Sidewinder’s Fang

A much better cocktail and garnish than the same cocktail I tried making last week. This classic tropical cocktail is great if you have oranges but you really need to pair it with a bold rum. This time I used 2 ounces of the Hamilton Navy Strength 114 Proof rum, which is a mix of Demerara and Jamaican rums.

Sidewinder’s Fang
1½ oz Lime Juice
1½ oz Orange Juice
1½ oz Passion Fruit Syrup (Liquid Alchemist)
1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum
1 oz Demerara Rum
3 oz Club Soda
Shake with ice, then float the club soda. Garnish with orange peel snake.

Ti Punch with Rhum JM VO

Quite good with a small slice of lime and a dash of BG Reynolds Demerara Syrup.

Rhum JM isn’t as “grassy” as some Martinique Agricoles can be, so is more to my taste. This one was pretty good, and I have enjoyed the VSOP and XO expressions as well.

The rum is a tasting from the Forbidden Island Kill Devil rum list.

Assertive Mai Tai

Someone on Facebook described my “Ultimate Mai Tai” recipe as being “assertive.” I totally took the comment in the way it was intended, which is to say that the Ultimate Mai Tai rum blend for sure isn’t for mellow drinking. This is rum-forward, and contains a large component of high-ester Jamaican rum. Bold and rich, intended to be savored.

So, in a way, “assertive” is actually quite the compliment.



Ultimate Mai Tai by Kevin Crossman
1 oz Lime Juice
½ oz Orgeat (Latitude 29)
¼ oz Demerara Syrup (BG Reynolds)
½ oz Orange Curacao (Ferrand Dry Curacao)
½ oz Appleton 12 Rum
½ oz Smith & Cross Rum
½ oz Plantation OFTD Rum
½ oz Plantation Xaymaca Rum

For those who find this rum blend too boozy and too heavy, there are thankfully so many great options. Appleton 12 just by itself is our recommendation for a single-rum Mai Tai, which provides a more approachable yet still quite satisfying rum-forward Mai Tai.

If you have a favorite rum, try it in a Mai Tai and let us know what how it worked. We’re always looking to try new rums in a Mai Tai.

Stroh Mai Tai

Called a rite of passage by some, Stroh Spiced Rum from Austria is a rum that everyone should try at least once. Maybe not more than once, thanks to its deeply sweet butterscotch flavor. But you need to try it.

The Mai Tai was made with 1 oz of Stroh along with an ounce of Rum-Bar Gold from Jamaica. There aren’t many rums that can overpower a funky Jamaican rum, but Stroh did it, not in a good way.

One and done.

Mello Pomelo

Played around with some Pomelo juice and using the Hemingway Daiquiri template I tweaked a few things. Quite refreshing, give it a try.

Mello Pomelo
1 oz Pomelo Juice
¼ oz Grenadine
½ tsp Don’s Spices #2 (Pimento Dram + Vanilla Syrup)
½ oz Cointreau
¼ oz Maraschino Liqueur
2 oz Aged White Rum (Denizen 3)