Post #367938 by BrickHorn on Wed, Mar 19, 2008 10:08 AM

On 2008-03-19 05:56, leisure master wrote:

On 2008-03-18 18:27, BrickHorn wrote:
Appleton's Extra is the best mai tai rum I've found. A good approximation is 1 oz. V/X and 1 oz. Myer's.

I agree - Appletons/Myers is a solid rum combination with great flavor. That was just about the only combination I used for about a year. However, I have been experimenting lately with demerara/martinique combinations and getting some very interesting results compared to the jamaica/jamaica dark combination.

I almost posted this in the thread asking about rums to use with the TV mai tai mix, but then realized that if you use a mix you probably wouldn't know a good rum anyway. Honestly, if you are willing to seek good rums, what's so freakin' hard about making a batch of simple syrup/orgeat and squeezing some limes?

I'll give the Martinique/Demerara combo a try. Honestly, though, while I like the way Lemon Hart and El Dorado 15 year-old Demeraras work in drinks, I haven't been too impressed with the one Martinique rum (St. James Extra Old) I've tried. It's better than Puerto Rican rum, but not as flavorful as the Jamaican or Demeraras. To me, it seems like it's kind of a filler. An expensive filler.

Is there a big difference between the Extra Old and the Hors d'Age? I found a bottle of the latter for $28, so I might need to pick it up. But, given the uninspiring results I've had with Extra Old, I haven't been able to justify the investment in another bottle of St. James.