The Bitter End — Old Tom gin and pimento dram, heavy on the lemon bitters

The Bitter End

Old Tom gin and pimento dram, heavy on the lemon bitters

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Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 ozOld Tom Gin
    Old Tom rather than dry; it is a sweeter gin
    Substitute: London dry, with a little more syrup
  • 10 dashesLemon Bitters
    Ten; a measured ingredient, not a seasoning
    Substitute: Any lemon bitters with a bitter backbone
  • 1/2 ozPimento Dram
    Jamaican allspice liqueur
  • 1/3 ozBrown Sugar Syrup
    One to one, with brown sugar rather than white

Instructions

  1. Add 1 3/4 oz Old Tom gin, 1/2 oz pimento dram, 1/3 oz brown sugar syrup and 10 dashes lemon bitters to a shaker

    10 dashes is not a typo

  2. Fill with ice and shake well
  3. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass

Technique Notes

Ten dashes per serving is not a typo and it is not a garnish. At that volume the lemon bitters is a measured ingredient rather than a seasoning, and it is what keeps a drink of gin, allspice and brown sugar from reading as a dessert.

Why the The Bitter End Works

Allspice and brown sugar push a drink toward Christmas cake, and lemon is the only thing that pulls it back. At ten dashes per serving the bitters is supplying citrus and bitterness at once, which is more than a squeeze of juice could do without also adding acid.

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