When Booze Disappears

If you like making cocktails like I do, you've probably run into this problem yourself: When Booze Disappears.  Now what do I mean by "disappearing booze"?  I'm talking about that special ingredient that makes a whole slew of tasty drinks possible suddenly stops showing up on the shelves of your local liquor store.  Many like-minded cocktailers, following the Lemon Hart saga, know exactly what I'm talking about.  And let's not forget about the Falernum of my youth: Sazerac.   Sure, there are substitutes, but remember: you can't spell "substitute" without spelling "sub" first - as in sub par or subhuman.

The latest booze to pull a disappearing act at my home bar is Wray and Nephew's Berry Hill Allspice Pimento Liquor.  The stuff is legendary in The Reminder Room.  Oh,  and don't get me started with St. Elizabeth's Dram.  That stuff is like a clove hammer-drill wrecking any drink it gets dropped into.   No subtlety at all.  The difference between the Wray and Nephew and the St. Elizabeth Dram is like the difference between voluptuous, erotic portraiture  enjoyed with a nip of Madeira beside the fireplace and hardcore pornography viewed in a cold, dank, slimy cement basement with your pants half-off.  No thank you.

So what to do?  Try making my own.

Dram #1

1 C sugar
1/2 C water
100 all spice berries
1/2 tsp powered all spice
Boil ingredients for 10 minutes,  let cool, add 2 oz of wray and nephew overproof rum and let sit covered overnight.

Also over night soak about 30 berries in 2-3 oz overproof rum and combine both mixtures in the morning.  Strain and add 3-4 oz of dark Jamaican rum such as Kohala Bay.  Bottle and put in fridge. With the much booze in it, I am thinking it will last awhile - at least a few months.