Versions with alcohol are generally lower in proof (≈15% ABV), adding rum and emphasizing the clove, ginger, or allspice flavoring aspects for use in mixing cocktails, typically tropical or tiki drinks.

Depending on sugar content, the consistency is often thick and is therefore sometimes referred to as "velvet falernum" because of the feeling it leaves on one's tongue.

[2] Falernum may date back to the 18th century, when it was made as a punch in the areas around Barbados.

The inclusion of bitters historically would seem to be corroborated by a 1982 article appearing in The New York Times.

[4] In the literary magazine All the Year Round, owned by Charles Dickens Jr. at the time, an unnamed author wrote of falernum in 1892, describing it as "a curious liqueur composed from rum and lime-juice".