Post #235459 by Swanky on Fri, Jun 2, 2006 7:54 AM

On 2006-06-02 07:35, wjake wrote:
You guys are all AWESOME--so glad I found this site. Admittedly I'm a Mai Tai virgin, so I went for the syrup first. The taste wasn't that unappealing. And, being younger-ish (35) I missed all those great tiki bars and drinks, so I have nothing to base a Mai Tai on except the syrup crap. I think I'll order some from TV if you all think it's a little closer to what one should taste like.

I was curious about the blue curacao because, being from central IL, I was going to create an I Lai Nai Mai Tai (Illini) and sub blue for orange curacao and float an orange wedge...

Mahalo all.

Trader Vic's actually uses their Mai Tai mix at the restaurant. They do not mix them from scratch, so, you will be right on with their mix, but still not as good as the recipe. The mix tends to the sour side. You add lime and you are adding more sour to the concoction. But, that's the Mai Tai you get at TV. Pretty sour. They also do not use the good rums. If you use good rum, you should use the scratch recipe, which is lower in sour, and allows the rum tastes to come through. If you use the mix, just use any cheap dark rum.

If you make a Mai Tai with blue curacao instead of orange, you won't get a blue drink exactly. Brown is the traditional color. It'll be blue-ish-brown.