Category: Rum

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

Havana Club 7 Restock

I’d like to thank the customs agent who didn’t ask any questions and allowed me to bring this Havana Club 7 Cuban Rum back from Germany with ease. I brought back from 12 year old Santiago rum from Cuba last year but I like the overall flavor and body of the Havana Club 7 better, so I made sure to bring back this bottle before my current one is finished. The current bottle is almost gone, and I’m also not sure when I’ll be out of the country so I had to make sure I stocked up.

Some people seem to pooh-pooh these Havana Club rums as only being desired due to scarcity in the United States, but having tried a lot of rum the Havana Club 3 and Havana Club 7 do stack up quite well and are very nice for these lighter style of column-still rums. The HC3 does make a fabulous crisp daiquiri and the HC7 is a very nice sipping rum that’s perfect when you want great flavor but don’t want the rum to be overly assertive. Sometimes you don’t want cask strength spirits.

One bummer was that the HC3 in Germany was only 37.5% ABV, less than the 40% that I got last year in U.K. I’m all for having a little more HC3 but I do draw the line at rum less than 40%.