A while back, Sean asked me for my Mai Tai recipe. As some of you know, this is a subject about which I have fairly strong opinions, so i thought you might be interested in seeing the reply I gave him. I share it in hopes that some of you might take a walk down the golden path of wisdom and become Tiki Alchemists yourselves.
>
> The Mai Tai is not a drink for which a ?recipe?
> can be made, inasmuch as a recipe is a list of things that go together and have
> a predictable end result. It?s more of a cross between a recipe and a technique.
> A Mai Tai is a methodology, a means by which one can appreciate the interplay
> between two excellent rums. What we?re doing here is blending a couple
> rums with a few ingredients that enhance the enjoyment of rum. We are not
> making a TGI McFuntimes Flirty-Mai-tai-rita Cosmo-tini, where the flavors are all
> determined by the base of the cocktail, and then punch is added by hiding
> liquor in it. I have a friend who complains that my Mai Tais are ?awful?
> because they are too strong and he tastes too much rum. This opinion(like
> most opinions contrary to my own) belies his colossal, criminal ignorance.
> His own signature cocktail contains enough midori and sour mix to kill a busload
> of diabetic horses, so I will encourage you to indulge whatever inferences you
> care to make about his lack of refinement. The Mai Tai is about the rum, about tasting
> the rum. It is about enjoying the rum, so clearly you want to use good
> rum. The original recipe, which as far as (most) booze historians can determine
> was concocted by Trader Vic Bergeron in 1944, contains rum which no longer
> exists, so we will have to try to recreate the character from things that are
> still around. This is not a problem.
>
>
>
> It is important then that both rums are good enough to drink
> on their own, like one would a fine scotch, from a bell-shaped tumbler. You
> need to select two rums that have complimentary flavor characteristics. A
> smooth golden aged rum with a nutty, soft- woody character paired with an old,
> dark, molassesssey rum with nice legs and a round rich mouthfeel is my favorite
> combination. The current ?default? Mai Tai for people who still
> care about things like Mai Tais is usually based on what Tiki enthusiast Jeff ?Beachbum?
> Berry called ?The $100 Mai Tai? . It?s a simple formula, true
> to the original, and easy to modify to suite one?s particular tastes,
> which I do. Prepare the ingredients quickly before you put anything into the
> glass; you don?t want anything to sit and bruise while you derf about
> measuring things later.
>
>
>
> Before you go slinging rums around, though, you?re
> going to want to prepare a comfy home for them. The ?framework? of
> the mai tai is made as follows; squeeze the juice from one entire fresh lime
> into a shaker of ice. You?re looking for between an ounce and an ounce
> and a half. Closer to an ounce is better, to ensure the lime does not carry the
> drink. Save half of the squeezed out lime shell. You will need that later. Then
> pour in a quarter-ish ounce each of orgeat syrup and rock candy syrup. I tend
> to use a tiny bit more orgeat than is strictly needed. Orgeat is an almond
> syrup that you can either make or buy. I used to substitute DiSorono Amaretto
> for it, but that?s not really ?authentic? if there is such a
> thing. Rock candy syrup is just simple syrup, but if you do make your own as I
> have occasionally done, I encourage you to add a vanilla bean while the sugar
> water reduces. The faint whiff of vanilla plays well with the almond, lime and
> rum. Do NOT make straight up vanilla flavored water or some abomination like
> that. Next, if this was a regular Mai Tai, we would add a half ounce or so of
> triple sec. A really good one like Cointreau is fine, or the original Marie
> Brizzard if you can find it. But a lot of obnoxious people who take silly tiki
> drinks too seriously (like me) have been using a little something called
> Clement?s Creole Rum Shrub, which you can actually buy at Julio?s
> around here. It?s an orange flavored rhum agricole, with
> mysterious hints of this and that thrown in for good measure. The rum base blends
> more harmoniously with the rums you?re adding shortly than does a triple
> sec?s neutral spirit. Plus it?s more pretentious, so absolutely I
> like it more. In any case, use about three quarters of an ounce, since I find
> it?s actually less sweet than triple sec.
>
>
>
> Anyway, now it?s time to add the rum. A generous
> ounce of Saint James 15-year Hors D'Age Rum mixed with a generous ounce of
> Appleton Estate Extra 12 Year Rum is the combination that is currently in
> vogue, and I like it very, very, very much. But as I alluded to earlier part of
> the fun is finding two rums that work well together and making your own favorite
> version of the drink. I suggest getting the ones above and seeing how you like
> that. Did I mention getting the ingredients for this ?$100 Ma Tai?
> is going to cost you about $130? Ah, the joys of inflation. Still more than
> worth it, of course. So now you have all these wonderful things in your shaker
> with your ice. Now shake the hell out of it. Just really go to town on the poor
> thing. Crack the nice frosty shaker open, and either dump it into an empty
> double old fashioned glass (maybe even triple, if you?ve had a heavy
> hand) or strain it into one which has been filled with crushed ice. Now garnish
> it with the lime shell you saved, and a sprig of fresh mint. Grab the mint in
> one palm and slap your hands together as if the mint suggested that maybe you
> have a drinking problem. You?re smacking it around a bit to just barely
> awaken the essential oils in it. The smell of the mint as you drink is salubrious
> to the Mai Tai experience, and I do not suggest omitting it. You can also throw
> in a spear of pineapple with a (real) maraschino cherry stuck to it with one of
> those classy little plastic swords. Whatever. All I?m saying if you are
> going to skimp on the garnish, don?t skip the mint. Anyway, finish with a
> short straw (I cut a regular straw down to 2/3 length with scissors myself
> because I am handy, like Sandra Lee) and drink that bad larry.
>
>
>
> It takes less time to make than it does to read this, but I
> wanted you to understand exactly the kind of solemn gravitas I expect you to
> bring to your little paper umbrella drinks. Preparing a Mai Tai is a ritual, a
> sacrament whereby you transfigure simple ingredients into the blood of the gods
> by way of ethanol alchemy. It is a serious responsibility, and requires much
> practice. Fortunately, almost any occasion warrants Mai Tais. Got an A on a
> paper? Got promoted at work? Day ending in ?Y?? That?ll do.
>
>
>
> Sl?inte!
>
>
>
> -Shamus