Category: Rum

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1956 Mai Tai Recipe

This recipe differs significantly from the classic 1944 Mai Tai recipe, and Bergeron indicates this is the recipe that’s served both in the stateside Trader Vic’s restaurants but also the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu. This recipe seems to predate the widespread use of pineapple juice in the Hawaiian style Mai Tai. 

1956 Mai Tai – Adjusted for 2020
1 ounce Lime Juice
¼ ounce Rock Candy Syrup
¼ ounce Curacao
¼ ounce Orgeat
1½ ounces Lightly Aged Puerto Rican Rum
½ ounce Hamilton Pot Still Black Rum
¼ ounce Coruba Dark Rum 

Mix in 16 ounce tumbler glass with shaved ice. Drop half a spent lime shell in the glass. Stir and decorate with fresh mint.

Learn more: 1956 Mai Tai

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50th Anniversary of Black Tot Day

Today we remember Black Tot Day, the day in 1970 when the British Navy provided the last daily rum ration to sailors.

To celebrate, I made my own Navy Rum blend. This is generally accurate though the actual blend was a state secret and few on the planet know the actual recipe (which in any case changed over the years due to supply and demand). I made this out some rums I had in stock at home using rums from the traditional supply countries.

Ultimate Navy Rum Blend
2 oz Skipper Rum (45% ABV Guyana)
3 oz Wood’s Navy Rum (57% ABV Guyana)
4 oz Pussers Gunpowder Proof (54.5% ABV Guyana)
2 oz Denizen White (40% ABV – Trinidad and small Jamaican portion)
1 oz Real McCoy 5 (40% ABV – Barbados)
.5 oz Pussers 15 year (40% ABV – Guyana) because it is a special occasion

If I’ve done my math correct this is just about 50% ABV, so just below typical “Navy Strength,” but still boozy. This is a complex and bold rum blend.

I’m sure we could have had some really cool celebrations today in person, but due to COVID it’s all online. Nonetheless, I’d like to thank and salute all my rum friends on Black Tot Day.

The Black Tot Toast
There are tall ships,
And there are small ships,
And there are ships that sail the sea,
But the best ships, are friendships,
So here’s to you and me!

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Better Than You Think

It is fashionable among rum nerds to naysay Myers’s but this White Jamaican rum ain’t bad for the price. Way better than the unaged Puerto Rican rums to me. Don’t get me wrong though, this is a mixer not a sipper.

It made a very nice Daiquiri.

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Khukri: Rum from Nepal

This seems like one of the last countries you’d associate with rum, typically produced in the tropics. But I found this at a local, independent liquor store and gave it a try.

Not bad. This is an old bottle style, but is equivalent to the Khukri XXX that’s currently available. Tragically, no longer pot stilled, and only lightly aged. Feels like maybe some sugar added. Not the finest rum but plenty fine in a cocktail or even to sip with an ice cube. And definitely unique.

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Mai Tai Rums

What kind of rum should you use in a Mai Tai? We discuss the history of Mai Tai rums and offer some suggestions for making great Mai Tais at home.

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Orange and Black Cocktail

It is Aloha Friday and opening day for all Major League Baseball teams. To celebrate, I made this cocktail in honor of our home team San Francisco Giants, known colloquially as “the Orange and Black.” It’s a refreshing cocktail perfect for finally being able to relax on the weekend with a baseball game.

Orange and Black
1 oz Lime Juice
2½ oz Orange Juice (fresh-squeezed Valencia recommended)
¾ oz Coconut Creme
½ oz Blood Orange Cordial (Liber & Co.)
½ oz Light Rum (I used Cruzan)
Shake with ice and pour into a tall glass
Float with 1½ oz Black Rum (I used Dark Rum from local favorite Trader Vic’s)

Orange and Black
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Opening Day! Let’s go SF Giants

My two hobbies collided today when I received a new bottle of rum, the Pusser’s Gunpowder Proof. I made a Gunpowder Grog (thanks Alex Fritch for the suggestion) and it’s delicious. Lime, Demerara syrup, and plenty of Pussers rum.

It is opening day for baseball, finally. So the cocktail is in a mug from a former Polynesian Heritage night at the ballpark. Along with a Johnny Cueto bobblehead.

#BeatLA