Category: Rum

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San Francisco Rum Festival and Congress Presentation

Coming on August 31, I’ll be presenting at the San Francisco Rum Festival and Congress alongside Matt Pietrek of RumWonk.com and CocktailWonk.com fame. Our seminar covers rums of the Mai Tai, including some historical details rarely seen or discussed.

Rums of the Mai Tai – Secrets Revealed

Few cocktails highlight rum better than the Mai Tai, the king of tiki cocktails and created by Trader Vic 80 years ago. Join Kevin Crossman and Matt Pietrek for a look at the evolution of the rums used in the Mai Tai through the decades, including deep dives into historic rum expressions.

“NOTE: These sessions are restricted to Rum Congress (Aug 31st) ticket holders and require an additional $ to attend. Very Limited seats available – ORDER HERE“

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Improved Mai Tai at San Diego’s Bali Hai

As we left San Diego for the airport we swung by Shelter Island to have an early dinner at Bali Hai. The place was quite full at opening on the Sunday, perhaps due to an earlier private event that kept some revelers in the bar.

Our dinner was pretty great, including the Ali’i Tasting platter that included coconut shrimp, tuna poke, spinach lumpia, beef skewers, and firecracker ribs. Everything on here was really good, including the ribs which aren’t always my thing. We also shared the Honey Cashew Shrimp that was expertly prepared and was totally savory.

We’ve discussed the Bali Hai’s infamous “no juice added” Mai Tai in the past, a rum-forward cocktail with 5 oz of rum! I had asked for a Mai Tai with Appleton 12, but was told they don’t make spirits substitutions on the Mai Tai. Instead, I tried the new to us Cutwater Spirits Mai Tai, the same recipe but using local favorites Cutwater Bali Hai Dark Rum and Cutwater Three Sheets White Rum. I haven’t tasted a lot of Cutwater rums neat, but I would say the final product is worth the up-charge as I found this Mai Tai to taste much more balanced than the standard issue. Still very booze-forward, though; warning, limit two per person.

Waterfront views

Bali Hai sold their 3 millionth Mai Tai a couple months ago and they seem to still be going strong. We love the views of the harbor and the Polynesian decor inside.

Ali’i Tasting platter
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The Penultimate Mai Tai

Derek from the Make & Drink YouTube channel asked me to come up with a two-rum Mai Tai as simpler version of our four-rum Ultimate Mai Tai. This was actually harder than you’d think, and I decided that using Appleton 12 and Smith & Cross from the Ultimate Mai Tai blend was sort of a cop out (though those two rums are fabulous in a Mai Tai). I ended up going with some newer rum expressions that are among my favorites.

The Penultimate Mai Tai by Kevin Crossman
1 oz Lime Juice
½ oz Latitude 29 Orgeat
¼ oz Demerara Syrup
½ oz Quality Orange Curacao
1½ oz Worthy Park 109 Jamaica Rum
½ oz Kuleana Rum Works Hawaiian Rum Agricole
Shake with ice and garnish with lime and mint.

The Worthy Park is a boozy and flavorful dark rum, similar in style to the punch rums from the 1950s. There is a little bit of the “funk” common to many Jamaica rums but there’s also a charred backbone as well. This rum is becoming more widely available and there’s literally nothing like it on the market today. Subbing an 80 proof dark Jamaica rum like Coruba or Myers’s isn’t going to provide the same results.

There’s a tradition of using Rhum Agricole in Mai Tais, so I thought I’d include a cane juice-based rum. My favorite in this style are the cane rums from Hawaii, which aren’t as grassy as those from Martinique but also have more flavor than some of the delicate Cachacas from Brazil. If you can’t find Kuleana or KōHana, then Copalli from Belize is a good sub.

Thanks to Derek for having me back on the channel to talk about Mai Tais once again. Look for a super interesting collaboration coming soon.

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Kamala Mai Tai

Re-remembering the family background of presumptive Democratic nominee Vice-President Kamala Harris made me think of making a tribute recipe for this Oakland native based on the Mai Tai, Oakland’s most famous cocktail. Harris’ parents are from Jamaica and India, so the rum ratios for a Mai Tai naturally fell into place.

Kamala Mai Tai by Kevin Crossman
1 oz Lime Juice
½ oz Orgeat
¼ oz Demerara Syrup
½ oz Orange Curacao
1 oz Oakland Rum (Wright & Brown)
½ oz Indian Rum (Amrut Two Indies)
½ oz Jamaica Rum (Worthy Park 109)

This was a really good Mai Tai, with the Jamaica rum presenting itself up front and a long finish with the barrel notes from the aged Wright & Brown from Oakland. I know most folks don’t have this rum, but if you want it to be authentic it has to come from Oakland.

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Bold Mai Tai with El Dorado Single Still Port Mourant

This cask strength Demerara rum from Guyana is one of my favorites. The famed Port Mourant pot still produces leathery and heavy rum that coats your tongue and lingers for hours. Always a key component of Navy Rum and Demerara rum blends, El Dorado released a cask strength bottle of Port Mourant as part of their Single Still series. Aged for a decade and issued at 56.7% ABV.

The Kon-Tiki in Oakland has several of these El Dorado expressions and so last night was Port Mourant night as I continue to work on the Kon-Tiki Expedition rum list. This rum is great just by itself but I almost always have rums at the Kon-Tiki in a Mai Tai since their base ingredients are so great that a fab Mai Tai is nearly a guarantee. Such was the case here, a bold flavorful Mai Tai that you can seemingly chew it’s so thick.

Expressions like this don’t last forever, so I recommend trying it if you’re in downtown Oakland or at another quality bar with this rum.

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Papalin Réunion 10 Year Rum

Picked this beauty up at Tara Spirits in Munich. I’d heard good things about this bottle which includes four different rums all aged ten or more years on Réunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean. There are some of the rich raisin flavors I get from aged pot still rums from Appleton and Mount Gay, but the overall body is a little lighter. There is supposed to be some Grand Arome in here, and all the rums in the bottle are pot still rums aged in French Oak. No sugar or other additives are present, and the bottle comes in at 50% ABV.

I really love these aged flavorful rums, which means they go straight into a Mai Tai. As expected, the aromatic character of the rum works wonderfully in the cocktail and imparts rich flavors.

Papalin Réunion 10 Year Rum is worth seeking out if you can find it.