BG Reynolds Mai Tai/Zombie/JetPilot Mixers

I have been impressed by everything that I've had from BG Reynolds. I just came across his bottled mixers and was wondering if anyone has tried them, and if so what'd you think of them?

http://awesomedrinks.com/collections/b-g-reynolds-cocktail-mixers

Mahalo!

I believe they just discontinued all but the Mai Tai mix.

Correct.

He is getting rid of most of the mixers and many of the syrups as well. Streamlining operations and inventory. Sad because I loved all his stuff, but my liver can only take so much.

On 2016-07-15 09:27, Rawim wrote:
He is getting rid of most of the mixers and many of the syrups as well.

The syrups too? Such as what? What's your source? I'm gonna flip!

not a fan of their falernum. i prefer Tippleman's, which you can get from Napa Distillery at http://www.napadistillery.com/product/Tippleman---Falernum-Syrup

I've noticed the Ginger Syrup is now missing from their site. Bummer! I loved that stuff!

As for Tippleman's Falernum, I found it way too sweat and not near spicy enough. B.G. Reynolds is my go-to when I want a full-flavored falernum, Taylor's Velvet when I want the more delicate flavor.

I was wanting to get another bottle of the lime cordial recently for some Suffering Bastards and noticed it had been yanked from their site (along with a bunch of other stuff). I guess I had better grab some online while I can, before it's Rose's Lime or nothing.

*On 2016-07-18 09:10, JenTiki wrote:*B.G. Reynolds is my go-to when I want a full-flavored falernum, Taylor's Velvet when I want the more delicate flavor.

Exactly my stance too, only Taylor's tends to be everyday for me while BG's is my "treat yourself" falernum. Love it.

On 2016-07-18 09:30, HopeChest wrote:
I was wanting to get another bottle of the lime cordial recently for some Suffering Bastards and noticed it had been yanked from their site (along with a bunch of other stuff). I guess I had better grab some online while I can, before it's Rose's Lime or nothing.

Try Stirrings "Clarified Key Lime". It's basically lime cordial with an exotic-sounding label and it works in all the same spots. Gimlets, Yellow Boxers, etc.

On 2016-07-18 13:23, PalmtreePat wrote:

On 2016-07-18 09:30, HopeChest wrote:
I was wanting to get another bottle of the lime cordial recently for some Suffering Bastards and noticed it had been yanked from their site (along with a bunch of other stuff). I guess I had better grab some online while I can, before it's Rose's Lime or nothing.

Try Stirrings "Clarified Key Lime". It's basically lime cordial with an exotic-sounding label and it works in all the same spots. Gimlets, Yellow Boxers, etc.

Wow, my luck is REALLY bad. That has been yanked from Stirrings' website and everywhere else I checked is out of stock, even Amazon.

On 2016-07-18 09:30, HopeChest wrote:
I was wanting to get another bottle of the lime cordial recently for some Suffering Bastards and noticed it had been yanked from their site (along with a bunch of other stuff). I guess I had better grab some online while I can, before it's Rose's Lime or nothing.

You can always make your own.
http://cocktails.about.com/od/makeyourownmixers/r/lime_cordial.htm

On 2016-07-18 09:10, JenTiki wrote:
I've noticed the Ginger Syrup is now missing from their site. Bummer! I loved that stuff!

Liber & Co. is my go-to ginger syrup. Give it a try if you can't find what you like? http://www.liberandcompany.com/products/fiery-ginger-syrup

As for Tippleman's Falernum, I found it way too sweat and not near spicy enough. B.G. Reynolds is my go-to when I want a full-flavored falernum, Taylor's Velvet when I want the more delicate flavor.

To each their own. I used Taylor's most because it's easiest to find. But one time I had Taylor's, Reynolds, and Tippleman's all at the same time and did some taste tests and found Tippleman's to be what I enjoyed most. But then again that was before i was using 2:1 simple syrup, so maybe it was just a mouthfeel thing.

There are updates to the BG Reynolds website, including a bunch of the syrups and mixers being available again. Online ordering is also now available! Whew! I was worried there for a while.

http://www.bgreynolds.com/blog/

Just received a sampler pack of the Mixers as a gift and I have to say mixed reviews.

The Zombie is ok, very heavy flavor of pernod. The Jet Pilot follows right behind, just doesn't have the grenadine flavor as expected

The Mai Tai mix wasn't good. The mix smells like Rose's Lime Juice and it has a very syrupy taste.

Any other experience the same?

On 2016-12-21 18:23, mmaurice wrote:
Just received a sampler pack of the Mixers as a gift and I have to say mixed reviews.

The Zombie is ok, very heavy flavor of pernod. The Jet Pilot follows right behind, just doesn't have the grenadine flavor as expected

The Mai Tai mix wasn't good. The mix smells like Rose's Lime Juice and it has a very syrupy taste.

Any other experience the same?

I got them all when they first came out, and ended up pouring them all down the drain. Nice concept, and I have bought Reynold's syrups over the years, but I found the mixers to taste artificial and acrid.

One caveat, I now make all my own syrups (with the sole exception of Orgeat - for that I use Latitude 29's) so maybe my tastebuds have just gotten used to natural flavors. So your results may vary.

Did some research and was only willing to try the Jet Pilot mix (love their falernum). It is not bad, but my homemade Jet Pilot is much better. There is way too much licorice taste in my opinion. And I haven't even tried the recommended recipe. Instead I used a modification I found on line: "an ounce of dark and gold rums, and a half ounce of a 151 rum. If you cut back the mixer to just two ounces, and add the rums, then this really comes close to an authentic jet Pilot." I'm worried I may not make it through the bottle before it goes bad and even had the impulse to pour it out a couple times. I will play with it though, because it is quality stuff. I will not buy it again.

Didn't know where else to put this and it is certainly not worth creating a new thread for, but for folks in the LA/OC area of SoCal who have been wanting to but finding it hard to locate a brick-and-mortar source for BG Reynolds products, I was at Hi Time in Costa Mesa last night and saw that they appear to be starting to carry at least some of the BG Reynolds syrups and mixers. I believe that I saw the Zombie and Mai Tai mixers as well as the Falernum, Demerara, and Paradise Blend (Don's Mix) syrups. They didn't have the orgeat which is what I was looking for, (picked up some Liquid Alchemy to try instead) but maybe they will be carrying a more complete line-up in the future.

Just thought kids might want to know...

Thanks for the head's up! The only place locally that I'm aware of is a place in Silverlake called Bar Keeper, but if there's another CA store like Hi Time that's definitely great.

Has anyone noticed a shortage of BG orgeat lately in their area? The city of Austin is completely out. Other flavors are still available but the few places that carry it around here have had the orgeat on back order for like a month or more. Are they just behind in production or is it time to panic?

I think you're okay. You could order straight from bgreynolds.com as well - unless an email would come after ordering, everything seems to be in stock.

Thanks. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. My local spot sells it for $17.99. Through the website with shipping I'm looking at $29. I'm sure the price per bottle goes down slightly if I buy a case at a time but if I'm having to shell out more than $20 per bottle for orgeat I might as well just make my own.

Just got an email from BG Reynolds with little story about orgeat so they must still be up to their hips in it.

I contacted them through their website about the Austin shortage and got this reply:

"Hi,
My 375mls are experiencing a production delay. We are working hard on getting product out. Depending on the distributor they tend to order 20-50 cases and want their order to be complete before shipping. Since I am not sending out that many my producer can give me odd ball numbers of product.

Thanks for your patience,
Sara Reynolds"

Thing is, it's the 750s all my stores carry. So don't really understand the explanation.

Well, what have we here? A dark shadow from BGR's past that has swept it's way, inexplicably, across semi-rural PA?

I never expected to find BG Reynolds products in my back yard, let alone at the local Surplus outlet - for $1 a bottle at that. Sadly, there was no sign of the Zombie mix, so the set is incomplete. These were supposed to be shelf-stable, right? By the date on the bottle, they expire next month. Serious question, should I risk a test after these have been sitting untouched for 2 years at best?

Go for it, at the price you paid opening one isn't so bad.

I guess my concern in this case is, "can I drink enough (reportedly middling) Mai Tais before this stuff goes off for good?"

Let's roll the dice.

Experiments concluded. Time to catalogue the results. Starting with the Mai Tai mix, since I have admittedly have not yet had a proper Jet Pilot to compare the bottled mix to.

First thing I noted with mild annoyance is that there is no pull tab on the cap seals. Not a big deal. Knifes are a thing, after all. Love the graphics on the seal, by the way.

The bottle was shaken, per instructions, to re-incorporate the solids that had settled to the bottom. Pouring some out, it still didn't want to completely come together. Tasting the mix by itself, the first thing I noticed is the sweetness, not just in the level of sugar, but in flavor. I was expecting much more tartness, though that may be an artifact of the mix's juices being aged for two years. There is also an underlying bitterness, like lime pith.

Alright, let's make some Mai Tais, circa 2016.

Mai Tai #1 - Per the bottle's instructions:
3 oz BGR Mai Tai Mix
1.5 oz PA State Store stock rum (50/50 blend of Appleton Signature and Rhum Barbancourt)

Results: It certainly looks the part. Garnished per instructions with mint and a lime wedge. The ratio between mix and spirits, however, seems off. Normally when I make a Vic's-style Mai Tai I end up with 3 oz rum to 2 oz mixers, but this is turned on it's head! Consequentially, I can barely taste the rum, and get an overwhelming syrup flavor. Surprisingly, not much almond flavor, and a bitter pith-y chemical after-taste. let's try again.

Mai Tai #2 - My normal ratio
2 oz BGR Mai Tai Mix
3 oz rum blend

Results: All I taste is rum, water, and a hint of sugar. Oh, and there's still that bitter pith aftertaste. I noted that there was barely any citrus flavor coming through, in either version tried so far. Let's rectify that.

Mai Tai #3
2.5 oz BGR Mai Tai Mix
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
2 oz rum blend

Results: The addition of fresh lime instantly changes the character of the drink. The acidity cuts through the sweetness of the mix easily, and on a whole the flavor is more balanced. There is still not enough orgeat flavor for my taste, though I tend to favor it heavily in my scratch-mixed Mai Tais. There is still that pith-y aftertaste, which I am going to ascribe to the fact that this bottle of sugar and juices has been ageing for long past its intended use range.

Speaking of juices, looking at the ingredients, I noticed something a little strange.

This mix includes orange juice as well as lime juice. I think that explains to some degree the foam I was getting after shaking, and also perhaps that old, expired citrus bitterness.

Conclusion: This is in no way a substitute for a fresh-mixed Mai Tai. I think even when this bottle was new it would not have stood up to fresh-ingredient based mixology. I feel like overall it is just plain lacking in flavor, even when used at "full strength" as in test #1. A valiant effort, I think, on the part of BGR, to make the Mai Tai more accessible, but there's just no substitute for freshness.

Alright, time to try the Jet Pilot mix. I'm going to restrict myself to just a couple tests since this does include grapefruit (which technically I shouldn't be drinking).

Upon opening the bottle, the first thing that struck me was the aromatic spiciness of this mix. Very cinnamon-forward, with that anise touch in the background. Something tells me this may come in handy as a spice mix for hot cider.

Jet Pilot #1 - Per recipe on the bottle
3 oz BGR Jet Pilot mix
1 1/2 oz dark rum (Appleton Signature)

Results: Overall a good amount of flavor. Again, not having had a proper Test/Jet pilot I can't really compare profiles, but it isn't terrible. It certainly is a Donn Beach style drink, with all the spice in it. It does, sadly, seem to suffer from the same pith-y bitterness that the Mai Tai mix does. It must be the age of the citrus juices causing this.

Jet Pilot #2 - Revived
2 1/2 oz BGR Jet Pilot mix
1/2 oz lime juice
1 1/2 oz dark rum
1 oz gold rum (Mount Gay)

Results: Again, like the Mai Tai mix, the addition of a little fresh citrus changes the balance of the drink drastically. The boosted spirit level brings it closer still. The spice level is still up there, but so is the underlying bitterness.

Conclusion: I actually like this a little better than the Mai Tai mix, perhaps because I can't help but be more critical of such an iconic drink. Someday, when I have occasion to try a proper Jet Pilot, I will be better able to judge this one. For now, I think it is indeed fated to end its journey as mulling spices for Thanksgiving cider.

Interested experiments, Bam Bam. My first "Mai Tai" was from a mix (not Blair's, the Trader Vic's brand which I found at a World Market four or five years ago) and it didn't excite me at the time. Then I tasted the real thing.

As for a Jet Pilot, the Bum's Sippin' Safari has this recipe:

1 oz dark Jamaican rum
3/4 oz gold Puerto Rican rum
3/4 oz 151-proof Demerera rum
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz grapefruit juice
1/2 oz cinnamon syrup
1/2 oz falernum
6 drops (1/8 tsp) pastis
1 dash Angostura bitters
4 oz crushed ice

Put everything in a blender, saving crushed ice for last. Blend at high speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour into an old-fashioned glass.