Post #750188 by lunavideogames on Wed, Sep 2, 2015 11:35 AM

Ok, so you live in Hilo. I have had many "Mai Tais" in Hilo. Is there a particular one you are trying to replicate?

We are pretty serious about our drinks here and we will go the extra mile for proper ingredients. When you mentioned that you were making a Mai Tai and listed these ingredients, we all cringed because none of these are the actual ingredients in a Mai Tai. In Hawaii, Mai Tais are usually made with fruit juice. Pineapple and Orange are common "Island Style" Mai Tai ingredients. We usually stay away from the spiced rums as well, I personally prefer to spice my own or make homemade falernum to spice a drink up.

If you are looking for a cheap easy way to make a tasty drink or an Island Style Mai Tai, I can try to help you out a bit. I would get rid of the sqeezy lime and just juice your own. This will taste 100 times better and it will not be much cost difference. You will want to get 2 different rums for the drink. I would stay away from Bacardi, but you could get a gold like Cruzan and a dark like Whalers both for really cheap, maybe the price for both would equal your one bottle of Kraken.

Try something like this:

2 oz gold rum
1/2 oz lime juice (fresh)
1 oz pineapple (Dole is the best in my opinion for over the counter juice, if you don't want to juice your own)
1/2 oz Orgeat (you can sub anything with almonds, Amaretto or almond syrup but it will be worth it to add something almond)
1/2 oz Orange Curacao (you could sub this for OJ, but the Curacao is usually pretty cheap)
Shake everything with ice and strain it over ice and float about 1/2 oz of Dark Rum on the top. It doesn't seem like you care about the look, but I would usually garnish it with a pineapple triangle and fresh mint. If you have a party or something this might be fun to do, but the mint does actually add something to the drink.

If you do this recipe, I bet it will taste better than most Mai Tais in Hilo. This should get you on the right path and you shouldn't have to buy too many things. I would not waste your money on the Mai Tai mix, spend it on one of these other ingredients. I promise that it will be worth it.