Dark, molasses-rich rum, sharp lime and grapefruit and the clove-and-cinnamon warmth of allspice dram, all packed over a mountain of crushed ice. It drinks like a stripped-down, perfectly tuned tiki grog.
1 oz
Demerara rum standard proof, not 151e.g. El Dorado · Hamilton · Lemon Hart
1 oz
dark Jamaican rume.g. Myers's · Appleton Estate · Coruba · Hamilton
¾ oz
lime juice
½ oz
grapefruit juice
½ oz
simple syrup
¼ oz
allspice drame.g. St. Elizabeth · The Bitter Truth · Hamilton
Garnish: Lime wedge and mint sprig · Ice: Crushed ice
Ancient Mariner
Rich dark rum with burnt sugar and tropical fruit, bright tart citrus and a warm, peppery clove finish. Strong but very refreshing over crushed ice.
The Ancient Mariner is a modern tiki drink created in the 1990s by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry, the writer and researcher who did more than anyone to recover the lost recipes of Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic. Berry built it as his own take on the Navy Grog, keeping the classic pairing of dark rums with lime and grapefruit but using allspice dram as the key spice, and published it in his tiki recipe books.
Allspice dram, also called pimento dram, is a Jamaican-style rum liqueur flavoured with allspice berries. It was a staple of classic tiki bars but became hard to find for many years before new versions returned to the market. The Ancient Mariner helped show a new generation of bartenders how much depth a small measure of it can add. The name borrows the title of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".
Jeff "Beachbum" Berry, the tiki historian, created it in the 1990s as his own take on the Navy Grog.
A rum-based liqueur flavoured with allspice (pimento) berries, tasting of clove, cinnamon and pepper.
Replace it with a pinch of ground allspice in the syrup, or a few dashes of Angostura bitters for a different spice profile.
The perfect sound
Sea stories and salt air on a lantern lit veranda.
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