Post #4924 by PiPhiRho on Thu, Aug 1, 2002 9:21 PM

I have my own versions of some of the well known cocktails hat I have been enjoying recently. The main three are Mojitos, Mai Tais and Suffering Bastards. The secret to a Mojito is the mint you use and how you crush it. I also use two rums in my Mojitos: a white rum and a little of a darker rum, either Barbancourt or Pusser's Blue label. Other than that, the Mojito is pretty standard.

For Mai Tai's I use the Trader Vic's mix, but I don't follow the recipe on the label. I find that makes a mai tai that is too tart and doesn't taste like the drink in the restaurant. But, I found a way to make the Mai Tai taste as good as the restaurant and maybe better, using the mix with a little doctoring.

Fill a 16 Oz rocks glass with crushed ice. Add...

Juice of 1 whole fresh lime,
approx. 1 teaspoon each Rock Candy and Orgeat syrups,
2 or 3 shakes Fee Bros. Orange Bitters,
2 Oz Noa Noa Tahitian Rum,
fill glass up with Trader Vic's Mai Tai mix, leaving about 1/2 inch or so space from top.
Fill the rest of the way with dark rum (Myer's).
Stir and garnish with mint. The color is a little greener than in the restaurant, but the taste comes pretty close.

For my Suffering Bastard I use a recipe that is somewhere between the Grog Log version and the Tiki-Ti version.

Use a double Rocks glass or a 16 oz High Ball glass. Over is add...

juice of 1 lime (or a mix of lime juice and Rose's),
2 shakes Peychaud's bitter, 1 shake Angostura,
1 tablesspoon Orgeat syrup.
2 Oz white rum
1 oz bourbon
fill glass to top with ginger ale

Garnish with mint and cherry.

I find these work pretty well.