I’ve been looking for a good sour cocktail to add to my rotation for a whole now. I’m a big fan of a New York sour, I love a good margarita, and there’s always something classy and delicious about a sidecar. But those still weren’t quite scratching my itch, and I think I found exactly the right cocktail to tempt my taste buds.
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Let’s address the elephant in the room first: this is a cocktail that seems to have originated from the Animal Kingdom park at Disney World. It’s not some classic or long-historied recipe, instead it seems to be a relatively new addition to the menu there.
I’m not a Disney person. I went to the parks once as a small child, my little sister forced us to go on the “It’s A Small World” ride one too many times and I’ve never been back. How I found out about this cocktail was through the fantastic How to Drink YouTube channel, and Greg made it sound too good to pass up.
At it’s heart, this drink is a sour. A traditional sour recipe usually calls for 2 parts liquor, 1 part sweetness (simple syrup, etc) and 1 part lime juice. The trick is how you mix and change up those components — swap the simple syrup for some Cointreau and we’re in the margarita area of the spectrum, for example.
Where this cocktail deviates from the norm is that it swaps that sweet component for something near and dear to my heart: allspice dram. This nutty and delicious liqueur is so amazingly good that I even made my own — and I’ve got that recipe for you right here if you want to try it at home.
The combination of fresh allspice and cinnamon is a staple of many tiki style drinks like my beloved Three Dots and a Dash, providing some interesting character for otherwise potentially overly sweet cocktails. But in this case, the liqueur helps give the bourbon in this drink more of an autumnal vibe. One where you probably want to grab a flannel shirt and a comfy blanket while sipping this with some apple pie.
While the allspice dram is one of the heroes in the cocktail, the real star of the show is the tamarind. You might recognize this spice from traditional Indian dishes, and I’m personally a huge fan of that cuisine. I never thought to try it in a cocktail though, and thankfully there are some already made syrups that you can buy online so you don’t have to go through all the effort of making it yourself if you’re simply curious and want a try.
Take those components, throw in a lime, and we’re off to the races.
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Ingredients
- 2 oz Bourbon
- 1 oz Allspice Dram
- 1/2 oz Tamarind Syrup
- (or 1/4 oz tamarind pulp and 1/4 oz simple syrup)
- 1/2 oz lime juice
Add everything to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled. Pour into a rocks glass with one giant ice cube and serve.
Have you been to Disney and tried this in person? Do you think there’s a way to make this even better? Let us know in the comments!
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