Falernum

A rather hard to find ingredient that is used in some Caribbean cocktails, most notably in the Bermuda Rum Swizzle. It is essentially a sweet syrup that is flavored with lime juice, ginger, and other spices. While Grenadine is often used as a substitute, I feel that it really isn't quite the same.

For a long time, Falernum had been made by Sazerac Co., but due to apparent lack of sales, they stopped producing it several years ago. To help fill in the gap, Da Vinci Gourmet (a flavored syrup company) started producing a non-alcoholic version that could be used in cocktails that required Falernum.

Fee Brothers is also now producing a non-alcoholic Falernum syrup as well, flavor-wise it provides a very similar profile to the DaVinci Gourmet version.

Just recently, a brand of Falernum from Barbados is being distributed through "Spirit of Hartford", and comes highly recommended by Dale DeGroff. I unfortunately have not yet been able to obtain any of this.

Here are two different recipes that I have run across for making Falernum at home. The first is obviously the easier of the two...

Falernum recipe by Dale Degroff

Zest from 10 limes 10 cloves 1/4 teaspoon almond extract 1 liter white rum

Marinate together for 24 hours. Strain and store in a cool place. Mix 8 oz. of rum marinade with 1 quart of simple syrup.

Falernum recipe for 30 gallons!

9 gallons rum 3 gallons lime juice 12 gallons water 1 gallon milk 1/2 gallon brandy 56 lbs. sugar 1 ounce Isinglass 1/2 ounce cloves 1/2 ounce bitter almonds 1 Tbsp. almond extract

Combine all ingredinets until sugar is completely dissolved.