Traveling the Bay Area and beyond to find the best Mai Tai in the world! Tiki, cocktails, and adventures by Kevin Crossman
This recipe was promoted by Trader Vic’s today so I thought I’d make it. Gave me the excuse to open a new bottle of Probitas, my favorite white rum.
Trader Vic’s Daiquiri
1½ oz Light Rum (Probitas)
¾ oz Lime Juice
¼ oz Maraschino Liqueur
½ tsp Sugar
I’d cut the Maraschino in half next time. But little riffs on the traditional Daiquiri recipe are always welcome.
All out of Mai Tai rum. Time to make some more.
Use in equal parts:
Pro-tip: filling up a bottle in this way has much easier math if you are using a 1 liter bottle, rather than 750 ml. An old Coruba bottle works nicely.
This tequila came recommended and I found it to be quite delightful in this cocktail. Affordable, too.
This Mai Tai has some newly acquired 5 inch Hay Straws, perfect for short cocktails like this one.
Glassware: Trader Vic’s
It’s also National Mojito Day, but while I’ll happily order a Mojito at a restaurant when there are no better choices, you know that’s not really my drink. Instead I’m choosing to celebrate World Rum Day (the second Saturday in July). This important occasion was christened just last year by Paul Jackson of worldrumguide.com.
The Mai Tai tonight is a traditional 1944 Mai Tai with the most expensive rum in my collection – Foursquare 2007. It’s delicious. Of course, as a rum-forward cocktail it stands to reason that this fabulous rum would serve as a great base. And at ~60% ABV it backs a punch, too. Everything coming out of Foursquare right now is amazing, and though some of their expressions are priced at a premium I feel good about the quality of the spirt in the bottle.
The glass is by The Kon-Tiki in Oakland, where I sampled 100 rums and completed the Kon-Tiki Expedition late last year. They’ve got a great collection of rums and someday I’ll be able to sample more of them.
And look! The incredible Eye of the Tiki mug from Vantiki has arrived. There have been plenty of things to be bummed about in 2020, but this mug and the fine folks behind Tiki-Kon are not one of them. This two-sided mug turned out great, and Justin and Greg of Tiki-Kon have handled everything so professionally and with love, including getting these mugs out very quickly. I couldn’t be happier with the mug.
For National Pina Colada day I prepared two cocktails with Cruzan Rum as the base. Mine was a Pina Colada with a float of Pussers rum, whereas Mrs. Mai Tai enjoyed her Pina Colada in the Forbidden Island “Chamborlada” style with Chambord Liqueur. Delish.
Pleased provide another report from our to-go experience at Forbidden Island.
For takeout food we did the coconut shrimp with fries that were crispy and delicious – and Mrs. Mai Tai had the corn dogs that she loves so much. Check.
For the drinks we had an assortment. The coconut forward Monkey Pod was favored by Mrs. Mai Tai once again and she said it was really good as always.
For my drinks I went home with a Hurricane, a 1950 Zombie, and a classic Mai Tai. Of these three, the Hurricane was the standout – but a warning that it is very boozy. The sweet Fassionola in this cocktail is really great. For the Zombie and Mai Tai, these were both less sweet than is my preference. This is the downside of to-go cocktails in that you can’t tell your bartender to make it a little sweeter because that’s the way you like it. But, a little extra Demerara syrup or Orgeat is all it took to set these both to the path of delightful.
This was good timing, too. I’m working on a house Zombie recipe and wanted to try the 1950 Zombie to compare to the 1934 version.
The online ordering system at Forbidden Island is a breeze and they seem to have weekly specials. Give them a try this weekend!
