Tag: UMTShootout

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Second Jamaican Overproof Rum Blind Shootout

We’re revisiting overproof white rum from Jamaica. When we omitted Monymusk in our last test a little birdie made sure we had a bottle. Total Wine recently started carrying a “Spirits Direct” expression from indie bottler Infinity Spirts called Kingston Queen that’s also included.

These unaged rums are issued at 63% ABV, with long fermentation creating bold flavors and a fragrance that’ll fill a room.
 
Contenders:

  • Wray & Nephew Overproof – the iconic market leader
  • Rum Fire – Hampden Estate’s funky pot still cult favorite
  • Rum Bar Overproof – Worthy Park’s previous U.S. expression that won our first shootout
  • Worthy Park Overproof – includes sugar cane juice distillate
  • Monymusk Plantation White Overproof – Pot/Column blend from Clarendon distillery
  • Kingston Queen – inexpensive Total Wine exclusive

Neat Test

Wray finished last in our previous test but somehow ranked first with a balanced flavor that included floral notes. Kingston Queen has lots of flavor reminiscent of Worthy Park rums. Rum Bar finished slightly on top of the assertive Rum Fire with Monymusk losing points for not having much of a nose. The sugar cane juice distillate in Worthy Park was less well-received this time.
 
Winner: Wray & Nephew
2nd: Kingston Queen
3rd: Rum Bar

Jamaican White Overproof Rums

Grapefruit Soda Test

A 3:1 mix with Squirt meant that the differences between these rums were harder to perceive, aside from Rum Fire. Kingston Queen finished last here and Wray finished first due to a balance of flavor and a welcome sharp bite, with Rum Bar a close second. Worthy Park took my tongue for a ride so finished just ahead of Monymusk and Rum Fire.

Winner: Wray & Nephew
2nd: Rum Bar
3rd: Worthy Park

Wray & Nephew Wins Both Blind Tests!

A shocking result given that Wray didn’t place in my first blind test, and shows these are all fairly similar and all recommended. Rum Bar again placed high in both competitions with their pot still distillate that strikes a welcome balance of flavors. For me, Rum Fire feels best for use as an accent in cocktails.

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Jamaican Overproof Rum Blind Shootout

Today we’re looking at one of the most iconic rum styles, the overproof white rum from Jamaica. This style has emerged in the past couple decades in cocktail circles as a seminal rum for mixing, wildly different to how it is consumed by Jamaicans who typically use it as a mixer with water or Ting grapefruit soda. These unaged rums are issued at 63% ABV, and thanks to long fermentation they feature bold flavors and a fragrance that’ll fill a room.

The contenders:

  • Wray & Nephew Overproof – the iconic market leader
  • Rum Fire – Hampden Estate’s funky pot still cult favorite
  • Rum Bar Overproof – Worthy Park’s previous U.S. expression
  • Worthy Park Overproof – the current entry that includes some sugar cane juice distillate
  • Charley’s J.B. Overproof Rum Trelawny Blend – a Wray & Nephew product exclusive to Jamaica

Neat Comparison

It was easy to pick Rum Fire out of this lineup simply on the nose, but I liked the tomato notes from Rum Bar’s nose even more. There’s a pronounced nail polish aroma and flavor that I found pleasant from J.B. and it seems to be heavier in body than Wray & Nephew.

I chose the winner because I found it to be the most balanced and had a great mouthfeel.

Winner: Rum Bar Overproof
2nd: Charley’s J.B.
3rd: Rum Fire

Grapefruit Soda Comparison

The differences between these rums, aside from Rum Fire, were more muted when I did a 4:1 mix with Squirt grapefruit soda.

Rum Fire was the most flavorful here but introduced harsher notes that weren’t my favorite. I was pleased that Worthy Park Overproof played better in this format and disappointed that Wray and J.B. didn’t hold up as well to the soda. My favorite struck a balance of bold flavors and was a perfect complement to the soda.

Winner: Rum Bar Overproof
2nd: Worthy Park Overproof
3rd: Rum Fire

Rum Bar Overproof Wins Both Blind Tests!

This is pretty shocking, and a bit of a bummer since this expression isn’t available outside of Jamaica now. I’ve always felt that Rum Bar Overproof was a great middle ground between the market leaders; it has a heavier body than Wray but more approachable flavors than Rum Fire. All of these rums are delicious but in these blind tests Rum Bar Overproof was the clear winner.

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Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum vs. Ultimate Mai Tai Rum

As previously posted, I set out to recreate the Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum that was issued in the 60s-80s. Comprised of mostly Jamaican rum, plus Martinique and Virgin Islands rum, this rum was used the Mai Tai, Suffering Bastard, and other Trader Vic’s recipes of the era.

As we’re want to do, we did a little comparison test with this rum and our our Ultimate Mai Tai rum blend, a bold and boozy four rum combo of Appleton 12, Smith & Cross, Planteray Xaymaca, and Planteray OFTD. The two Mai Tais were made with common ingredients including shared pool of juice.

These are actually pretty close, but both Mrs. Mai Tai and I preferred the Ultimate Mai Tai blend.

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Mai Tai Shakeup at Inside Passage and Rumba

Ray suggested checking out Seattle’s “almost tiki bar” Inside Passage, so we popped in around 9:00 on Thursday to find a few spots at the bar and a couple open tables. As I scanned the menu I saw they have Kiki’s Premier Mai Tai, made with a symphony of rums including house barrel-aged Rivers Royale, Appleton 15, Chairman’s Reserve 1931, Rhum JM Terroir Volcanique, and Saint James 110 – plus two orange liqueurs. This premier Mai Tai has a premium price, $26, though the quality and price of the rums used means this is still a great value.

Rumba and Inside Passage Mai Tais

Having previously loved the Rumba Mai Tai that’s in the same venue as Inside Passage, I was looking forward to trying this monster and it exceeded my expectations in every way. So rich and flavorful, a Mai Tai that’s worth savoring every sip. I was very impressed.

I decided to order a Rumba Mai Tai to do a head-to-head comparison and the sister cocktail was delivered in short order. The richness of the Premier wasn’t present in the Rumba Mai Tai that really leaned into Martinique Agricole as the predominant flavor. The menu says this includes aged Rhum JM and a house barrel aged Wray & Nephew, but I didn’t taste oak or Jamaican notes as I would have expected. The overall mouthfeel wasn’t as great as I remember and I kind of ended up being disappointed with the Rumba Mai Tai.

Commitment to the bit

So, sadly, we’re going to remove the Rumba Mai Tai from our list of Top Mai Tais in the world – to be replaced by the Inside Passage’s Premier Mai Tai! Sometimes you have to pay a little extra to get a lot better Mai Tai and Inside Passage really delivered.

Inside Passage remains impressive on the eyes, with nods to Seattle landmarks such as the World’s Fair and the old Trader Vic’s, even though it technically isn’t a tiki bar. Lots of fun and nice to see you might not absolutely require a reservation.

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The Ultimate Margarita

It is “National Margarita Day” so why not jump on the bandwagon. I’ve enjoyed tequila more in the past few years, thanks to a healthier appreciation of the vegetal sugar cane juice-based spirts such as Rhum Agricole and Cachaca. I’m guessing even budget Tequila is a lot better than the stuff I grew up on, too. But I like my Tequila in cocktails, not neat. At least not yet.

Tonight I did a little old school UMT shootout, comparing the classic Margarita recipe that uses triple sec orange liqueur as the sweetener to the Tommy’s Margarita that uses agave syrup. In my case I’m using equal parts lime juice to sweetener, though I know that some prefer a little less lime. The Tequila is El Jimador Silver, an affordable brand recommended to me that imparts the classic savory notes I like in a Tequila. Tommy’s calls for a reposado tequila but all I have on hand is blanco.

Classic Margarita
1 oz Lime Juice
1 oz Triple Sec (Cointreau)
2 oz Tequila (El Jimador Silver)
5 drops Saline Solution
Shake with ice and strain into a glass with crushed ice.

Tommy’s Margarita
1 oz Lime Juice
1 oz Agave Syrup
2 oz Tequila (El Jimador Silver)
5 drops Saline Solution
Shake with ice and strain into a glass with crushed ice.

Of these two I preferred the Tommy’s in that the syrup provided a richer mouthfeel and a lot more sweet flavor. But it didn’t really highlight the spirit or lime. So, I ended up combining these two and it ends up being a lot better overall, letting me taste the lime and tequila but also a bit of the orange too.

Using both sweeteners seems to be the right balance.

“Ultimate” Margarita
1 oz Lime Juice
½ oz Triple Sec (Cointreau)
½ oz Agave Syrup
2 oz Tequila (El Jimador Silver)
5 drops Saline Solution
Shake with ice and strain into a glass with crushed ice.

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Instagram Top Nine for 2024

I do still continue to love Instagram, where even the ads help me with my holiday shopping. Plus all the connecting and commenting on the things we love to share. Check out the fun at @UltimateMaiTai on Instagram.

So, here are the Top Nine Posts for 2024.

Kamala Mai Tai (476)
History of the Mai Tai (417)
Trader Vic’s Black Tai Event (345)
Trader Vic’s San Jose Airport Expanded Seating (295)
Congrats Smuggler’s Cove on 15 Years (294)
Farewell Kon-Tiki Oakland (292)
Mai Tai Named Official Cocktail of Oakland (277)
Best Mai Tai in New Orleans (267)
Ultimate Mai Tai Rum Blend Meme (259)

Top Nine says I had 35,200 likes on 253 posts, an average of 139 per post, and that I’m in the “top 1% of accounts with up to 10,000 followers” with 7% more likes per post than average. Thank you for the likes!

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Ultimate Queen’s Park Swizzle?

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.