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Tiki Central / Tiki Drinks and Food / The Mai Tai, a component study in Mixology

Post #289244 by Quince_at_Dannys on Fri, Mar 2, 2007 1:59 PM

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If you have Kaniche on hand, you have one of my favorite Mai Tai rums. I use 1 oz of Kaniche (Martinique preferrably but the Guadalupe works in a pinch) 1/2 oz. of Myers's and 1/2 oz. of Whalers Dark (!). The thing with the Whalers is that, while not a good rum straight, it actually serves to round out all the flavors and tones down the rankness of the Myers. The other thing is that I use a full 1 1/2 oz lime juice, squeezed violently in an OrangeX juicer to extract some of the bitter oils of the rind.

I also want to put in a shameless plug for my new favorite variety of Orange Curacao: it's called "Senior Curacao of Curacao." It's not cheap (I paid $22 for a 750ml) but it is very high quality and a bit drier in character than a typical Orange Curacao. It has some more natural bitter orange taste in it as well, plus a nice light sweetness. It really lifts a Mai Tai and cuts the murkyness that all the Orgeat and sugar and dark rums can give you.

On 2007-03-02 08:28, Scottes wrote:
I have to go back to rums...

I've noted a few rum pairings that people have mentioned in this thread, but I'm still having problems finding what I feel is the Perfect Pairing.

I'm working with Gary Regan's Mai Tai #2 from the Joy of Mixology. It's very, very close to what I want, but a bit flat with all the rums I've tried. I'm ready to throw in some bitters just to add some depth! I just need some more complexity.

Note that I can't find St. James Hors D'Age anywhere, so that's out. I did buy a couple more Martinique rums last night, leaving me with Clement VSOP, Kaniche, and St. James Amber. But none of them are complex enough.

So I'm not necessarily looking for a Martinique rum, but rather a complex one. (I'm not a purist.) Pyrat XO comes to mind, but is there anything else that is quite complex but not as sweet? I've even tried some of the other complex, aged rums (Goslings Family Reserve, Angostura 1824, Ron Pamepero), but they tend to add a smokiness which I find weird.

Any ideas on a complex rum?