Orgeat Works provided a review sample of the Wiki Wiki Mai Tai mix, and we thought we shouldn’t have all the fun so I put out the word about providing some samples to others to try. Like Johnny Appleseed, I drove samples to Campbell, San Jose, Fremont, and San Mateo. Soon, Mai Tais were sprouting!
In addition, I made a bunch of Mai Tais with different rums. The results were a little surprising.
#4: Wiki Wiki Mai Tai with Cruzan Light Rum
This cocktail was the least satisfying. The light rum did not provide the requisite “heft” for a cocktail that is best experienced with a bold, heavy rum. Still, not bad.
#3: Wiki Wiki Mai Tai with Appleton 12 Rum
Shockingly, my favorite Mai Tai rum wasn’t nearly as good as I expected. Something about the flavor profile of the aged Jamaican rum just didn’t mesh with the mix.
#2: Wiki Wiki Mai Tai with Real McCoy 5 / Bacardi 4
Much better was this half/half blend of two medium aged rums, Real McCoy from Barbados and Bacardi from Puerto Rico. Just enough age and flavor from the rum to compliment the Mai Tai mix.
#1: Wiki Wiki Mai Tai with Trader Vic’s Royal Amber Rum
Royal Amber is the rum that Trader Vic’s uses in the restaurants to pair with their Mai Tai Concentrate, and the results were equally solid with the Latitude 29 mix. The rum is from Puerto Rico and lightly aged, but colored. So in a way it is not too far off from the product’s intended rum pairing. This one had a great mouthfeel and best overall flavor balance.
Feedback from the locals matched my own view: this is a quality mix but white rum is probably not the winning formula. Everyone did praise this as ending up with a good cocktail, though nothing close to scratch. But, as one of our reviewers noted it seems like this is a product designed for more casual cocktail drinkers and not hard care craft cocktail junkies.
Order the Wiki Wiki Mai Tai Mix on the Orgeatworks website.
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