Post #20898 by Doctor Z on Sat, Jan 25, 2003 9:10 AM

Shipwreckjoey - do you really put 12 ounces of curacao and 7 ounces of orgeat(pronounced "or-zhah" - it's French, so the 't' is silent)in your mai tais?? That would make for a rather, uhhh, interesting drink, I'd say! Please tell me it was a typo!

If you're out and about somewhere, you really can't expect to get a mai tai that is not based on pineapple juice or at least a mix of some sort. The best mai tai will come from a bartender that crafts it personally for you, taking time to hand-squeeze the lime (believe it or not, it DOES make a difference) and mixing the correct proportions so you can actually TASTE the rum!
IMHO, there is only one way to make a mai tai, and that is Trader Vic's way, plain and simple (this is from TV's Bartenders Guide):
--The juice of 1 fresh lime (cut in half, 1/2 saved to put into drink)
--1/2 oz Orange Curacao
--1/4 oz Rock Candy Syrup
--1/4 oz Orgeat
--1 oz dark Jamaican Rum (I use Meyers's)
--1 oz Martinique Rum (Vic used St. James which is not so easy to come by these days; I substitute either Jamaican (Appleton or Plantation 8 yr.) or Barbados (Mt. Gay Sugar Cane)
--hand shake and decorate with fresh mint (no mention of orchids, although I agree with Trator Vic - don't hold back on the garnishes! Even when I make one just for myself I add the mint, a cherry/pinapple combo and a parasol!)

I have seen orgeat/almond syrup at Cost Plus, but if you live anywhere near a Bristol Farms, they carry Trader Vic's line of syrups, incl. Orgeat & Rock Candy, as well as a surprisingly good selection of rums. They also stock Judd's Hill wines!!

As far as the blue curacao goes - one of the bartenders at Sam's Seafood makes mai tais using blue curacao. While it does taste about the same (lots o' pineapple...), it looks nasty and with a mai tai, looks really count!