Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Squid Mixes: Mai Tai


A Mai Tai combines dark rum, light rum, Curaçao, lime juice, grenadine and orgeat syrup.  I got my base recipe from The New York Bartender's Guide, then added Jamaican No. 1 bitters as a test of my Bitters of the Month.  I only had blue Curaçao on hand, thus the dark color.  My wife suggested it could be a Goth Mai Tai.  I see it as more deep purple than black so I thought of Smoke on the Water.  Either would be a designer cocktail idea worth pursuing.

The Mai Tai was invented in California in the 1930s or '40s, though exact origins are in dispute.  The cocktail had its heyday in the 1950s and '60s, its popularity enhanced by the Elvis Presley movie Blue Hawaii.  The name is most likely derived from maita'i, the Tahitian word for good or excellence.

The drink is very sweet.  A drier Curaçao would probably help with that, too.  Generally speaking, I don't find rum drinks as interesting as whiskey drinks - less dimension.  As for the bitters, we didn't taste it much.  More would be better.  Maybe when I work on that Goth Mai Tai, I'll add more.

6 comments:

  1. I like Goth Mai Tai. I like that drink and would be interested on making this

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  2. The mai tai is my wife's favorite drink, and I make it pretty frequently. I don't use any kind of bitters in it. Rum is Mount Gay Eclipse. Curacao is not really available out here, right now, at least not the last few times I've checked. Cointreau works just as well.
    My recipe is from Smuggler's Cove but has been adapted to my wife's preferences, which are on the sweeter side.

    I'm still on the side of rum drinks, but I do add a bit of whiskey to a few of my drinks for the extra depth, mostly to what I would call my "darker" drinks, like the cherry cocktail I make.

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    1. I do have Cointreau. Maybe I'll try that next time.

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  3. To many "Smokes on the Water" leads to "fire in the sky" :)

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    1. Exactly! I would need to consider the whole song to really get it right, I think.

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