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
Have you got a case of the Mondays? Improve your spirit on #MaiTaiMonday by making a Blue Hawai-Tai, the love child of the Mai Tai and the Blue Hawaii cocktails.
Blue Hawai-Tai by Kevin Crossman
1 oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Orgeat
½ oz Simple Syrup
½ oz Blue Curacao
1 oz White Overproof Jamaican (Rum Fire)
½ oz Aged White Rum (Probitas)
I got to taste several of the Monymusk rums recently and decided to pick up a bottle of this blended rum with a minimum age of 10 years. Only about $35, though this isn’t as widely available as Appleton or Myers’s.
But it is worth seeking out as it has a delicious rich flavor with a hint of spice and only a hint of Jamaican funk. At 40% ABV it is designed for easy sipping or as a mixer in cocktails. This is more akin to Appleton 12 than Smith & Cross, and makes a delicious Mai Tai or Planter’s Punch.
Mrs Mai Tai and I spent the morning at the @fieldmuseum and at the @artinstitutechi (to see the Obama portraits), and landed at Miller’s Pub for lunch.
The menu included a Daiquiri with Parce Colombian rum, so I ordered one to numb the pain in my feet. Hoping for a good cocktail.
One thing I like in the Daiquiris I make at home is having little bits of ice in the drink. I know double straining is common, and I understand the reasons why, but I like it with those little chips. That’s the way it was served at Miller’s. It was a very good cocktail.
Feeling down? Drown your sorrows with a Black Mai Tai in a Tiki Goth Club Mai Tai glass. Of course the rum has to be black too!
“Unfortunately” the Mai Tai tasted pretty good with the colored, lightly aged rum from Bacardi. And our mood lifted.
You can purchase the Tiki Goth Club glasses and t-shirts at TikiWithRay.com.
Fab Mai Tai at Trader Vic’s Emeryville with Hamilton New York Blend, just to switch things up a little. So nice sitting at the bar again after so long, too.
The rum collection at Trader Vic’s seems to larger and more diverse than I remember. Things that make you go hmmmm.
Finally had a good cocktail at Oracle Park. This is Flor de Cana rum and Ginger Ale, with a splash of lime. Delicious and refreshing.
Let’s go Giants!
As Smuggler’s Cove officially welcomes guests again, we want to highlight one of the new offerings. Fritch’s Favorite Five is a rum flight based on the picks that our late friend Alex Fritch made during our Five Bottle Rum Challenge video earlier this year. It’s actually a really great selection of rums that span a range of different styles and different countries of origin.
The flight offers tribute to our friend, and 100% of the sales go to Alex’s family. So go ahead and give these amazing rums a try, but know it is going to a good cause. And send a little toast Alex’s way as well.
Be sure to ask the Smuggler’s Cove crew about their rum club, the Rumbustion Society. This is a little more educationally oriented than some rum clubs are, and you can sample rums from The Cove’s vast selection (over 1000 bottles on site). A great way to learn more about rum.
Smuggler’s Cove is reopening today.
