Post #725190 by mikehooker on Mon, Aug 11, 2014 6:49 PM

Just made my first, subsequently followed by my second, home made Mai Tai. For some reason I never stocked Orgeat in my bar and now I can't understand why. I read through an old thread on here about homemade orgeat and while I was tempted to go through the grueling process myself I was glad to see my local spirits store carried BG Reynold's which several people recommended as far as store bought goes. The shelf life is only 90 days after opening so many more Mai Tai's will be drank in the coming months. I did my own sugar syrup (1.5:1 so not quite rock candy) and used DeKuyper Curacao as it was the ONLY option they had in stock. I asked if they had any Senior hidden in the back but they said only one shop in the area (kinda far away) had any and it seemed they weren't going to be restocking it. Does anyone know if there's some sort of shortage of this for any reason? Anyway, my first drink was 3/4 oz lime, 1/4 sugar syrup, 1/4 orgeat, 1/2 curacao, 1 oz Ron Zacapa 23, 1 oz Barbancourt 3 star. It was tasty but a little on the citrusy side so for round two I upped the orgeat to 1/2 oz. For some reason it seemed more rummy this time (maybe my pour was a little heavy). Both were yummy drinks regardless and I look forward to continued experimentation with different proportions and rums. Maybe getting Coruba into the mix or Appleton 12/El Dorado 12 as others have suggested. Bottom line, classic drink, classic tunes on the hi-fi, it's been a nice evening.