The Islands of the Fraternal Order of Moai

I never thought of a Mai Tai as necessarily agricole. I thought the original was made with an aged Wray and Nephew rum which was from Jamaica. I thought the idea behind the agricole/Jamaican blend was to approximate the no longer made Wray and Nephew. I know that some very knowledgeable bar tenders use only Jamaican rum in a Mai Tai. I resisted this for a while but have come to really enjoy this take.

As I also enjoy an agricole/Jamaican blend.

As I also enjoy a Demerara/Jamaican blend.

And a Depaz Mai Tai sounds like a really good idea too!

In search of the lost flavor...

Cheers! He said while drinking a Jet Pilot!

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I chose gin over gym...

Isn't Wray and Nephew the owner and distiller of the Appleton brand? Would not one of the Appleton aged rums make a suitable, appropriate substitution?

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To Taua Na Moai Mau Loa, Roger, Rob and Matt.

I.agree Appleton rum makes great Mai Tais. PKNY uses Plantation Jamaican only and their Mai Tais are superb.

The original Trader Vic's recipe as I understood it.

Mai Tai

2 oz Wray & Nephew 17 Year Old Rum
.5 oz orgeat
.5 oz orange curacao
.25 oz simple syrup
Juice of one lime (approx. .75 oz lime juice)

Mix all ingredients and shake with ice. Strain into a glass over crushed ice. Garnish with lime shell and a sprig of mint.

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I chose gin over gym...

Here's a link to the story that I think we all know.

http://www.kevdo.com/maitai/vicshistory.html

And here's a tip I learned from PKNY. Dry shake your Mai Tais. The crushed ice provides ample chilling.
Shaking with ice only hastens dilution.

In fact, dry shake any drinks served on crushed ice.

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I chose gin over gym...

Fair point. A truly proper Mai-Tai is not agricole then but until the FOM Test Labs gets that time machine working again we won't be having that any time soon.


Funny you should mention that.... I dry shake often when making multiple cocktails in the same shaker out of laziness and then pour over crushed ice and it certainly does not seem to do any harm but I find it actually works better to shake with cubed ice and strain over crushed ice in that case to reduce melt and therefore dilution, especially in hot weather.

However in both cases I find the presentation suffers even if taste does not as the ice and cocktail are separated a bit so for single cocktails I still combine and shake.

-Rev

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To taua na Moai!

Tabuzak, for the record, the inspiration to my recipe that I tailored for Depaz is inspired by the original recipe by Trader Vic (c. 1944) as adapted by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry from Tiki +. This recipe calls for 1 oz of Jamaican rum and 1 oz of Martinique rum...this the blending of the Appleton and Depaz in my recipe. Just an FYI.

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Not following you, Rev. You are saying that more shaking with ice reduces dilution in hot weather as less crushed ice is melted? Not buying that one, but of course, to each his own. Although I admit that I usually make cocktails indoors, so maybe this is a whole different situation.

@Vince: got you re using Depaz as the Martinique side of the Jamaican/Martinique blend as Jeff Berry recommends. I do that one also and agree that it's great. I think Depaz is overlooked undeservedly. Great rum.

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I chose gin over gym...

Shaking with cubed ice chills the cocktail without much dilution (less surface area on the ice) and reduces the melt of the crushed ice in the glass when you strain.

-Rev

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To taua na Moai!

When you shake with more than one ice cube, the colliding cubes break up into smaller pieces that
melt quickly and therefore dilute. The most efficient way to chill a cocktail by shaking is to use one large sphere that is shaken carefully so that it does not break up. Don't have an ice sphere? Take a large cube and knock the corners off with a bar spoon. The idea is to minimize as much ice as possible melting into the drink.

Crushed ice stands up perfectly to a dry shake. When preparing a cocktail that calls for a large cube, whip shake as above. When shaking for a drink served straight up, do the single sphere/cube without corners until fully chilled.

I mean if you want to control dilution...

Just sayin'

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I chose gin over gym...

Rev, I could see that if you are serving Mai Tais outdoors at a party, you may not be in a position to have glasses properly prepped, but ideally you would save packing a chilled double old fashioned with crushed ice to the moment you are ready to pour the drink. Then top the drink off with another hand of ice cupping the top so there is an over flowing mound. Poke your mint and straw in, place any other garnishes, and your done. Guaranteed a dry shake will be perfectly chilled in that case.

Ice needs to have been kept cold and dry up to this point as well, not half melted from sitting out.

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I chose gin over gym...

In an ideal world, yes. But I don't live there.

-Rev

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To taua na Moai!

Lost in the minutiae a wee bit, eh?

Well, back to the miasmatic muck of quality inebriation! And on tomorrow's docket?

Jert Pirots (the 'R' creeps into the speech pattern after having a few) in honor of TikiMo pending birthday. In the Hooper Lounge I have just taken a pot of Demerara Cinnamon simple syrup off of the stove, in preparation for happy hour, tomorrow night. in the meantime, a Dark-n-Stormy will suffice while I work in the kitchen...kind of my "table wine while I cook" type of thing, eh?

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don't burn youself,VM.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2

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It's not the years, sweetheart...it's the mileage

Already dreaming about the Jet Pilot and Javanese beef I'll be having at the Mai Kai tonight.

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We take not taking ourselves very seriously very seriously!

Ooh that does sound good. I'll stop by in July when the place isn't so crowded.

-Rev

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To taua na Moai!

You know you've raised your kid right when she brings you a bottle of premium rum from her honeymoon. Tonight, Swizzle and I are starting happy hour by sipping some very nice Admiral Rodney Extra Old St. Lucia Rum.

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I will have a Polynesian Pearl Diver, do not spare the rum.

Good, let us know and we will meet you there!

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To Taua Na Moai Mau Loa, Roger, Rob and Matt.

Lovely sunny day with a breeze here. Chores are done so off to the tiki porch for a barrel of rum.

-Rev

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To taua na Moai!

Lots of work this week, time for drinks...

hmm....when is my bartender getting home??

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I was thinking the same thing.

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A toast to Roger

Me too.


Sent by a coconut-laden swallow.

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Sometimes it's dark and stormy in my porthole.

Namaste-ake.

We'll be missing Texas Tiki Week for Ohana, but that's not stopping us from doing a little early celebrating

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You can tell it's good if you light it and a blue flame comes up; that means it's good moonshine and it won't make you go blind.

Missing Ohana hasn't stopped our rum intake at the Hooper Lounge!!!

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It has been Mojito Madness at the Hooper Lounge this weekend.

Lots o lime, lots o mint and lots of rum!!!! YUM RUM!

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Well.... starting with a Cherry Negroni. Interesting.

-Rev

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To taua na Moai!