Falernum

The quintessential Tiki ingredient. I was fascinated to read about Falernum - a spicy, limey, sweet syrup. It didn't disappoint! 


Ingredients

• 6oz (180ml) Rum - 151 Proof (75%) demerara rum is recommended but I used light rum due to the cost.
• 50 Cloves (whole)
• Zest of 9 medium Limes (no white pith) 
• 4.5oz (135ml) fresh Lime juice
• 45g fresh Ginger
• 2 tbs Almonds (slivered)
• 1/4 tsp Almond extract
• 400g Demerara Sugar 
• 200ml Water  

Step 1 - Toast the almonds and cloves 
Just as in the Allspice Dram recipe, gently toast the cloves and almonds so those awesome spice smells fills the air, but stop before you burn them. 
The almonds took a nice golden colour and smelled great. I did burn the first batch though! Shaking the pot to keep them moving seemed to be the key.

Step 2 - Zest the limes
Zest the limes, being sure to just get the zest and not any of the bitter white pith. 
This was harder than I had thought it would be. I started with a microplane and found it was easy to get a small amount but hard to avoid the pith as you moved around the lime. Just need more practice needed I guess. In the end it was easier to use a zester.

Step 3 - Ginger
Peel and grate the ginger.
Ginger is pretty fibrous and I had no luck with grating it. At least, I probably could have done it but it would have taken an age. Instead I peeled it and finely sliced it in a food processor. 

Step 4 - Juice the limes
Juice the limes you've just zested and add any more need to make up 4.5oz (135ml). 
I found that the 9 wasn't quite enough to make up the volume of juice needed, so keep that in mind when buying your limes. In some recipes the fresh juice is excluded as it causes the syrup to go off. Instead, you just add a ratio of fresh juice to syrup as you make your drink. I couldn't be bothered with that, and 3 months later it seems fine, so the choice is yours.

Step 5 - Infuse!
Add the ingredients you've processed so far together with the rum, seal in a container and leave to infuse for 24 hours, shaking occasionally. 

 

Step 6 - Strain
Strain though a sieve and then cheesecloth or coffee filters to remove all of the particles. Add the strained liqueur to a bottle and set aside. 

Step 7 - Simple Syrup
Boil 1 cup of water on a stove and add 2 cups Demerara sugar. Some people do this in the microwave instead, or use cold water and shake the hell out of it. Personally, for 2:1 syrup I use hot water. 
Remove from heat and stir until well mixed. Leave to cool then measure out 14oz (414ml). Add this to the liqueur and shake. You're all done! Store it in the fridge as the lime juice will go off.

The finished product
Spicy, limey and very sweet. An interesting complex flavor that's hard to describe. Cloves is a prominent component and I didn't notice the almond, but perhaps you would if it was missing. I can totally see how this would mix well in rum-based drinks, though you would have to be careful as it could crowd out other ingredients.

Lessons learned
Much like when I made Allspice Dram, I think following the standard recommendation and using a 151 proof rum would be a good idea. Even better if you can get the holy grail of tiki rums - Lemon Hart 151. This batch of Falernum is very sweet, which is ok as it is meant to be a syrup, but I think the higher proof would reign it in a little. 

It was really fun to make this! The flavors are interesting and open up a whole raft of Tiki drinks you couldn't make without it. There's no substitute for Falernum in Tiki. Give it a try!