it was an allspice liqueur made in Germany. Turns out that pimento is the traditional name of the allspice berry in the West Indies where this liqueur originated.

The taste of this liqueur is quite spicy, with some molasses notes to help offsite the strong allspice flavor (which, as per the name, tastes a bit like a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves or "all spices"). Allspice liqueur aficionados have been making this spirit on their own for quite a while since the essential ingredients are fairly straight-forward: crushed allspice berries infused with rum and sugar. Bitter Truth's version is quite nice, though I would say that it's better as a cocktail ingredient than for sipping. Bitter Truth (a German company that specializes in creating bitters) has a few cocktails on their website, but none of them looked particularly compelling. The cocktail below by Ted Haigh (published in Imbibe magazine) strikes me as more interesting.

Lion's Tail
2 oz bourbon
1/2 oz Pimento Dram
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Pimento Dram is available at a few Seattle-centric liquor stores, though since the Washington liquor stores will be closing end of May, you may need to wait until the new private stores are opened to find it.