What AreYou Drinking- Right Now?

another Pluto's Heart...

the edge of the solar system?

or the edge of the underworld?

I must not drink a third.

I fear it would uncover the horrifying secrets that divulge the key to gaining the terrible knowledge mankind so craves...

On 2016-02-05 21:23, mikehooker wrote:
Daiquiri night...

Don's Special Daiquiri:

Very rum forward with the Smith & Cross in the forefront. Quite tasty. Might up the passion fruit next time.

OOH! What were your ratios, if you don't mind me asking? I utterly adore Smith & Cross but it does dominate. Caña Brava 2:1 Smith & Cross?

On 2016-02-06 08:17, HopeChest wrote:

On 2016-02-05 21:23, mikehooker wrote:
Daiquiri night...

Don's Special Daiquiri:

Very rum forward with the Smith & Cross in the forefront. Quite tasty. Might up the passion fruit next time.

OOH! What were your ratios, if you don't mind me asking? I utterly adore Smith & Cross but it does dominate. Caña Brava 2:1 Smith & Cross?

1/2 oz Caña Brava
1 oz Smith & Cross

After drinking this and then reading people's comments on the Grogalizer who were unanimously saying it's a very sweet drink and how they'd cut back the passion fruit, I looked at the recipe again and realized I incorrectly used lemon instead of lime. I guess cuz the previous drink I made called for lemon and I like the pairing of lemon and passion fruit, I just went with it. But I don't think that would have much of an impact on the sweetness of the drink. Perhaps my homemade passion fruit syrup is just milder than what everyone else was using. Or maybe it's just that S&C dominates everything. I plan to experiment more.

Mai Tai at Frankie's Tiki Room (to kill the popsicle taste of the one I had at Golden Tiki.)
Polynesian Pile driver up next!

Fassionola finally back in the house. Time for fun. Starting with Cobra's Kiss.

What a killa glass Mike!
Glad you’re having a great time Amy and Ted.

1 oz of overproof Trinidadian rum (Plantation dark) with 2 oz of water.

a very sturdy drink.

Polynesian Pile Driver, Dr No, Mai Tai....these are the things that make football tolerable.

Found a new one here

Hmmm
Smells like watermelon
1st sip- lil watermelon
Then double IPA hits ya
Then lil sweet
Unfortunately then gets very bitter

Oh well

Nutha new one for me

Smells sweet when ya open the can
In glass:sweet smell
Sweet, light IPA flavor, no bitter

Good
Not great
But I like

On a Balast Point run

Ahhhhhhh

Need a lil coconut :)

noice, havent seen dose flavored sculpins here yet. will hafta keep my eye out for dem.

for the super bowl, we had chili dogs: denver-style, and carolina-style.

to drink, i hoisted a cocktail to honor the super bowl hosting SF Bay Area:

a Mai-Tai!

post-game= an all-American cocktail: the whiskey sour!

(at least i always thought it was All-American. funny thing, we were talking yesterday with a lady from Peru and her husband, about pisco sours. I make mine with Angostura bitters, they said they do not, so that made me think i've been making it Chilean-style even though i thought i'd made them Peruvian-style. in googling and wiki-ing the topic last night, i came across a claim per the internets that the whiskey sour was invented in Chile in the 1800s by a Brit! never heard that one before. and it turned out i was right- the Angostura bitters is Peruvian, not Chilean. maybe our acquaintances aren't who they say they are...)

During the game it was nothing but mai tais until I ran out of curacao & triple sec.

Then I switched to DtB Navy Grogs because I wanted to try out my first ice cones and had an interesting experience when I ran out of honey. Necessity being the mother of invention (and my palette being set on more navy grogs), I came up with a quick substitute on the fly:

Demerara syrup
Vanilla syrup
Rhum JM Sirop De Canne

This was surprisingly excellent. It was a bit more complex of a taste than just honey and it gave me loads of different ideas to try out next time around.

Third evening of Mai Tais and I'm not sure if I'm getting a taste for rum or if my variables are not consistent.

Evening 1

• Appleton V/X
• Clement 10

Delicious. First ever homemade Mai Tai and I'm never going back to bar-made cocktails again

• Smith & Cross
• Clement 10

Just as delicious, but bloody strong! This is like a Mai Tai XL. Great stuff and I'll totally use it if a friend wants something stiffer.

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...

1. Is the Barbancourt much subtler and didn't work with the Appleton VX?
2. I ended up pouring about 2.5ml too much Orgeat and Simple Syrup... is that the difference maker?
3. I felt it was a little bit too diluted... but I don't recall keeping my crushed ice out longer than usual
4. My Limes were much less juicy and ripe than the first batch. I had to squish and roll a couple of them to really get the juice out of them. Were the limes the issue?
5. I haven't been refrigerating my Orgeat, and I've noticed a strange darker discolouration since I first bought it. I stuck it in the fridge a few days ago because I was scared about it spoiling... however I read a bunch of sites online that said it's ok to sit outside the fridge. Was cooling my Orgeat possibly a problem or do you think it went bad?
6. I drank 3 pints of beer before I walked home for 30 mins and made cocktails. Could that be a big factor?

I've been trying to keep everything as exact as possible, lab conditions, to try to build my own taste for particular rum mixes. I can really smell the difference between the brands but I don't have as much confidence in my palette so I've been trying different combos to build it up. I can't understand what it is exactly, but something felt really off with the Barbancourt+Appleton VX mix. Any ideas?

Some wise soul here hipped me to the trick with Smith & Cross: dial it back a quarter of an ounce so that it's Clement 1.25 : 0.75 Smith & Cross.

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.

Big Bamboo. According to BB Berry this evolved into the Mai Kai's Maru Amu but with the ingredients and ratios it's almost a rum barrel light. If you double the recipe as I have it's got almost the same kick as the barrel.

On 2016-02-08 15:35, mikehooker wrote:

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.

I'm with you on the Myer's. The only time I actually use it is when the recipe calls for it by name, like the Puka Punch from Intoxica. In every other case, "dark jamaican rum"=Coruba as far as I'm concerned.

On 2016-02-08 15:35, mikehooker wrote:

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...

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.

I've found the Appleton V/X / Signature is actually pretty serviceable in a mai tai if you use Demerara syrup instead of simple or rock candy. Agree with you on the 12, though - it's the business.

A Moonlighter at Hale Pele. Served in a Munktiki Maori warrior mug.

Treg- thanks for the heads up

3 Rum Scum

Navy Grog.

I didn't care too much for my first few attempts at a Don's Navy Grog, much preferring the all spice addition of Vic's version. Not sure if it's the rum blend I chose this time or the fact I finally have fresh white grapefruit rather than pink or bottled but this one is really delicious.

Note: Not my best ice cone. The tip broke off when I was trying to poke a new hole through the top that had closed up.

hang10, that Typhoon looks and sounds awesome!

mikehooker- i really love the yeoman's grog, which basically combines the TV and DtB recipes. the honey mix with the allspice dram is fantastic.

On 2016-02-09 21:09, thePorpoise wrote:
mikehooker- i really love the yeoman's grog, which basically combines the TV and DtB recipes. the honey mix with the allspice dram is fantastic.

I've been meaning to try that one but haven't made a vanilla syrup yet. Will have to get on that soon.

On 2016-02-09 21:47, mikehooker wrote:

On 2016-02-09 21:09, thePorpoise wrote:
mikehooker- i really love the yeoman's grog, which basically combines the TV and DtB recipes. the honey mix with the allspice dram is fantastic.

I've been meaning to try that one but haven't made a vanilla syrup yet. Will have to get on that soon.

hmmmm, i must be making a different yeomans grog... i will have to consult my bar notes later...

On 2016-02-09 21:53, thePorpoise wrote:

On 2016-02-09 21:47, mikehooker wrote:

On 2016-02-09 21:09, thePorpoise wrote:
mikehooker- i really love the yeoman's grog, which basically combines the TV and DtB recipes. the honey mix with the allspice dram is fantastic.

I've been meaning to try that one but haven't made a vanilla syrup yet. Will have to get on that soon.

hmmmm, i must be making a different yeomans grog... i will have to consult my bar notes later...

The version on Atomic Grog calls for Don's Spices #2 which is equal parts vanilla syrup and allspice dram. BG makes a version but none of the places that carry his products around here have that one.

The Below Decks Jack Rose!

A Hatchet Hall Old Man Bar "No Excuses" Daiquiri!

Ok so since the last 2 Mai Tais I've made have been disappointing, I've been double checking the recipe and noticed a Beachbum Berry discrepancy between Remixed and his official website.

So in Remixed he's got...

1oz Lime
1oz Dark Jamaican (Tried Appleton VX, Smith & Cross, and Myers so far)
1oz Amber Martinique (Tried Clement, MG Eclipse, and Barbancourt so far)
0.25 oz Orgeat
0.25 oz Simple Syrup
0.5 oz Orange Curacao

On this website here: http://beachbumberry.com/recipe-mai-tai.html

He's added an extra 0.25 oz of Orgeat.

Anyone know what I should be using? Checking other recipes around the net seem to suggest, on average, a little less curacao and/or an amount of Orgeat matching the Curacao. Is that right?

It sort of leads me to ask the, possibly forbidden, question around here... do these tiny amounts really make a difference? Is 7.5ml of sugar syrup a big deal? And if these measures are impactful, is there going to be a huge difference if I double the Orgeat?

You can double the orgeat and skip the simple syrup. I do this at times I like the hint of almond flavor in my Mai Tai.

Lately I've been doing a lot of my mai tai's with .5 oz orgeat and eliminating the sugar syrup all together. You get some added sweetness from the extra orgeat plus more of the yummy almond flavor. It works with some rum combos but not with others. You just need to keep playing around with different combos and measurements until you find what pleases your palette the most. I've done over 30 variations of a mai tai and still play around with it all the time, wondering if I can make it even better, experimenting with a three and even four rum blend (Denizen Merchant Reserve, Clement VSOP, and Appleton 12 with a Lemon Hart 151 float knocked it out of the park).

Yep, those tiny amounts make a difference!

There's a video where Beachbum Berry talks about this EXACT thing - how he initially started out at .25 oz of orgeat and as time went on he started upping the orgeat for the right balance.

https://youtu.be/4uOD9YlzqJ8?t=39m7s (that's the pertinent bit, but watch the whole thing)

There have been a couple of times where I was a bit heavy-handed with the Pierre Ferrand dry curacao and thought, "No worries, it'll be fine"...and it wasn't. It had brought out a bitterness that was not complimentary.

Try this:

.75 oz. fresh lime
.50 curacao
.50 orgeat
.25 simple / rock candy / Demerara syrup
2 oz. rum(s) of your choice

I like dialing back the lime ever-so-slightly.

On 2016-02-11 11:36, HopeChest wrote:
Try this:

.75 oz. fresh lime
.50 curacao
.50 orgeat
.25 simple / rock candy / Demerara syrup
2 oz. rum(s) of your choice

This is exactly what I do as well. Keep the syrup total at 3/4 oz, whether it's 1/2 orgeat and 1/4 simple, or just 3/4 orgeat - something I picked up from Blair Reynolds and the folks at Hale Pele.

Okay, a successful evening!

This time I had Smith & Cross with Barbancourt 8, which was a little dull... but had that patented kick that I enjoy. The Smith & Cross with Flor de Cana 7 was much better, really nice combo although, as with the last one, its strength overpowered much of the other flavors.

Then I tried something weird.

Lemon Hart Original with Bacardi 8 year. Seriously, what the hell did I just do to my drink? It was really really good... but tasted nothing like any of the other Mai Tais I've made. God knows what happened with that particular combo, but it was very delicious to my tastes and different enough from a regular Mai Tai to feel like another drink entirely.

Has anyone else tried it? I was so surprised how much difference the blend of rums would make.

I'll definitely give that blend a shot. I've been using Bacardi 8 a lot lately and have enjoyed every drink I've made with it.

Tonight I had a friend over and we had Puka Punches with Cana Brava, Bacardi 8, Coruba and Lemon Hart float. With homemade falernum and passion fruit syrup it was absolutely delicious. Followed those up with a Stiggins Daiquiri. If these were the only two drinks I was allowed to drink the rest of my life in no way would that be disappointing.

Last night there was a neighborhood gathering so I brought a Big pitcher of Big Bamboo over and it was a Big hit! I'm really loving this drink. I did the recipe times twelve and didn't want to squeeze that much grapefruit so ended up using bottled Ocean Spray white for half of the called for amount which made it pretty bitter. I added some extra passion fruit and a little honey mix and sugar syrup to cut the bitterness and it was excellent. Non-tikiphiles were asking for the recipe which is always a good sign.

This thread always gives me an inferiority complex!

For tonight: Fiiiiiinnallyy:

Sadly, I'm disappointed. There's a hint of what I remember, but an unpleasant other/after taste.
It didn't taste as good as remembered last summer at the one place we found it on Kauai, either.
Either it's changed for the worse, or I've become much more spoiled since it was regularly available.

Porp said: hang10, that Typhoon looks and sounds awesome!

It was Bruddah :)

Bama- I know what you are sayin
At first I thought it was a little different
But then thought maybe it was the 2 year absence
But, we still like it :)

Cheers all

Fine tuning some Aviation Cocktails- one of my wife’s favorites. Valentines day is fast approahing.

Hatchet Hall n.b.a. dram!

last night i did a tiki-fied version of a pisco sour

1 1/2" pisco
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz pineapple juice
1 oz falernum
1 egg white

dry shake all, add ice, shake and double strain into coupe glass - ango bitters on top