A bunch of people we knew were having mai tais tonight, and we wanted in on the trend.
Tasting Notes
Rory: We sitll haven’t made a mai tai with the kind of rum SC calls for, which, whatever. one day.
we used a less funky Jamaican rum this time (Hamilton); after trying both drinks, I felt like the Demerara rum was a mai tai that obviously had rum in it, and the Jamaican rum Mai Tai clearly had Jamaican rum in it.
The Jamaican rum tastes noodly? squishy? It’s not the chewy latex-silicone feeling of the batavia arrack, but squishy, definitely. A little squeaky on my teeth. Udon noodles, konnyaku. I’m not sure why my brain is insistent that the jamaican funk is a texture instead of a flavor.
I think I overshot the lime a little bit? or undershot the Demerara syrup, maybe, since some of the sugar precipitated out? I wonder if that’s my actual complaint with tiki drinks lately–not that they’re all rum and lime, but that I’m not making them sweet (vs sour) enough for my palate. The Demerara version is a little more balanced, on second (and third) sip. I keep thinking measurement error, but it might just be ingredient intensity.
Ryan: We wanted to do a zombie or jet pilot but we don’t have quite the right rum for one of the components at hte moment, so we went with the Mai Tai. The Mai Tai is a good and uncomplicated drink. It mostly tells you how a rum is going to taste. We put our two rums head-to-head–the Hamilton 86 Demerara rum and the Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black rum. And the two cocktails really are very different.
The Hamilton 86 is straightforwardly pleasant and plays well with the Demerara syrup. Lots of nutty and toasty undertones, lots of “dark” and molasses flavors. The Hamilton Jamaican is a lot less in-your-face than Smith and Cross but it’s still a pretty funky tasting rum (less funky smells, though). That said, both drinks could stand to be just a touch sweeter, so maybe we’ll adjust how much syrup.
Lighting the limes on fire (with bread soaked in lemon extract) seemed to have any effect on the smell, though nothing unpleasant.
Recipe
- 2 oz rum (Hamilton 86 or Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black)
- 1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao
- 1/2 oz Small Hands orgeat
- 1/4 oz rich Demerara syrup
- 3/4 oz lime juice
Shake and strain into a rocks glass over crushed ice. Garnish with a spent lime shell and mint.
Source: Smuggler’s Cove