Mai tai at a tailgate

So this weekend I am attending the Miami vs. FSU game and the day long tailgate before the game. (Go Noles!) The owner of the tailgate has requested that I make mai tais. I kinda got a reputation when I made her a classic mai tai this summer (with Appleton Estate 12 year, Clement VSOP, Clement Creole Shrub and my homemade orgeat) and she and her husband fell in love. The hosts are very generous and they will definitely have a sweet tailgate, so I'm more than happy to oblige the request. But not sure about the logistics.

I was curious if anyone has ever attempted this endeavor. I have researched the previous posts about making a large batch of mai tais and the recommendations are all over the place. Most say the lime juice can be hard to gauge when you make a large batch. We usually have about 15-20 people at the tailgate, and the game isn't until 8pm, so I'm ok making the drinks one at a time. But we are pretty much in a parking lot so preparation is key. Does anyone have any suggestion? Advice? War stories? Ever made a cocktail at a tailgate?

Only way to do it is a large pre-made batch in a large cooler/dispenser
you will be sorry if you make one drink at time, trust me on this!

YES, pre-mix it all the night before. The lime shouldn't make it taste different overnight. Just make your recipe for one drink 20 times and it will turn out great! Add a little mint in the mix and it will give the faint hint of mint when served. I do this regularly, it is good to not have to make drinks one by one when dealing with a bigger crowd. Otherwise, there will be no tailgating for you, you will just be mixing as fast as you can until you drop :)

Good luck sounds fun.

This was recently pointed out by someone else on another batch mix thread, but I think the more critical issue is getting the proper dilution factor in pre-batched drinks. If I was in your shoes I would figure out whether or not I wanted to pour and shake the pre-batched drinks on demand or whether I preferred to let guests fend for themselves. If the former, I would just scale up the batch and keep the ratios just like you would for an individual drink, then for each imbiber I would pour one drink's worth of batched Mai Tai into a shaker with crushed ice, give it a hard shake and pour unstrained just like if you were mixing up individual cocktails. If you decide that will be too time-consuming and you'd rather just pour pre-batched drinks into cups with ice then you need to add an approprpptiate amount of water to the batched drink to approximate the dilution that a hard shake on crushed ice would have given you. I have seen 25-30% of the total volume of the cocktail as a suggested rule of thumb.

Sunny&Rummy, I just don't see that being an issue as long as the drinks are served over plenty of ice
I myself make the pre-mix maybe an hour before I serve it, I add mint, the used up limes & orange slices right
into the pre-mix also, for that extra bit of flavor.

It may depend on the specific drink, ATP, but tell me this: if you mixed two Mai Tais at home but gave one a proper 30 second shake on crushed ice and poured it unstrained to drink while with the second one all you did was dry mix the ingredients and then add some ice and serve it, do you think those two drinks are going to be equally good? If not, then what is the difference between the two? For me, a big part of the difference is that one has been diluted to the appropriate degree and the other has not.

While the shaker choice would always be the preference it is just not practical
in a large party setting unless you are going to be the full time bartender
and not have any fun at all, it is a little bit of a compromise in quality
but a reasonable one in this situation and no one is waiting for a drink

Also most people outside of you and I & the drink threads would even notice to be honest.

you people are all missing the point-- this is an fsu v. miami(fl) tailgate. thus, the key here is adding just the right amount of arsenic. (or, rat poison can be substituted)...

:P

I see how you Florida people roll, no wonder God keeps trying to kill you with a Hurricane :lol:

Thanks everyone. Pre-made batch of drinks it is. I usually use nugget ice, so that dilutes the drink pretty quickly.

Not sure why you would need or even want to shake - especially if you are batching ahead of time and can store it in the refrigerator. Bring it in a cooler and don't add ice. Too much dilution is a sure way to ruin a Mai Tai.

Just pour it in your ice filled vessel, add a mint sprig, and poke in a straw to serve. Perfect!

I wouldn't add any mint flavor to the batch. The mint sprig in a Mai Tai contributes aroma to the experience. Mint flavor in the cocktail throws it off, IMHO. Just skip the mint if it's too much trouble.

I would also suggest adding a float of over-proof rum like Lemon Hart 151. You'll have time to do this since you aren't shaking. :wink:

Cheers!

Your ice will come from a chest, not a freezer, so it will be ever closer to the melting point, throughout the day. It will melt enough for proper dilution rather easily, without shaking.
If you fill a glass full of ice - don't be stingy - and pour in about 2 to 3 oz. of your pre-mix, I think you can dispense with shaking... maybe tell them to give it a 10-second stir with their straw, before drinking.
Make sure you take appropriate sized glasses (probably 8 or 9 oz.), not the big 16 oz. Test ahead, and make sure the glass looks full, when filled with ice and no more than 3 oz. liquid. Otherwise, they'll yell, hey, I didn't get enough, causing everyone to drink doubles, and never make it to 8:00!

Where's the recipe and photo's of the tailgate?

-Longboard

You guys are over thinking & over complicating the issue
the whole point is to make it easy.