A Great Falernum Recipe Isn’t Just for a few Legendary Tiki Drinks

Falernum is a cocktail syrup used in tropical and tiki drinks. Made with almond, ginger, lime and an assortment of Caribbean spices.

Falernum Syrup


Spicy, Nutty and Sweet

Falernum Recipe
Falernum Recipe

If you are interested in making tiki or tropical drinks a good falernum recipe is essential.

Falernum is a cocktail syrup used in tropical and tiki drinks. Made with almonds, ginger, lime zest and an assortment of Caribbean spices. It is sweet, nutty and lightly spice. Perfect for adding depth and complexity to tropical rum drinks like the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail, Zombies and Bermuda Rum Swizzles.

It also works really well in cocktails made with gin, bourbon and tequila as well. I particularly like it with coffee flavors or other nutty and roasted flavors. It also works really well wherever you might use a ginger syrup.

How to make Falernum - DIY
Falernum Recipe

Get Yourself a Good Falernum Recipe

If you are interested in making tiki or tropical drinks a good falernum recipe is essential. If you are looking for interesting and unique flavour for other cocktail falernum can bring the big and bold to the table in other drinks as well. You can find commercially produced falernum, but as always fresh is best. Having a recipe for homemade falernum in your back pocket is always a good idea.


What is Falernum?

Falernum is a unique cocktail syrup used in tropical and Tiki drinks. You make homemade falernum with almond, ginger, lime zest and an assortment of Caribbean spices. Allspice, cloves and vanilla are often added to the mix. You can make it as either a non-alcoholic syrup or a liqueur.

Falernum comes from the Caribbean. People were writing about it as early as the 1890’s, but chances are it originated much earlier. You can see the Carribean flavour in the blend of spices used to make it.

As you might expect it is a common ingredient in tropical drinks and tiki cocktails. It can also be challenging to find, which means it is nice to have a recipe in your pack pocket to pull out, should you ever need it.

Falernum is a cousin to Orgeat Syrup. While they are both almond based syrups falernum is more complex. The big differences are the spices, lime, and alcohol.

“…a curious liqueur composed from rum and lime juice.”

Charles Dickens

Flavor Description

Falernum is a complex mix of flavors. It is a rich, thick golden amber syrup. The almond and lime flavors come through on the front and temper the spicier notes. The spices make their presence known on the back end finishing with a pleasant tangy burn.

There is a lot going on here flavor wise. This is a versatile syrup. It is used in classic tiki, tropical and Caribbean drinks. There is no need to limit yourself to tropical flavors. Falernum also works well paired with coffee, gin, and several other surprising flavors.

  • Sweet
  • Nutty
  • Tart
  • Fruity
  • Spicy
Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail
Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail

Royal Bermuda Yacht Club

Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Recipe – This is a tropical drink fit to impress the club’s Admiral. Barbados rum, lime juice, and falernum. A piece of paradise.

Bermuda Rum Swizzle

Bermuda Rum Swizzle

Bermuda Rum Swizzle is the rum based cocktail that introduced the swizzle stick to the world. As the name implies, the drink is from Bermuda.

Falernum Recipe
Falernum Recipe

Rum Collins

The Rum Collins is an interesting variation on the classic Collins recipe. In this drink we replace the sugar or simple syrup with falernum.

glass of fresh drink on white background
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Where to buy falernum?

There are commercial varieties available both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum has been on the market longest. It is a liqueur, meaning it contains alcohol. The Bitter Truth released a Golden Falernum liqueur. Fee Brother’s sells a non-alcoholic falernum syrup.

You should be able to find commercially produced versions of falernum at better liquor stores and specialty food stores. It can be difficult, and you may need to track it down online.

If you can’t find it you can make your own. Making your own is also a bit of a pain. But it is so worth trying. The difference in flavour with a fresh batch is amazing.

How do you pronouce falernum?

Pronounce it fah-LEARN-um, fah-LEHR-num, or fay-LEARN-um. You pick. Like so:

Falernum Recipe

  • 1½ cups blanched almonds (preferably with the skin removed, coarsely chopped (slivered almonds are fine if you can’t find whole ones))
  • ½ cup peeled (roughly chopped ginger)
  • 1 Tbsp. whole cloves
  • 1 Tbsp. whole allspice
  • 4 star anise pods
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • 1 quart white sugar
  • 2 quarts filtered water
  • Spirit
  1. Place almonds in a large glass jar, cover with 1 quart of water and seal. Let sit, shaking occasionally, for 30 hours minutes. Strain the almonds, discarding the water and washing out the jar.
  2. Roughly chop the almonds, place them back in the jar, cover with the remaining 1 quart of water and seal. Let sit, shaking occasionally for 4 hours or place in the refrigerator overnight.
  3. Place the cloves, allspice and star anise in a large saucepan over medium heat, tossing frequently. After one minute, add the contents of the jar to the saucepan.
  4. Add ginger and sugar to saucepan, stirring continuously. When mixture nears a boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Meanwhile, clean the emptied glass jar.
  5. Remove from heat and let cool. Once cool, add the lime zest and stir.
  6. Pour the contents back into the cleaned glass jar, seal and refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours.
  7. Strain through a double layer of cheesecloth into a large measuring cup. For every 5 ounces of syrup, add 1 ounce of rum. Stir well to integrate. Distribute into
  8. fresh bottles, cap and refrigerate. Will keep for up to 2 weeks.

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