Has anyone tried to make a Mai Tai 3000?

Ever since I picked up Beach Bum Berry Remixed, I've wanted to make the Mai Tai 3000 and last night I completed my second attempt and I just don't get it. In your mouth the flavors separate and the agar is super chewy. Maybe if I was able to try one made by Jamie Boudreau, I would feel different. Has anyone else tried to make it or had a really good one?

Some things I learned while making it:

1. The recipe is vague in some areas:
   a. you need to boil the water, not just heat in order to dissolve the agar, otherwise the end product will be gritty
   b. you don't need to freeze the limes and cut them with a meat slicer, you can thinly slice them fresh
   here's a recipe http://londoncocktailscholars.co.uk/how-to-make-edible-sweet-and-sour-lime-chips/
   c. the lime chips take a long time in oven, over three hours and even then, the rind overpowers any sweetness (not sure how the author combats this)
   d. helps to shake the isi cream whipper with the orgeat foam after you charge it, I mean really shake it

2. Agar was hard to find but Asian grocery stores, like 99 Ranch Market in LA, carry it

3. I could not get the Orgeat foam to come out right, made two attempts at this, following the directions to a T and both times the foam was more of a liquid than a foam. Very similar to when the whip cream in a can comes out watery.

4. It's a lot of work, ended up making some Mai Tai 1944's and called it a night

[ Edited by: vinylgeek 2013-07-15 15:21 ]

I haven't done that one but I tried Eben Freeman's edible gin and tonic that's very similar (I'm guessing it probably inspired the Mai Tai version, it was at least 6 or 7 years ago that I tried it). I didn't particularly enjoy it (and I'm a big fan of the G&T) so I've never been tempted to try any of the variations I've seen. If you try the Mai Tai, I'd like to hear what you think of it.

You might try double charging the foam. That often helps with recipes like this.

Time to dig out remixed!

djmont: how funny, cause I did double charge the 2nd attempt at the foam and I got the same results, just shot out of the whipper fast. Maybe I'm not using it right?

poutineki: I'm a G&T fan myself, that's too bad. Maybe the whole edible drink thing isn't for us

To be honest, whenever I look at a recipe like that, I always think: Wayyyyyyyy too much trouble. And then I have a regular drink. :)

You inspired me, so I made some Orgeat Foam. It came out perfectly. Delicious stuff!

I took the recipe from REMIXED and added 1 ounce lime juice. The citrus helps emulsify the egg whites. It may not have been necessary, as I didn't try it the original way. But it came out very tasty.

Dang djmont that looks perfect! Okay I'm gonna have to try your suggestion of adding lime juice. I could see eliminating the lime chip and just using the rum square and the foam. Now I'm wondering what else you could use the foam for?

I did. I won second place in the science fair too!

On 2013-07-24 07:54, VinylGeek wrote:
Dang djmont that looks perfect! Okay I'm gonna have to try your suggestion of adding lime juice. I could see eliminating the lime chip and just using the rum square and the foam.

That may be an improvement. When I did the G&T version, the lime chip was the main thing I didn't like about it.

On 2013-07-29 16:52, poutineki wrote:

On 2013-07-24 07:54, VinylGeek wrote:
Dang djmont that looks perfect! Okay I'm gonna have to try your suggestion of adding lime juice. I could see eliminating the lime chip and just using the rum square and the foam.

That may be an improvement. When I did the G&T version, the lime chip was the main thing I didn't like about it.

Was the lime chip you had kind of chewy and very bitter with the rind?

On 2013-07-30 13:42, VinylGeek wrote:
Was the lime chip you had kind of chewy and very bitter with the rind?

That was exactly the problem. Especially the bitter part... and I like bitter. I go through a lot of Campari and Fernet Branca and the lime chip was still offensively bitter.

On 2013-07-31 03:41, poutineki wrote:

On 2013-07-30 13:42, VinylGeek wrote:
Was the lime chip you had kind of chewy and very bitter with the rind?

That was exactly the problem. Especially the bitter part... and I like bitter. I go through a lot of Campari and Fernet Branca and the lime chip was still offensively bitter.

I like bitter too. Man, so I made them right, how lame is that? Who thought these would be good? I'm sticking with the lime with the orgeat foam