Post #758008 by swizzle on Thu, Jan 28, 2016 12:43 AM

It stops becoming a Mai Tai as soon as you start adding, pineapple juice, orange juice, grenadine, etc. As long as you stick to the original recipe what rums you use are irrelevant (although some might disagree with me there).

When Trader Vic first made the Mai Tai he only used one rum. When he could no longer get that particular rum he started trying combinations of rums to find something to match the flavour profile of the original one he used. He ended up with a Jamaican/Martinique combination. You have the Clement there, so then that is your Martinique component of the drink. Now you try it with each other rum as i mentioned above. Just because the original uses a Jamaican that doesn't mean it's going to be the combination that YOU like best. The Mount Gay, Bacardi and Flor De Cana are from three different countries and you might like it with one of those better than a Jamaican.

And for the record, even though the Smith & Cross and the Myers are Jamaican, the Appletons is actually the brand Trader Vic used in the original recipe (although a different vintage), so that is going to give you the closest approximation of the 'true' Mai Tai.

[ Edited by: swizzle 2016-01-28 02:43 ]