Tiki Central / Tiki Drinks and Food / A Spiritous Journey through Remixed - From the Astro Aku Aku to the Zadaran Storm
Post #718676 by Destro100 on Fri, May 30, 2014 5:29 AM
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Destro100
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Fri, May 30, 2014 5:29 AM
Definitely not a Mai Tai Ingredients I used: Fresh lime juice 10 ingredients. 10 very different ingredients. The Q.B. Cooler can be quite laborious and expensive. The question is, "Is it worth it?" Mostly. I enjoyed the QB Cooler, but I was not blown away. The drink attacks the palate in two distinct stages: sweet then strong. The beginning and middle of your first sip is consumed by sweetness; perhaps too much sweetness. Next, the alcohol appears and tends to dominate the end of the swallow. The sweetness in the beginning is accompanied by a concentrated and complex myriad of flavors. The orange, honey, falernum, and ginger combine to create a unique and unmistakably distinctively syrup-like assault on the senses. I confess, I found the flavors to be a bit muddled. It was almost too interesting and layered if that is possible. The drink kept drawing my attention to its complexity, rather than allowing me to simply enjoy it. I couldn't help but drink it slowly and savor each swallow as the intensity was pronounced throughout. I think the level of sweetness is responsible for this quandary. I would love to try this with a different falernum, but Velvet is all that I had avialable. I opted to go with Kelly's ginger syrup because it has a really nice gingery bite; and considering the recipe only calls for half a teaspoon, I wanted to make sure I could really taste it. After the explosion of sweetness, the alcohol and bitters comes on strongly. I used three very solid rums, but found the same problem. The rums also get slightly muddled and don't blend harmoniously. The combination is tasty, but not unique nor distinctive. I think the addition of a little bit of soda water helps the drink. It brings a nice zing, accompanying the ginger, that permeates throughout the drink. I did have to add a more ice to fill the glass properly and help dilute the drink. Many have said that this drink was the one that Trader Vic based the original Mai Tai on. I don't see it. Not at all. The Mai Tai is a refreshing rum and lime-focused drink with a subtle nutty-orange sweetness. This is a heavily sweetened drink with a strong alcohol finish. The comparison doesn't make sense to me. To my palate they taste like very different drinks. Overall, it's a fine drink, but I may have to try someone else's version to see what all the hype is about. My personal rating: ***1/2 (3.5) out of ***** (5) SCORECARD: 4.5 ALMOST PERFECT - 3 drinks so far 4 - EXCELLENT - 12 drinks and counting 3.5 - VERY GOOD - 18 drinks and counting 3 - GOOD - 16 drinks and counting 2.5 - ABOVE AVERAGE - 4 drinks and counting 2 - AVERAGE - 8 drinks and counting 1.5 - BELOW AVERAGE - 2 drinks and hopefully not too many more |
