Though Myers’s Rum will likely forever be known for the signature Dark Jamaican expression, in the past decades this blending brand did issue bottles featuring rum from different regions. The brand’s current owners, Sazerac, went so far as to issue this Guyana variant a couple years back though to date this seems to be a one and done release. The rum is 41.5% ABV and is a blend of rums from Guyana with no age statement.
I was gifted a bottle of this rare rum from Jason Craig and am so grateful to be able to enjoy this fine expression. Tasting neat, it does strike me as similar to El Dorado 5 which I’ve tried several times and compares very favorably to the 40% Pusser’s 15 yr that I have in my collection. Rich toffee, nut, and banana notes mostly, and not too much oak. The lower ABV means that rum nerds likely won’t flock to it, but this is something you could impress a rum newbie with.
The Guyana Blend really shines in a Mai Tai, providing a ton of rummy flavor that pairs really well with the rest of the ingredients. Even at 83 proof, this rum is not buried in the cocktail, and I really enjoyed this Myers’s rum as a Mai Tai.
There still seem to be some bottles of Myers’s Rum Signature Origin Collection Guyana Blend out there for purchase, usually in the $45-$50 range. This interesting expression is worth seeking out and I hope Sazerac does more of these kind of releases.
The House without a Key restaurant’s reputation for having a great Mai Tai goes back to at least the 1990s when I first started researching Mai Tais in Hawai’i, at the time notably being a Mai Tai known to omit the pineapple juice commonly used.
During my 1999 visit I thought the drink included a touch too much lime, though others who provided reviews to our site during that period raved consistently. The look and overall makeup of this cocktail hasn’t changed at all since that time, still one of the better Mai Tais in Waikiki and made in the style of the early Hawaiian Mai Tais with equal parts of the sweeteners and the use of light and dark rums.
Note that Bacardi Select is the older name for today’s Bacardi Black rum.
Mai Tai from June 2022
2002
This recipe was included in an August 2002 article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, where bartender Curtis Wong described the rums as being a high-quality blend and that they make at least 100 Mai Tais per night often making 40 at a time in an assembly line-like process. This is substantially similar to the current recipe, though the use of lemon juice is a curious choice.
2002 Halekulani Mai Tai 1¼ oz Lemon Juice ½ oz Orgeat ½ oz Rock Candy Syrup ½ oz Orange Curacao (Cointreau) ¾ oz Bacardi Select ¾ oz Bacardi Gold Rum Combine ingredients over crushed ice Float ½ oz Lemon Hart 151 Rum Garnish with lime wheel, sugar cane stick, and vanda orchid
Mid-2000s Era
This recipe was recently included in Beachbum Berry’s Total Tiki app, attributing the date to 2006. We found references to this recipe on the Halekulani’s website throughout the 2010s. The use of the now-discontinued Bacardi 151 means you can’t truly replicate this at home, and the swap was likely due to supply constraints of Lemon Hart during that period.
Mid-2000s Halekulani Mai Tai 1¼ oz Lime Juice ⅓ oz Orgeat ⅓ oz Rock Candy Syrup ⅓ oz Orange Curacao ¾ oz Bacardi 151 Rum ¾ oz Bacardi Gold Rum Combine ingredients over crushed ice Float ¾ oz Bacardi Select Garnish with lime wedge, lime wheel, sugar-cane stick, mint leaf, and vanda orchid
Mai Tai from June 2019
2020s / Current Era
First included on the Halekulani website in 2020, this version still relies on a base Bacardi rums but once again features Lemon Hart 151 for a float that provides just enough additional rummy flavor. On occasion we’ve seen that Myers’s is used when supplies of Lemon Hart are unavailable, much to the detriment to the overall character of the cocktail, but if you can get this with Lemon Hart it is really a fantastic Mai Tai.
Halekulani Mai Tai – Current 1¼ oz Lime Juice ⅓ oz Orgeat ⅓ oz Rock Candy Syrup ⅓ oz Orange Curacao (Cointreau) ¾ oz Bacardi Select/Black Rum ¾ oz Bacardi Gold Rum Combine ingredients over crushed ice Float ½ oz Lemon Hart 151 Rum Garnish with lime wheel, sugar cane stick, and vanda orchid
Another banger from San Francisco mixologist Nathan Robinson, this is sort of a “Planters Grog” riff that includes some bold flavors and a little maple syrup to keep things warm and seasonal.
This is quite good, if you have the Liquid Alchemist Falernum like I do. If you don’t have Liquid Alchemist I’d suggest using your own Falernum at half an ounce in combination with a quarter ounce of Allspice Dram as this will more closely approximate the flavor. And if you use a little extra Maple Syrup I wouldn’t discourage you from doing so.
Bah Rumbug by Nathan Robinson 1 oz Lime Juice 1 oz Red Grapefruit Juice ¾ oz Bold Falernum (pref. Liquid Alchemist) ½ oz Maple Syrup 1½ oz Demerara Rum (pref. Hamilton 86) 1 oz Black Blended Jamaica Rum (pref. Coruba) Shake with crushed ice and pour into tall Zombie or Pilsner glass. Garnish with mint, if you have it.
I am a sucker for these sort of heavy rums with higher ABV, imparting so many rich flavors. This El Dorado rum release comes from two different stills and is simply fantastic in the glass with notes of chocolate, vanilla, and burnt caramel. No surprise but it makes a killer Mai Tai, too.
One of the most popular Mai Tai riffs of the past decade is the San Francisco Mai Tai, a standard Trader Vic’s Mai Tai with a 151 float. This was inspired by the story that Martin Cate tells in the Smuggler’s Cove book about an elderly man who would ask for a 151 float back when Cate was bartending at the now-shuttered Trader Vic’s in San Francisco. This became known as the “Old Way” Mai Tai because the gentleman was, you know, old.
Never mind that Trader Vic’s in Emeryville used the “Old Way” term to refer to a Mai Tai made with original ingredients and not the Mai Tai concentrate that replaces the sweeteners. But that’s a different story for a different day.
The graphic used on some Trader Vic’s menus for this cocktail clearly shows Lemon Hart 151 being used, though these days you’re much more likely to get a combination of Trader Vic’s 151 rum and Trader Vic’s Dark Rum, both distilled in Puerto Rico and lacking the heavy flavors that Lemon Hart is famous for. I think that this version is a nice upgrade, and you get a lot more booze for an extra dollar, though the Emeryville location dropped this item when they redid the cocktail menu this spring.
It wasn’t busy when I rolled into the bar at Trader Vic’s Emeryville on a Sunday afternoon while Mrs. Mai Tai was at the nearby bead show, so I asked for a Mai Tai with Lemon Hart 151 as a float just to see if the old man knew his cocktails. Expertly prepared, indeed this is an elevated version and those classic smoky flavors really do add something to the cocktail and gives you something to kind of chew on while relaxing with your beverage.
Just like the old timer wanted it. Mai Tai – Roa Ae.
I’d be meaning to make this and it was featured on this weekend’s video from Derek on Make & Drink on YouTube. Derek highlights the difference between Trader Vic’s original 1946 recipe from his Book of Food & Drink with the commonly seen modern Queen’s Park Swizzle using colorless rums and a gigantic float of Ango on top. That style looks great on menus and social media, but leans closer to Mojito territory and doesn’t hold up to the Ango as well. And let’s remember Trader Vic’s noteworthy description of this cocktail, “Queen’s Park Swizzle is the most delightful form anesthesia given out today.”
So, I went with the classic Trader Vic’s recipe that originally called for a Demerara rum. I’m actually out of 86 proof Demerara rum, so I used the Hamilton Florida Rum Society blend that’s 60% Demerara and 40% Jamaican rum, and I compared it to my boozy Jamaican-forward Ultimate Mai Rum blend to see which I preferred.
Queen’s Park Swizzle by Trader Vic Half of a Large Lime Mint Leaves 3 oz 86 proof Demerara Rum (Lemon Hart or Hudson’s Bay) 2 dash Angostura Bitters ½ oz Simple Syrup Squeeze lime wedges and drop shells with mint leaves at bottom of 14 oz glass. Fill glass with shaved ice, add most of ingredients and swizzle until glass frosts. Garnish with sprig of mint.
Comparing the two drinks, the Florida Rum Society rum provided some of the classic Demerara rum smoky notes and overall worked better in this cocktail. The Ultimate Mai Tai blend didn’t work as well because I went a little heavy on the Ango which seemed to overpowered the rum. You definitely want a bold rum in this style of drink.
We thank bartender Kriss for indulging us with a little experiment, making a great Penultimate Mai Tai on our visit on Wednesday.
Based on the rums available we riffed a little bit but this is still a dark flavorful rum along with a Hawaiian rum. In this case 1½ oz of Diamond Reserve Dark and ½ oz Kō Hana Kea in a standard 1944 Mai Tai. A little less complex than our four-rum Ultimate Mai Tai blend but still really full of flavor.
The Kon-Tiki Burger and a Mai Tai is still my favorite thing in the town. Pretty busy on Wednesday, everyone keep it going and support our friends at The Kon-Tiki.
