We were planning to have a drink we’d made before…

Tasting Notes
Rory: We meant to make a drink we’d made before, but really wanted to use the allspice dram that we hadn’t in a bit, and then this used the cherry syrup we made a bit ago, so we had to. Obviously. there’s some drying from the cherry - or it feels like it’s the slightly tart cherries, but I think it’s actually the allspice and the angostura and the cinnamon. The sweetness is coming from all of those (well, not the Angostura, but also the orgeat) so it’s not just all fruit or all spice; it’s got some depth to it. The cherry syrup can taste a little medicinal, but it works really well here.
Ryan: This is neat, cherry plus jamaican rum works decently well, and I definitely tend to like Angostura-heavy drinks. I think the cherry kind of gets swallowed by the angostura, and using the slightly overproof Smith and Cross definitely means that comes to the forefront more than was originally intended. I think that combination plus using a homemade cherry syrup definitely means the cherry flavor is a bit weak in here, but overall the flavors still do work together decently well; it’s not unbalanced in any particular direction.
Recipe
- 1⁄2 oz Angostura bitters
- 1 oz lime juice
- 1⁄2 oz black cherry syrup
- 3⁄4 bastard’s mix number 2 (equal parts orgeat, cinnamon syrup, and allspice dram)
- 2 oz aged Jamaican rum
Source: Minimalist Tiki