Tag: RTD

This canned Mai Tai has been on my radar for a little while, with seemingly universally great reaction from the few posts I’ve seen about it. I was considering wasting a Saturday trying to find one in the Bay Area when Crafthouse Cocktails co-founder Charles Joly reached out and asked if I wanted a sample.

It is always interesting as a low-level “influencer” when people send you stuff for review, but the Crafthouse team knew they were working from a position of strength and smartly saw I was open-minded to the idea of a canned Mai Tai. I do believe RTD cocktails are great for many scenarios including camping, vacations, or just when the day is so hard that even juicing a fresh lime is too much work. I love the concept of ready to drink cocktails and the Crafthouse Cocktails Mai Tai is fantastic.

Issued at 16% ABV in a 200 ml can, Crafthouse’s Mai Tai is a little less potent than some of the other canned Mai Tais that come in cans half the size. But there’s no lack of flavor and still plenty of booze given the larger size. The ingredients are listed as Planteray Rum, orange curacao, orgeat, and fresh lime, just what you want in a Mai Tai. The floral notes and overall rumminess means this should be a hit with any fan of the original 1944 style Mai Tai. While there’s no country of origin listed for the Planteray rum, something like Original Dark’s blend of Barbados and Jamaican rum is a good bet.

Crafthouse was also kind enough to send over some cans of the other cocktails in their lineup – look for those posts in the next couple weeks. In the meantime, the summary is that Crafthouse has an excellent Mai Tai in a convenient format.

We were impressed by Crafthouse’s Mai Tai, but how does it compare to our previous favorite? Check in tomorrow to see the results of our blind test shootout.

This brand of ready to drink Mai Tai was recommended and the 25% ABV on the label was a good sign, but unfortunately I found this RTD cocktail to be quite lacking. After pouring the drink you can likely see immediately what the problem is, since it is a clear color and doesn’t appear to have aged rum or rich orange curacao included.

Don’t get me wrong, though. I’ve had and liked plenty of Mai Tais made with light body, lightly aged rums (these type of Mai Tais were labeled Menehune Juice by Trader Vic), and in this format the drink is supposed to lean more on the almond and orange flavors from the orgeat and orange curacao. The problem with Straightaway is that you don’t get much of that flavor either, resulting in a very light rum taste which is bowled over by the tart and artificial lime flavors.

The label says this contains Jamaican and West Indies rum, but I didn’t taste any of Jamaica’s legendary funk here either. Most RTD Mai Tais in these smaller cans are usually worth seeking out, but I can’t recommend Straightaway.

I’ve seen a lot of really prejudiced opinions about ready to drink Mai Tais lately, and those folks up on their high horse really need to refocus their attention on more important things. Of course they’re not as good as a perfectly made scratch Mai Tai at a bar or at home. But sometimes you’ve had a hard day and spending five minutes juicing and shaking and cleaning up is too much and you just want to pop a can or bottle and have a pretty reasonable Mai Tai.

Such is where we’ve landed in procuring Portland Oregon’s Straightaway Mai Tai, made with rum, orange liqueur, lime juice, and orgeat – and issued at 25% ABV. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, this is what those haters think all RTD Mai Tais are like – very lime forward and without much rum taste – plus strange flavors on the finish. Not even Jamaican rum in the blend can save this.

So, yeah, not good at all.

Thankfully, there’s always a shot of rum for those break glass type moments.

Mission Craft Cocktails bottled Mai Tai comes in at a whopping 25% ABV, more than enough to provide a good base cocktail served over crushed ice, and is priced well at about $13 for a 375 ml bottle that’s equivalent to two or three servings.

Where I’m less enthusiastic about the product is the unusual ingredients, starting with orange liqueur with coconut (really) that is very forward in the end-product. The Caribbean rum is nondescript, something I could have used more of with the orgeat that is described as “locally sourced” and “hand crafted” for some reason. There’s also vanilla and spices, and natural flavors that I assume are the source of the citrusy flavors.

Look, there are a ton of really terrible ready-to-drink Mai Tais, and thankfully Mission isn’t one of them. But the coconut and vanilla do send this quite a ways off track and there are better options in the marketplace.

Keeping things simple on a Tuesday with this excellent Tip Top Proper Cocktails Mai Tai. Mrs Mai Tai found this at CostPlus World Market and I remain impressed by the rich flavor that compares favorably to a hand crafted Mai Tai.

This is definitely the best ready to drink Mai Tai.