Rating
In a word
Fiery
Being a massive fan of rum, I sometimes like watering it down. Usually this happens in the form of mojito; sour, minty and cold like a Tory’s heart. Once in a while I add ginger beer, which can be Grandma’s Weapon’s Grade, made just down the road from me. As its name suggests, this is an alcoholic one, but it ain’t no Crabbies. It’s cloudy white – kind of like smoke in a glass. It gives a pretty hefty hangover too.
Anyway, back to the alcohol free ginger beer that is Pimento!
The beauty of Pimento is that it’s alcohol free. Yet it’s still really fiery.
Making a great mixer for delicious rum, this drink is produced in France, It has a pretty cool French website to accompany it, telling the story of its creation to fill a gap as a soft drink with real kick.
Made with ginger, tonic and chilli, this is a fiery and fun soft drink, which – well just tastes better with rum in it, in my opinion! The heat brings out a spiciness in the rum, and I can imagine it pairing well with vodka too. It has a similar flavour to alcoholic ginger beer, but is a soft drink, which is pretty refreshing over ice too.
That said, it is sugar free, which I often not keen on. However, when mixing with rum, I guess I can’t really be that pious about sugar content.
Apparently, this can be used as an ingredient in cooking too. I can see how it might work, as I used it for the base in hot buttered rum. Basically, this does what it says in the title. I take spiced rum and add melted butter and ginger beer, plus a bunch of spices like cinnamon, grated ginger and star anise. Then I sling it in a flask and go and get pissed on the cliffs.
Using this meant I didn’t need to add any ginger: the fire was already there. But not pervasive.
Overall, this was a good drink, and I’m sure it has a few uses.
Ordering information:
You’ll see Pimento stocked in specialist shops and bars, and you can order through their cool website. It even has music. http://www.pimentodrink.com/