Falernum #3

I had a few hours over the weekend to kill, and was working on a batch of mead (I suppose I can talk about that project at some point …). While I was in the creative mood, I decided to press on with the third batch of falernum, since the old stuff was almost gone. I had all the ingredients except sugar, so a quick run to the store cleared that problem up.

So, here’s Falernum #3 for anyone who’s interested:

• zest of 5 limes
• 1/2 cup diced ginger with skin removed
• 5 tsp coarsely ground allspice
• 6 oz Wray & Nephew overproof rum
• 1/2 tsp ground decorticated cardamom

Add ingredients to a 12oz wide-mouth bottle or jar and let soak for 24 h. After this is done, strain the liquor and add:

• 5 oz lime juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract

Strain through coffee filters so that resulting mixture is free of larger solids, pulp, etc. Then mix with 2:1 simple syrup to fill a 750 ml bottle.
The resulting mix is more yellow than green, and is also a little cloudy, but it shouldn’t separate for quite a while, if you’ve filtered it enough (i.e. twice through coffee/tea filters). The falernum we got in Barbados (I think it was Hanschell’s Old-Time Recipe falernum) was clear, and had a faint greenish tinge to it. It also didn’t have much body, smelled faintly like limes, and acted pretty much like a thin sugar syrup.
Falernum #3 appears to be another winner, and the ground cardamom adds a little more something than the black cardamom seeds from the previous recipe.
As for alcohol content, a rough calculation (hope my math is ok):
63% of 6 oz = 3.78 oz alcohol
3.78 / 26 (a 26 oz/750 ml bottle) X 100 = 14.5%
So, we’re looking at a fairly strong syrup with around 14.5% alcohol. Too sweet to drink straight, but makes a nice falernum soda, or a Corn ‘N Oil.