Allspice Berries vs. Juniper Berries: A Clove-Scented Fruit and a Piney Cone

Small, dark, dried and tossed whole into pots of meat and cabbage, allspice and juniper look like they should be cousins. They aren’t. Allspice is the dried fruit of a tropical myrtle-family tree, and its oil is led by eugenol, the same compound that dominates cloves. Juniper isn’t even a true berry: it’s the fleshy cone of a northern conifer, and its oil is led by α-pinene, which gives it the pine note you know from gin. Neither is a close substitute for the other, but they can share a pot.

Side by side

The two compound rows come from different sources and methods: PROSEA’s typical range for allspice berry oil, and pharmacopoeial quality ranges for juniper oil. The oil-content row uses different units. Use them to see which compound leads in each, not as a head-to-head measurement.

Different plants, different “berries”

Allspice berries are true fruits. They’re picked fully mature but still green, and in Jamaica the harvest runs from July to September. As they dry, they turn from green to a dull reddish brown. In the wild, birds spread the seeds; growers raise the tree from sown seed or by grafting. You’ll often read that allspice seeds have to pass through a bird or bat before they’ll germinate. PROSEA describes seed that’s simply sown and mulched, starting to germinate 9 to 10 days after sowing, and nothing in its account backs up the claim.¹

Juniper “berries” aren’t berries at all. They’re fleshy, berry-like cones, and the botanical term for the round cone is galbulus. They’re not pine cones either: common juniper belongs to the cypress family, not the pine family. According to Gernot Katzer, the cones take two years to mature.⁸

Where the flavors come from

Allspice. The three main compounds in its oil are eugenol, methyl eugenol and myrcene,² and PROSEA puts eugenol at 50 to 80 percent of the berry oil.¹ Eugenol is also about 85 to 92 percent of clove oil,⁹ which is why allspice comes across as clove-like. Britannica says the spice got its English name because the dried berry tastes like a combination of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.⁴ A common version of the story swaps nutmeg for black pepper. The pepper connection is real, just different: Spanish explorers took the berries for black pepper and called them pimienta, which English later turned into “pimento.”

Juniper. Its oil is mostly monoterpenes,⁸ and the pharmacopoeial ranges put α-pinene in the lead.³ Juniper is the main flavoring of gin, so if you’ve tasted gin, you know the note.

The two oils do share one compound, myrcene. It’s a main constituent of allspice oil and can be a big part of juniper oil.²³ That’s not enough to make them taste alike, though: the lead compounds, eugenol and α-pinene, are different.

Using them in the kitchen

Allspice. In Jamaica, pimento (allspice) is essential to jerk. Smithsonian Magazine’s history of the dish says the Maroons, people who escaped slavery into Jamaica’s mountains, traditionally hunted wild boar and seasoned the meat with pimento, salt and bird peppers.¹⁰ Whole allspice goes into meat broths, gravies and pickling liquids, while ground allspice is the pick for desserts, fruit cakes and pies.

Juniper. Juniper is used a lot in the traditional cooking of Central Europe and is considered indispensable for venison, and game is among its most common uses. Traditional sauerkraut is seasoned with juniper and caraway, sometimes with a few bay leaves. Lisa Bramen’s advice: use it sparingly.¹¹ It rarely shows up in desserts.

Together. The two can share a pot. Saveur’s Alsatian choucroute garnie ties juniper berries, cloves, garlic and a bay leaf in cheesecloth to cook with the sauerkraut.¹² Tossing a couple of allspice berries into that kind of bundle is a reasonable variation, though we found no test of it.

Can one stand in for the other?

Not closely.

Allspice in place of juniper. In a braise of game or pork, allspice brings warmth but no pine. Ratio (Method): Start with about half as many whole allspice berries as the juniper berries called for, since allspice’s clove note takes over fast, and taste before adding more. If the pine note matters, you’ll do better with the options on our juniper berries substitutes page: gin, which carries juniper itself, and rosemary, whose oil shares α-pinene.

Juniper in place of allspice. Juniper’s pine note won’t pass for allspice. Where allspice is the main flavor, as in jerk or a spice cake, use a blend instead. Ratio (Attributed): The Spice House gives 2 parts cinnamon, 1 part nutmeg and 1 part ground cloves, used 1:1 for ground allspice, plus a pinch of black pepper for savory dishes.¹³ More on our allspice substitutes page. Where allspice is one of several whole spices in a long-cooked pot, like sauerkraut or a game braise, one or two crushed juniper berries can fill the gap, with a different result.

What isn’t known

• The compound figures above come from different references and samples. We didn’t find a single study analyzing both oils the same way.
• No dated price comparison.

Related

• Allspice, allspice substitutes, too much allspice
• Juniper berries, juniper berries substitutes
• Cedar berries vs. juniper berries
• Allspice vs. cloves, allspice vs. black pepper, garam masala vs. allspice
• Jerk seasoning, caraway seeds, bay leaves