Jaybird – your comment is very valuable! when i made that batch i didn`t use any alcohol, i don´t know if it´s needed or not but i used up my syrup fairly quick.

I got a pound of the powder for $25 which I’ve used half of so far. I can’t recall exactly how I mixed the gum and the simple syrup together in the past, but the “scum” or “foam” on the top that everyone always says to skim off, is really nothing more than gum that hasn’t dissolved yet. I would let it sit out overnight (not in the fridge) and it would always clarify. Once I put it in the fridge, and it didn’t clarify because if it’s too cold and viscous it retards the dissolving. Anyway, I can’t remember exactly how I combined the simple syrup and the pasty gum/water/air concoction, but this time it did NOT dissolve very well. Even after heating it a second time last night, today I seemed to be in no better shape than I was yesterday. After 48 hours I finally decided to add the alcohol early, (basically adding another solvent to help the gum finish dissolving) and that has done the trick, but in the past I’ve always waited to add the alcohol until after I’ve bottled it.

I think the way I made it last time was to not separate the water, but to merely make the simple syrup with all the water, bring it to a simmer, and then turn off the burner and sift in the gum arabic while it’s still hot, stirring as you go, and then cover and let it stand overnight. I wish I could find granules like what’s pictured above, as the powder seems like it’s probably more difficult to work with, having to be careful to avoid lumps (which is practically impossible). I know that’s not how everyone says to make it, but I’m now pretty sure that’s the way I made it last time and it worked out better, not to mention easier and faster than the standard instructions. I wish I’d remembered that before I started this batch.

Anyway, gomme syrup instead of simple syrup has made every cocktail I’ve tried it in better. It’s like the added viscosity coats your tongue and so you taste each sip better and for longer. Yum.

Thanks for your interest.
I’m the producer of Pimento. If you want to get the beverage, please feel free to get back to me.

Best regards,

Eric Dalsace
Pimento
e.dalsace@pimentodrink.com

Where can you buy this stuff? Looking around online, it seems to only be available from sites based out of Europe. The shipping is murder.

I also read the comment in the Kindred Cocktail recipe about the verification with the creator. Hopefully we can trust this comment and settle for Don’s Mix instead of Don’s Spices #2. Another proof for that thesis might be Bittermen’s Elemakule Tiki Bitters’s webpage which also lists Don’s Mix in the recipe for Opaka Raka:
http://bittermens.com/products/elemakule-tiki-bitters/

Now I just have to get myself some of that bitters

Cheers!

THEN i luckily took time to read the comments on kindredcocktails and discovered this –

The posted recipe has been verified with the creator. The recipe in Beach Bum Berry Remixed was incorrectly calling for Donn’s Spices #2. This error has propagated to other on-line sources.

So apparently there´s actually a typo in Bum`s book Remixed – so it should actually be Don`s Mix. I`m correcting that in the recipe here now and i`ll also notify cocktailvirgin about the typo in the book.

Thanks for telling because i would never have discovered it i think….

Tiare

This recipe calls for Don’s Spice #2. However, on another source, Kindred Cocktails, http://www.kindredcocktails.com/cocktail/opaka-raka , it calls for Don’s Mix which is a different thing (2 parts grape fruit juice + 1 part cinnamon syrup). Can anyone confirm which recipe is the right one?