Post #645957 by Dapuma1 on Sat, Jul 28, 2012 5:26 PM

Special Ordering Rum for tiki drinks is pretty par for the course, that being said

If you are in Cali you should be able to get the best stuff very easily, you should not have to skimp or go with substandard ingredients - most of the places I special order from are in Cali

Cask and KL Wines will ship liquor online will orders in state, so you should have no issues there

Get Small Hand Foods Orgeat - best stuff you can buy other than making it yourself
Also you can get Appleton v/x rum at Bevmo and order the Rhum Clemente VSOP from Cask or KL Wines

You already have Curaco of Curaco orange so you are all set

I generally use .5 oz or HALF a lime for my mai tai's and I toss a bit of extra orgeat in there, and you should be using 1:1 Simple Syrup not Rock Syrup in the drink

For a Navy Grog which is my favorite drink my recipe is:

1oz Flor de Cana 4 year

1oz El Dorado 12 year OR Lemon Hart 80 proof (the LH is slightly better but not avaliable in the US so it is a lot of work to de-proof the 151)

1oz Coruba - I special order mine from Wine Chateau

.5oz lime juice (plus a couple drops more,but not near the .75 that is recommended)

.75oz grapefruit juice (fresh squeezed is better but if not ocean spray you can make do - if you are using fresh marsh grapefruits you will want to up the clover honey syrup a dash possibly or just use a rock candy swizzle for garnish to add the extra sweetness)

.5oz 2:1 Clover Honey Syrup (2 cups of honey to one cup of water) OR you can use 1 oz of 1:1 but the thicker syrup gives the drink a better mouthfeel and it also will not go bad as quickly due to the higher sugar concentration)

.25oz St. Elizabeth All Spice Dram - go easy with this stuff, it is VERY potent, do not overpour it
Mint Garnish