Post #758779 by mikehooker on Mon, Feb 8, 2016 3:35 PM

On 2016-02-08 14:35, Warboys wrote:

Evening 2

• Myers
• Mount Gay Eclipse

Going for my 'poor man's Mai Tai'. Clement and Appleton were pricey so I've taken my two cheapest bottles and tested the results. Very different taste... much more 'artificial' tasting (hard to explain) with a sticky sweetness from the Myers and an overwhelming lack of refreshment that was in the first two recipes.

Evening 3

• Appleton V/X
• Barbancourt 8 Year

This was bitterly disappointing. It was much better than the sticky sweet Myers one, but I was expecting something rivaling the VX/Clement but it was decidely untasteful. There was something so off with it, that didn't really feel like a rum mix issue. So I've got a ton of follow up questions trying to determine the source of the problem...

I personally don't bother using Myers anymore. The strong molasses flavor totally dominates drinks and not in a good way. Coruba is usually my go to dark Jamaican cuz it's both milder and tastier than Myers but I haven't had much success with it in a mai tai either. As for Appleton, the V/X is a great base rum when mixed with another rum with more characteristics but I've not enjoyed mai tai's using that one either. If I'm putting Appleton in my mai tai, I strictly stick to the 12 year and usually blend that with either El Dorado 12 or Clement. Yes they are pricier rums, but it's totally worth it. For how simple the mai tai is, you really need quality rums to cut through to make a delicious drink. Unfortunately you can't make a "poor man's" mai tai a drink worth drinking.