Name: Ancient Mariner
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Aged rum (6-10yr); 30 ml Dark/black rum; 7.5 ml Pimento dram; 22.5 ml Lime juice; 15 ml Pink grapefruit juice; 15 ml Sugar syrup 'rich' (2:1)

Ingredients

1 fl oz

Caribbean blended rum aged 6-10 years

1 fl oz

Dark/black/blackstrap rum

¹⁄₄ fl oz

St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram liqueur

³⁄₄ fl oz

Lime juice (freshly squeezed)

¹⁄₂ fl oz

Pink grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)

¹⁄₂ fl oz

Sugar syrup 'rich' (2 sugar to 1 water) 65.0°Brix

How to make

Glass

Prepare

Select and pre-chill a DOUBLE OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.

Prepare garnish of scored lime wedge and mint sprigs.

Method

SHAKE all ingredients with ice.

STRAIN into glass filled with crushed ice.

Garnish

Garnish with scored lime wedge and mint sprigs bouquet.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Ancient Mariner contains 242 calories

Alcohol content:

1.4 standard drinks
15.74% alc./vol. (31.48° proof)
20.3 grams of pure alcohol

History

Adapted from a recipe created in 1994 by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry, Los Angeles, USA, which featured in his 1998 book Grog Log and subsequent 2010 Beachbum Berry Remixed. Jeff's original recipe calls for 30ml Demerara rum and 30ml dark Jamaican rum. He also specifies white grapefruit juice.

Jeff says he created The Ancient Mariner as an early "attempt to re-create the flavour of our favourite Trader Vic's drink, Vic's version of the Navy Grog – which, in turn, used Don The Beachcomber's even earlier version as a starting point..." "We called it the Ancient Mariner because by the time we finished with it, that's how we felt."

Comments & Discussion

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Simon Sedgley Premium Member 24w

Very pleasant. A dash of grapefruit bitters lifted it nicely for us.

Sarah Titus Premium Member 1y

Used orig specs w the Jamaican and Demerara subbed ruby red for white grapefruit juice. Used St Elizabeth. Great! Will make again.

Robert Spain 1y

Very good. I used Appleton Signature, El Dorado 5, and homemade Pimento Dram. Because of that I had to up the latter a tad, and enjoyed it a lot.

Robert Spain 16w

Using blackstrap rum elevated this wonderful cocktail even more.

John CARR Premium Member 1y

Wonderful balance of the rums, citrus and pimento. I’m not huge a rum drinker but this is the sort of gear I will turn out for! You know it’s good when you’re only part way through and already thinking about making another one!

John CARR Premium Member 1y

I bumped up the pimento to 10ml on second iteration, perhaps making up for slightly substandard grapefruit. Appleton 8 and plantation original worked great.

Juan Simon 1y

Good classic Tiki drink! I used Coruba + El Dorado 12 and The Bitter Truth. In the future want to try with Hamilton Pimento Dram or St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram Liquer to see if there is any difference.

Frederic D. Premium Member 2y

I will echo the previous comments, as I found the drink gained some clarity after I added more turbinado simple syrup about 1/3 of the way through. The additional sweetness really brought out the Allspice Dram and grapefruit flavors for me, which previously had been buried under the lime/dark rum combination. I found the version with 1/2 syrup to be better balanced, and quite delicious.

Simon Difford Verified User Premium Member 2y

Agreed! I've upped the sugar syrup to 15ml (½oz). Many thanks for the feedback.

Annechien Premium Member 2y

First thought this was a weird combination of flavours. But I’m now halfway through the cocktail and it’s really growing on me. I did add a bit more sugar syrup for balance. Maybe my lime/grapefruit is just not as sweet. I really like the bitter hint of grapefruit in the background.

Shogi Redbrook Premium Member 2y

I'm not the biggest drinker of blackstrap rum, but this is a great way to bring its flavours out in less of a cloying way. Really enjoyed it.

Hunter Newsome 3y

The grapefruit juice and pimento dram are really working together to make this stand out. I made this with an extra 1/4 shot of syrup cause that seems to be a common recipe online, and it was very balanced, so I suppose this recipe is slightly on the drier side.