Drinks at Trader Vic’s – The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai

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Drinks at Trader Vic’s Had some great drinks at @tradervicseville last night. I started with their standard-issue 1944 Mai Tai, which features the Trader Vic’s Royal Amber Rum. The Trader Vic’s rums do not have a great reputation these days, and their bargain-basement retail pricing are not a sign of quality. I have the Trader Vic’s Dark Rum and it is not particularly flavorful. But some folks have said the Royal Amber is pretty good, so I asked for my Mai Tai to hold back a little bit of the rum so I can try it neat. It was… okay. The Mai Tai is pretty good with this rum but I knew I could do better. My second Mai Tai was made just with Smith & Cross Jamaican Rum. This one was much better as it really allowed the fine flavorful rum to shine and be forward in the cocktail. Best part was that they only charged me 50 cents extra for this much better rum. We had a really long dinner as the dining room was not particularly busy and we didn’t feel the need to give up the table. So, I decided to try one of the after-dinner drinks on the “Happy Ending” portion of the cocktail menu. Suitably I chose this cocktail – Almost There: "Macadamia nut liqueur, Galliano and cream will get you there!” I’m not sure what is supposed to be implied here, but I found this to be really delicious, especially with the ground nutmeg on top. Mrs. Mai Tai liked her Banana Batida and Koana Puffer quite a bit, and our friends like their drinks too. Trader Vic’s did a great job with the cocktails this evening. #tiki #tikibar #tikidrinks #tikiculture #cocktails #craftcocktails #rum #rhum #maitai #1944maitai #tradervics #emeryville

A post shared by Search for Ultimate Mai Tai (@ultimatemaitai) on Jan 20, 2020 at 10:29am PST

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