Ronrico Mai-Tai (1962)
This is from a print-ad circa 1962 and is noteworthy for a few reasons.
Firstly, it is a very early printed Mai Tai recipe, substantially similar to others from the mid-late 1950s. This was the original “Hawaiian Mai Tai” style that featured a split base of light rum paired with a flavorful dark Jamaica rum. I can assure you the Myers’s of that era was quite flavorful, and issued at robust 97 proof! A “jigger” in this time period was usually 1 oz.
As is typical of these early Hawaiian Mai Tais, the sweeteners were used in equal portions. Dash in this case being equal to ¼ oz. While the cocktail pictured does seem to be somewhat reminiscent of a fruit salad, it is also noteworthy that there’s no pineapple or orange juice. Remember, the Hawaiian Mai Tai was not born with pineapple juice.
1 jigger Ronrico White
1 jigger Myers’s Jamaica Rum
Juice of One Lime
1 dash Orgeat
1 dash Simple Syrup
1 dash Orange Curacao
I love the line “Don’t waste your time making it”. The person writing the copy also misspelled “Myers” rum, though they surely weren’t the first and far into the future people will still be misspelling it.
Goodbye, Skipper Rum
This Demerara Rum has been one of favorites of the genre, issued at a robust 45% ABV and being miles more flavorful than Pusser’s or Lemon Hart 1804. It’s a blend of seven rums, all aged for at least three years.
But, sadly, Skipper seems to have exited the U.S. market. Even worse, the Skipper Rum available in the U.K. is only at 40% ABV. So, tonight was the series finale.
As the bottle ran out, I made a Mai Tai and found it to work very well alongside some chewy Liber Orgeat. That’s the Mai Tai in the tall glass pictured.
And finally I made a Daiquiri (not pictured). This was fantastic when paired with some Liber Demerara Syrup. “The best in this rum world?” Oh that Daiquiri was pretty damn close.
Spike’s Breezeway Cocktail Hour Swizzles
These new swizzle sticks from The Hula Girls’ Spike Marble are really great. Designed by @larissapinupart, they are a counterpart for Spike’s YouTube show. Good branding and attractive colors, of course.
Most noteworthy about these is the notch that allows the girl to sit on top of your glass. Genius! More swizzles should do something like this.
The set of 8 swizzles is still available but supplies are selling fast. Check out The Hula Girls store for additional details.
Espresso Martini
First and last. No faux April Fools pretend to like it write up.
It tastes like coffee liqueur watered down with Vodka, because that’s what it is.
