1944 Mai Tai with Appleton Reserve at Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar (Anaheim, CA)
The date was March 8. Less than 10 days later everything would be shut down, but on this day I wandered into Trader Sam’s after a great Sunday morning at Disney California Adventure park. Unlike the evening two days earlier, Sam’s wasn’t at capacity and I was able to relax with a cocktail. It’s to the credit of the Trader Sam’s bartenders that they are eager to accommodate, especially when things aren’t crazy inside. Skipper Will made me a traditional 1944 Mai Tai made with simple syrup rather than the Sam’s standard agave syrup, along with Appleton Reserve Jamaican rum. This was the best Mai Tai I’ve ever had a Trader Sam’s.
Cocktails are always better when the bartenders know your preferences. Such was the case at Forbidden Island where we visited their tiki patio shortly after re-opening and were so pleased by the hospitality that we missed after months of to-go cocktails.
I was pleasantly surprised when my Mai Tai was delivered by John Peterson with “extra orgeat,” even though I didn’t specify it when ordering. It was a great well-rounded Mai Tai that included the noticeable almond sweetness that I prefer in this cocktail.
Mai Tai with Mount Gay XO at The Vesper (Campbell, CA)
This craft cocktail bar and restaurant has a very nice rum selection, so I chose Mount Gay over the default and I was quite happy with this balanced Mai Tai.
I love our local grocery store brand Egg Nog. So thick and creamy and pairs well with most spirts. I saw that Nathan Robinson posted a Nog recipe that featured Jamaican rum and Bourbon so I gave it a try. I liked it but it wasn’t creamy enough for me and I thought it used too much Bourbon, so I flipped up the spirits.
Ultimate Egg Nog 1 egg ¾ oz Heavy Cream ¼ oz Milk ½ oz Demerara Syrup ¼ oz Brandy ½ oz Bourbon (Wild Turkey 101) 1 oz Ultimate Mai Tai Rum Blend 2 dashes Grated Cinnamon 2 dashes Grated Nutmeg Dry shake all ingredients, then shake with ice. Strain into small glass and top with grated nutmeg
Ultimate Mai Tai Rum Blend is equal parts Appleton 12, Smith & Cross, Plantation Xaymaca, Plantation OFTD. Best single rum option for this recipe: Smith & Cross.
This one was much more to my liking, and Mrs. Mai Tai liked it better too. Give it a try. Thanks Nathan for the inspiration.
There are few things that bug me more than when restaurants/bars call their Mai Tai “World Famous” (heck, even Trader Vic’s doesn’t do this). The hype is very rarely deserved. But for the past couple months I had seen people extolling the virtues of the Walnut Creek Yacht Club Mai Tai. So I had to give this a try and see if it was worth the hype.
Firstly, for those outside the Bay Area the idea of a “Yacht Club” in Walnut Creek is surely iconic. It’s an inland suburb at least 10 miles away from any seafaring body of water, but the restaurant specializes in seafood and has a nautical decor to match. Their back bar demonstrates they know a few things about spirits, including Havana Club from Cuba and a number of excellent rums. I ordered a Lobster Roll with garlic fries that was delicious and heavy on the lobster meat, while Mrs. Mai Tai had scallops with Brussels sprouts. Food was a bit pricey but tasted great.
The Mai Tai is provided kit-style, complete with a large bag of crushed ice. Also included are two spent and inverted lime shells, a little mint, a side of dark Coruba rum, a bottled Mai Tai and instructions. As served in the restaurant, the Mai Tai is served with crushed ice and the dark rum added into the lime shell. Ingredients are largely high quality, including Appleton Reserve Rum, Coruba Rum, Orgeat, Ferrand Dry Curacao, and lime juice that’s definitely fresh. Cruzan Spiced Rum is the only questionable ingredient, but thankfully this is not forward in the cocktail. The kit costs $30 and serves three Mai Tais or “2 big ones.” We found that to be an honest assessment of the volume provided, which means this is a extraordinary value.
The Verdict: Sometimes the product is worth the hype. I can honestly say this is pretty damn good Mai Tai, and is likely to make my year-end top 10.
The mix of flavors including a zesty lime really deliver, and the provided pebble ice is also high quality.I made a version with the dark rum pre-mixed, and then another one where the float was added in the traditional style into the cocktail rather than into the lime, and the versions with the float tasted the best. So the Walnut Creek Yacht Club team do know where they are doing.
Still working out the kinks on this one. I riffed on a recipe shared online but this was missing something. Going to keep trying with unsweetened cranberry juice next.
Holiday Cocktail 2 oz Cranberry cocktail 1 oz Orgeat ½ oz Vanilla Syrup ¼ oz Ginger Syrup ½ oz Pimento Dram 2 oz Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon Spash Soda
