The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai
Traveling the Bay Area and beyond to find the best Mai Tai in the world! Tiki, cocktails, and adventures by Kevin Crossman
Greg Brady and a big idol (signed by some guy named Barry Williams) helping me evaluate Liber & Co. Orgeat. Both were a gift from Mrs Mai Tai. Don’t steal it – that’s taboo!
No full review has come out of the Ultimate Mai Tai labs yet, where technicians are working feverishly on applying rigorous tests to another craft Orgeat. Stay tuned.
An interesting entrant to our Orgeat tastings this month is L’Orgeat, a shelf-stable almond liqueur. While Amaretto is often substituted for Orgeat syrup in Mai Tais and other cocktails, it isn’t a satisfactory substitute due to its high-ish ABV and a flavor profile that I think overpowers the orange, lime, and rum.
Enter L’Orgeat, an almond liqueur at 20% ABV that is designed to replace Orgeat syrup in cocktails. Their website recommends using ¾ oz of L’Orgeat along with 1 oz of Lime, 2 oz Jamaican Rum, and ¼ oz Curacao. I found this recipe to have an overpowering burnt chocolate taste, and it also wasn’t as sweet as I like it.
Much better was using L’Orgeat at ½ oz alongside the rest of the standard 1944 Mai Tai recipe ingredients. In this case, that nuttiness does add a hint of almonds and richness that can be missing when you use artificial Orgeat syrups like Torani. For those who like an Almond Milk lean in their Orgeat, however, this is pretty far afield from that. Still, I think many will enjoy the flavor profile of L’Orgeat.
Thanks to Sean Buckley for the L’Orgeat sample to try.
Orgeat month continues with an orgeat that’s been widely available for some time: Trader Vic’s Orgeat
The Trader Vic’s syrups have had sort of a bad reputation in the past few years amongst cocktail aficionados due to their use of Corn Syrup and preservatives, but this is widely available so I decided to give it a try at home. I purchased my 1 liter bottle for $9 at BevMo and the Trader Vic’s products are also available online.
In a Mai Tai made with Denizen Merchant’s Reserve Rum and Ferrand Dry Curacao, the Trader Vic’s Orgeat adds a hint of almond and little bit of silkiness to the mouthfeel. I am not sure it adds a lot of the cocktail but at least it doesn’t introduce any objectionable flavors to the cocktail or have any unpleasant aftertaste.
So, if budget is an issue I think the Trader Vic’s is a better option than comparable mainstream orgeat brands like Torani.
Mrs. Mai Tai and I enjoyed some On the Rocks “ready-to-drink” cocktails last weekend in Monterey. We sampled the Old Fashioned and the Jalapeño Pineapple Margarita, and enjoyed both. The Old Fashioned has Knob Creek Bourbon and is booooozy at 35% ABV. Luckily that night I was only having the 200 Ml size!
Tonight we sampled the Cosmopolitan, which Mrs. Mai Tai said was even better than the Margarita. I’m not normally a Cosmo drinker but it tastes very good and not artificial like most RTD cocktails.
The On the Rocks Mai Tai is my top recommended ready to drink Mai Tai, so it is nice to see that the quality is consistent through out the lineup.
Finally getting around to trying this cocktail from the Grog Log and originally from the long, lost Kahiki in Ohio. It’s a slightly exotic Whiskey Sour, so quite pleasant but not very complex or daring.
1 oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Passion Fruit Syrup
¼ oz Grenadine
1½ oz Bourbon (Makers Mark)
Flash blend with 8 oz crushed ice
Syrups by BG Reynolds
Glassware by B-Rex
Just got finished watching the latest “Welcome to Rum” series on the Tiki with Ray YouTube channel. The latest episode covers rums for Mai Tais, including some tasting of rum neat and compared to the rum in a Mai Tai. Jason Craig went through a bunch of different rum options for Mai Tais, with some witty banter from Ray and guest Geneen.
A noteworthy rum blend that Jason came up with was a combination of Siesta Key Coconut rum and Plantation OFTD. Interestingly, the panel expressed that this displayed Vanilla notes, so I had to try it myself. They used 1½ oz Siesta Key Coconut and ½ oz OFTD in a 1944 Mai Tai. And you know what? It does express vanilla notes and is sweet and delicious. Give it a try.
On vacation and needed some booze. Second time picking up some aged Bacardi, this time going for the 8 year aged Bacardi Ocho.
I like the aged Bacardi. Light rum with some age on it isn’t bad at all.
