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
This recipe was promoted by Trader Vic’s today so I thought I’d make it. Gave me the excuse to open a new bottle of Probitas, my favorite white rum.
Trader Vic’s Daiquiri
1½ oz Light Rum (Probitas)
¾ oz Lime Juice
¼ oz Maraschino Liqueur
½ tsp Sugar
I’d cut the Maraschino in half next time. But little riffs on the traditional Daiquiri recipe are always welcome.
All out of Mai Tai rum. Time to make some more.
Use in equal parts:
Pro-tip: filling up a bottle in this way has much easier math if you are using a 1 liter bottle, rather than 750 ml. An old Coruba bottle works nicely.
This tequila came recommended and I found it to be quite delightful in this cocktail. Affordable, too.
And look! The incredible Eye of the Tiki mug from Vantiki has arrived. There have been plenty of things to be bummed about in 2020, but this mug and the fine folks behind Tiki-Kon are not one of them. This two-sided mug turned out great, and Justin and Greg of Tiki-Kon have handled everything so professionally and with love, including getting these mugs out very quickly. I couldn’t be happier with the mug.
For National Pina Colada day I prepared two cocktails with Cruzan Rum as the base. Mine was a Pina Colada with a float of Pussers rum, whereas Mrs. Mai Tai enjoyed her Pina Colada in the Forbidden Island “Chamborlada” style with Chambord Liqueur. Delish.
I was gifted this from some fellow tikiphiles and it’s totally cool. It pays homage to the Indiana Jones franchise including the Mara-glyphics from the Indiana Jones Adventure attraction at Disneyland. Who’s that holding the cocktail? Why that’s Mola Ram from Temple of Doom, the priest who would performs human sacrifices for the goddess Kali. In the movie people were forced to drink the Blood of Kali Ma, a potion that brainwashed people to make the devout followers. If only getting more Instagram followers was so easy.
The pin is really large and the glyphics on the front have the recipe for the 1944 Mai Tai. On the back of the card, there’s a recipe for the Kali Mai Tai, a twist on the original recipe feature Asian rum, Blood Orange Juice, and Blood Orange Cordial.
The back of the pin features a decoder wheel so you can translate the recipe and the secret message (which I won’t spoil in the post). The decoder is great, though I found that using the Disneyland App was faster: go to Adventureland and choose the Indiana Jones ride and there is a glyphics decoder.
As for the cocktail, it is wonderful. Especially if you pair it with appropriate glassware such this one from Last Rites in San Francisco. I liked the tangy blood orange twist on the Mai Tai. I used the Liber and Co. Blood Orange Cordial. Give it a try!
The pin is available from @junglecruiserusso. So well done.
Made a Painkiller with a modified juice ratio. I really love the Valencia Orange Juice and thought that maybe adding more orange to a Painkiller would improve it. But it probably came out a little less good.
1 oz Coco Real Coconut Creme
2 oz Pineapple Juice
2 oz Valencia OJ
2 oz Pusser’s Rum
Glassware by B-Rex.
Trying to learn more about this event and future national holiday. I didn’t have strawberries but wanted to make a red drink.
1 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Liber & Co. Blood Orange Cordial
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1/2 oz Cherry Heering
1 oz Light Rum (I used Denizen White)
1 oz Saint Benevolence Rum Clairin from Haiti
Shake with cubes and top with soda.
