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Tiki Central / Tiki Drinks and Food / Recipe: QB Cooler vs. Vic's Mai Tai

Post #482022 by Koolau on Mon, Sep 7, 2009 11:19 PM

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K

Aloha Tiki Kaimuki - I was also there in Kona and really enjoyed Jeff's presentation. I'm not sure I buy Jeff's theory about Vic basing the Mai Tai on the QB Cooler - sure they both have the rum and orange flavors, but I didn't think they tasted that similar. Maybe back in the day with the very old rums. . .

I did learn a couple of things:

  1. Falernum is pronounced "fa-ler-num" instead of "fal-er-num" as I had always said.

  2. After tasting Jeff's version of Vic's Mai Tai, I'm finally sure that my home-made Mai Tais do taste "right" - I always thought they were too citrusy, but that's exactly how Jeff's Mai Tai tasted too. The problem is that's not what a Mai Tai tastes like at Trader Vic's - I've found them to have more of a rich depth and slight sweetness I can't duplicate at home. Maybe that's due to the restaurant using a mix instead of individual ingredients.

  3. I was amazed at the range of flavors in the QB Cooler - someone at the seminar used the same description you did - floral - and that's exactly right. I'm not sure I liked the QB Cooler, but man what a range and depth of flavors. Donn Beach was a booze genius.