Recipe

• 2 oz Dark Rum
• .75 oz St. Germain Elder Flower Liqueur
• .5 oz Lemon Juice
• .5 oz Falernum (or Ginger Syrup)
• .25 oz All Spice Dram
• Garnish: Lemon twist

Add all ingredients to a shaker. Add ice and shake. Double strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a lemon twist.

* * * *

Today is All Saints’ Day (and the beginning of Kingdomtide). It is a beautiful Christian feast day that honors all of God’s people, known and unknown.

Every description I’ve seen of this holy day includes that little tag at the end–known or unknown–and I love it. There are those who belong to God in unknown ways we could not define nor specify. This day is a celebration of all the ways God draws people to himself.

And so to all of you saints–known and unknown–I raise a glass in toast of you. And in that glass is one of the best cocktails I’ve ever made.

It is complex and spicy, with a little funk. It is perfectly balanced with some brightness and sweet floral notes. As for symbolism, I just had two requirements when conceiving of this drink: it need All Spice Dram and Saint Germain (All… Saint… Get it?). I honestly didn’t think it’d work, but boy does it.

Ingredient Notes

Use a good, quality dark rum with character and body (like a demerara rum), but not with a bunch of funk (like a Jamaican rum). I used El Dorado 5 Year and it was perfect. St. Germain is St. Germain. You might be able to get away with one of the cheaper imitations, but there really isn’t a true substitute. My All Spice was the Hamilton Pimento Dram.

Okay, Falernum. I am not talking about Velvet Falernum–that’s an alcoholic liqueur. This is a syrup full of ginger, clove, and other spices. This is the ingredient that really bridges the gap and brings together the All Spice and St Germain, so it’s important. I used the BG Reynolds Falernum and it was perfect. You want sweetness and a strong ginger spiciness and bite. You could probably use ginger syrup, though you may lose some of the complexity. But whatever you do, don’t skip this element.

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