Why make cocktails, of course. I have had my newly finished bottle of falernum sitting in the fridge for a couple of days now, and decided I had better start putting it to good use!
After a fair bit of research, I ended up using Kaiser Penguin’s recipe for falernum, and used Lamb’s 151 as the base. The recipe called for toasting the spices first — a departure from most of the other recipes available. After finishing it, I was undecided whether I liked the toasted cloves, allspice, nutmeg and star anise, but thought I would make a few cocktails with it, and decide what changes should be made to the next batch.
So what do you do when you have an ingredient, but aren’t sure what you want to make with it? Drinkboy.com and Cocktail DB to the rescue! In this case, I decided to go with Robert Hess’ drink The Voyager, using my “house-made” falernum (#1) and Goslings Black Seal (not gold rum, BUT one of my fave everyday rums!). Next time round, we will try it with Flor de Cana 7 year old and compare.
This cocktail is definitely tiki-inspired, but was actually a bit dryer than I initially thought it would be. The Benedictine provides a dry herbal note to the cocktail, and when I went back and tasted my falernum, it was sweet, but not too syrupy. My falernum also has lots of lime notes, which are pulled out by the addition of more lime juice in the cocktail itself.
The Voyager Cocktail (Robert Hess, 2006), also found in Robert`s book the The Essential Bartender`s Guide
- 2 0z. gold rum
- 0.5 oz. Benedictine
- 0.5 oz. fresh lime juice
- 0.5 oz. falernum
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Shake with ice, strain into an ice-filled old fashioned glass