Lion's Tail Cocktail

The Lions Tail cocktail is a drink built with bourbon whiskey, lime juice, sugar syrup, pimento dram all-spice liqueur, and angostura bitters!

Lion's Tail Cocktail Info

The Cafe Royal Cocktail Book published the first mention of the Lion's Tail in 1937. However, It’s possible that the drink was created during Prohibition when it was illegal to make illicit concoctions. Although the book was published in London, many believe that an American invented the cocktail. 

Their reasoning: The drink’s name refers to the phrase “twisting a lion’s neck”, which describes provoking the British and their lion emblem.

The Lion’s Tail features bourbon, allspice pimento dram (a liqueur made from rum, pimento-berries, and other spices), fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, and aromatic bitters.

The cocktail sadly went away for quite some time but was rediscovered in the late aughts by literature and product availability.

After the mid-century Tiki boom, allspice dram lost popularity and was entirely out of circulation in the 1980s. This changed in 2008 when St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram arrived in the USA. This Austrian-made liquor was on the market in 2008, one year before Ted Haigh’s updated “Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails” publication. It was an important book that marked the return of many forgotten and obscure drinks like the Lion’s Tail.

Once every bartender got their hands on the missing ingredient and the recipe... It began to appear everywhere! And it’s easy for anyone to understand why. The drink is rich, spicy, and aromatic. The simple syrup balances the alcohol and adds an extra layer of flavor. The drink is a favorite of many.