Post #713410 by Destro100 on Wed, Apr 9, 2014 7:15 AM

Heretically Pleasant:

Drink 52: Mai Tai (Stuft Shirt)

Ingredients I used:

Fresh lemon juice
Fresh orange juice
Dole Pineapple (cans - unsweetened)
Routin 1883 Grenadine
Château Du Juge
Coruba Dark Rum
Plantation 5 year Rum
Lemon Hart 151 Demerara Rum

The Bum says it all when he states that this, "recipe commits every sin in the Mai Tai playbook." Yet, he is also correct when he states, "the result isn't bad."

Maybe there is a bit more to say. This drink has a lovely nutty accent that I haven't tasted before. As best I can tell, it comes from the combination of the Chateau Du Juge (sweet dessert wine) and the grenadine. The flavor accent is closer to Maraschino than an orgeat flavor, but it helps to give the drink its own voice.

At first glance at the recipe, one might think this drink would end up too sweet, but in fact, the ingredients harmonize pretty well. It is sweet, but not overly so, thanks to the very low amounts of pineapple and orange juice. The proportions seem to be carefully thought out and mostly well-balanced.

The combination of rum is great. I like the way the Jamaican and Barbados rum play off each other. The Jamaican brings the high esther funk while the Plantation brings a lovely brown sugar sweetness. - This would be a great time to mention how much I'm enjoying my recent acquisition - Plantation 5 year rum; what an amazing value for such a great tasting rum. This rum was under $20 and could even qualify as a sipper - it's that good. Finally, the Lemon Hart helps raise the strength without overpowering the flavors of the other rums. Once again, a surprisingly well-planned drink.

Finally a word about Sauternes. Basically it is a French sweet wine affected by Botrytis Cinerea, also known as Noble Rot (Wikipedia), resulting in a very sweet dessert wine. All the affordable Sauternes were sold out at my local favorite shop (Astor Wines) and there was no way I was spending over $30 for a bottle I didn't intend to use often. Personally, I'm not a huge sweet wine drinker. Fortunately, the folks at Astor are insanely knowledgable about their products, and they helped guide me to the Chateau Du Juge. It is not an actual Sauternes wine, but it is a dessert wine made from botrytized grapes; it also comes from France. The substitute they assured me would work much the same way in my drink.

That being said, I'm not sure I would make this drink again. It was interesting but perhaps not interesting enough.

My personal rating: ***1/2 (3.5) out of ***** (5)

SCORECARD:

4.5 ALMOST PERFECT - 3 drinks so far
Chief Lapu Lapu / Kikuya Lapu / Mai Tai (Trader Vic)

4 - EXCELLENT - 10 drinks and counting
Colonel Beach's Plantation Punch /Aurora Bora Borealis / Outrigger / Bourbon Special / Beachcomber's Gold (Hollywood and Palm Springs) / Hell in the Pacific / Krakatoa / La Florida / Tortuga / Mai Tai Swizzle

3.5 - VERY GOOD - 14 drinks and counting
Beachcomber's Punch / Coronado Luau Special / Hawaii Kai Treasure / Coconaut / Castaway (slightly modified) / Don's Special Daiquiri / Banana Daiquiri / Captain's Grog / Viking Fog Cutter / Navy Grog / Hurricane / Lani-Honi / Mariposa Fizz / Mai Tai (Stuft Shirt)

3 - GOOD - 13 drinks and counting
Eastern Sour / Astro Aku Aku / Kapu Kai / Western Sour / Beachcomber's Gold (Waikiki) / Red Tide / Samoan Fog Cutter / Gold Cup / Headhunter / Fogg Cutter / Noa Noa / Aku Aku Lapu / Mai Tai (Royal Hawaiian)

2.5 - ABOVE AVERAGE - 4 drinks and counting
Jasper's Jamaican / Derby Daiquiri / Carioca Hawaiian Cocktail / Hawaiian Room

2 - AVERAGE - 6 drinks and counting
Beachcomber's Gold (Chicago) / Lychee Nut Daiquiri / Fog Cutter / Von Tiki / Planet of the Apes / Rum Runner

1.5 - BELOW AVERAGE - 2 drinks and hopefully not too many more
Boo Loo / Royal Daiquiri