We dropped into Dr. Funk near opening on Sunday for a chill time relaxing with some rums from Jamaica that are on the Rum Asylum Level 1 list.
I compared two rums that have different approaches to the market, choosing Dr. Funk’s allocation of Myers’s Single Barrel Select rum and Worthy Park 109 dark rum. Both are affordable and approachable expressions, the Myers’s best for sipping and comparable to some of the lower aged Appleton rums. Worth Park is my go-to for cocktails when a “dark Jamaican rum” is called for and tastes a lot better in a glass than Pusser’s which I also tried during the sitting.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Mai Tai tried Planteray Xaymaca in the Daiquiri format and it turned out really great. Very drinkable and so much more flavorful than a cocktail made with light rum.
When working through the Rum Asylum list you can have the rum in a Daiquiri for $3 more. I wisely decided this was a great perk for the Denizen White (to up) 5 Year, a crisp lighter leaning rum that’s perfect in this format when expertly prepared and balanced like it was during our visit. I then chose Planteray Xaymaca Jamaica rum with an ice cube, so Dr. Funk dropped in a big ol’ rock in there and it tasted great.
Crowd wasn’t too bad when we got there, apart from the chick at the table next to us who had an extremely high pitched laugh that was constantly irritating us even we went around the corner to the restroom. There were also plenty of people enjoying the heat lamps out on the patio and music was on point as well.
This cocktail from former Zombie Village bar manager Sam Miller was the featured cocktail on Make and Drink on YouTube this week. We recently saw Miller at the reunion event at Zombie Village where the Samson Swizzle was on the menu, and I really should have ordered it.
Samson Swizzle by Sam Miller ¾ oz Lime Juice ⅓ oz Cinnamon Syrup ⅓ oz Passionfruit Syrup 1 oz Real McCoy 3 / light Barbados rum 1 oz Rum Bar Gold / lightly aged Jamaican gold rum Angostura Bitters float “Handful” of Mint leaves Soda water Build over the mint, top with ice and then swizzle. Add soda and more ice to fill, then float Angostura Bitters.
I didn’t have either of the specified rums at home. I subbed with Probitas which is a blend of mostly lightly aged Barbados rum and a bit of Jamaica rum, and used Planteray Xaymaca as a sub for the Rum Bar Gold.
This is a delicious cocktail and the soda is an important component as it helps to incorporate the mint flavors throughout the cocktail. The amount of Ango would vary depending on your personal preference.
Monday was a good night out in downtown San Jose, with Dr. Funk hosting Risky Quizness doing Friends trivia. This is Mrs. Mai Tai’s favorite show, and I expected her to a lot better than when we went to Office trivia and I didn’t really do very well (reminder: I used to cohost an Office podcast!). Unfortunately, the questions posted were, well, let’s just call them deep cuts and we didn’t do much better this time. Considering the level of difficulty, we’re not sure we’ll do more of these trivia events.
Nonetheless we did have a good time, thanks to more rums from the Dr. Funk Rum Asylum Level 1 list. As with my previous post about choosing a trio of easy sippers, this time I went thematic again with three white rums that show how diverse unaged rums can be.
The three rums are:
Wray & Nephew White Overproof Jamaica Rum
Kō Hana Kea from O’ahu
Rhum JM Agricole Blanc from Martinique
What a fabulous way to show how diverse rum can be with these three unaged rums. The Wray & Nephew is made from molasses and is a flavorful high-proof fruit bomb, whereas the Rhum JM is made from sugar cane juice and features grassy and vegetal notes. My favorite in this group was the very pleasant and mild Kō Hana Kea that has balanced flavors from the Hawaiian cane.
Meanwhile Mrs. Mai Tai knocked off another from her Rum Asylum list by having a Bacardi Ocho in the Daiquiri format. So clean and definitely more flavorful than the standard Bacardi.
Our sons enjoyed some classic Dr. Funk cocktails including the Shipwreck, Saturn’s Sunrise, and Phoenix Rising – plus some great Nacho Fries and Coconut Shrimp, but our entire table disliked Dr. Funk’s version of the Jungle Bird that uses the Cruzan Black Strap rum with its overbearing maple syrup flavor.
San Jose’s “hidden tiki bar” remains anything but, thanks to a thematic shamrock light display that all along San Pedro Square can see. Monday was pretty busy thanks to the trivia and also Dr. Funk’s stellar drinks.
Working my way through the Dr. Funk “Rum Asylum” Level 1 list and popped over for a quick visit early on Saturday. This seemed like a good opportunity to compare and contrast some of the lighter leaning rums that can be used in cocktails but also offer a good sipping experience. Being a veteran rum drinker, I typically like to sip higher proof expressions so I can really get a lot of flavor, but that can be a turnoff for those new to sipping rum.
All are pretty good in this format, and since I’ve tried them all before I asked for shorter pours just to not have to drink so much in one sitting. The Bacardi and Santa Teresa have small amounts of sugar added, not uncommon in column still Spanish heritage rums, but neither is overly sweet, thank goodness. Santa Teresa uses Solera style aging so is probably less overall age than the Bacardi, resulting in less overall character. Very approachable, though, and as much as I dislike Bacardi Superior white rum I do enjoy the Ocho when I’m looking for something that isn’t a gigantic flavor bomb. Very pleasant flavors from both.
The Barbancourt is a little different and in this group leaning more into an assertive flavor profile. Made from sugar cane juice, the aging means that you don’t really get those vegetal notes common in rums from that source product. Instead, it is a flavorful and rummy taste that works especially well over an ice cube.
Dr. Funk’s Level 1 rum list presents a great introduction to the variety of popular and consistently available rums.
Spoilers ahead for the most recent episode of Make and Drink on YouTube
When Derek from Make and Drink invited me for a blind test of the core lineup of Appleton Estate rums I was confident that I would prefer my favorite expression from the range, Appleton 12 Rare Casks. This has been my go-to single bottle Mai Tai for over a decade, featuring a blend of pot and column still distillate, long tropical aging, and a rich flavor that works great in the cocktail.
I was also expecting to not prefer Appleton’s entry level expression, Appleton Signature, aged for around four years and a lower proof as well. And I also expected to not really dig Appleton’s longest aged expression, Appleton 21 Nassau Valley Casks. In the past my perception was that I didn’t really like this rum feeling that the body was not as heavy nor as complex despite two decades of aging.
Such was my surprise that I preferred Appleton 21, and it honestly wasn’t even close! The bold barrel notes worked well with the rest of the Mai Tai ingredients to present something that had a bit more to chew on than my second favorite in the blind test, Appleton 12. I feel less bad in that Derek preferred the 21 as well. Of course, Appleton 21 being three times the price of Appleton 12 means that it wasn’t like the Mai Tai was three times better, so factoring price into account Appleton 12 is still the winner.
The blind test shows that you need to check your assumptions from time to time and address the reality that your taste can change over time or that perhaps your previous experience was an off day for your palette. Apologies for the shade, Appleton 21.
We thank Derek for providing the venue to taste the rums in this format.
Check out today’s episode of Make and Drink where I visited the Make and Drink bar to try all of the mainstream Appleton Estate Rum releases in a Mai Tai and via a blind taste test to declare a winner.
This was similar to the Single Bottle Mai Tai Rum challenge I did with Derek last year, though this time the results didn’t quite go as expected at least for this writer. In any case, this was a lot of fun and hopefully informative. Appleton makes great rums and any great rum will do well in the Mai Tai cocktail format.
The Appleton Estate rums we tested were:
Appleton Signature
Appleton 8 yr Reserve
Appleton 12 yr Rare Casks
Appleton 15 yr Black River Casks
Appleton 21 yr Nassau Valley Casks
Be sure to stick to the end to see the results that might shock you.
