Category: Recipe

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Recipe: Blue Hawai-Tai

It’s like the Blue Hawaii and the Mai Tai had a baby. This is an original riff and I hope you like it.

Blue Hawai-Tai by Kevin Crossman
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz White Overproof Jamaican Rum
½ oz Aged White Rum
½ oz Orgeat
½ oz Simple Syrup
½ oz Blue Curacao

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with crushed ice. Shake and dump into a small snifter glass. Garnish with Mint and tropical fruit.

Recommended spirits:

  • Any white Jamaican Overproof rum will do fine, including the widely available Wray & Nephew Overproof. For best results use a 100% pot-still rum such as Rum-Bar Overproof or Rum Fire.
  • For the white rum we recommend something with at least some pot-still component, such as Probitas, Denizen White, Hamilton White Stache, Myers’s White, or Plantation 3 Star. If you prefer something even lighter, then a rum with at least a little age such as Cruzan is recommended.
  • We recommend Giffard Blue Curacao.
Colors in the photo are not retouched.
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The Eastern Sour

Took another run at the Eastern Sour, a Trader Vic’s original from the 1950s. This is a tweaked version of a Whiskey Sour using Trader Vic’s signature ingredient, Orgeat. The pairing of Orange Juice alongside the Lemon Juice also adds an additional dimension, though due to the volume can be risky depending on what your Orange Juice tastes like.

When I had this last time I didn’t find it sweet enough. But I made a few adjustments. This time, I used fresh Valencia Orange juice, which I find sweeter than typical store-bought OJ. I also upped the Orgeat and used Demerara rather than Simple Syrup.

Eastern Sour (original Trader Vic’s Recipe)
¾ oz Lemon Juice
2½ oz Orange Juice
¼ oz Orgeat
¼ oz Sugar Syrup
2 oz Bourbon
Shake with crushed ice and sink spent orange and lemon shells into the drink.

Eastern Sour (modified)
¾ oz Lemon Juice
2½ oz Orange Juice (fresh Valencia Orange)
½ oz Orgeat
¼ oz Demerara Syrup
2 oz Bourbon (Maker’s Mark)
Shake with crushed ice and sink spent orange and lemon shells into the drink.