Mai Tai
"Trader Vic" Bergeron came up with this floral drink to showcase a 17-year-old gold Jamaican rum. Once all his bottles were gone, he re-created the drink's complex flavor by layering two very different rums in the same drink. This recipe first appeared in SAVEUR Issue #140, along with Jeff Berry's story Endless Summer.
Enlarge Image
Credit: Todd Coleman
INGREDIENTS
1 oz. dark Jamaican rum, such as Appleton1 oz. Martinique rhum agricole vieux, such as Clément V.S.O.P.
1 oz. fresh lime juice, spent lime half reserved
1/2 oz. orange Curaçao
1/4 oz. orgeat syrup
1/4 oz. simple syrup
1 sprig mint
He made all his drinks with fresh fruit juice but one of the most important features of his Mai Tai was after the bar tender poured it over ice, he swizzled it and ice formed on the outside of the glass. As you raised the glass to your lips, the aroma of the mint came through making this the best hot weather cocktail I have ever experienced. He was a perfectionist and personally went to Cuba after the Daiquiri became popular and found that the reason his wasn't perfect was that the Cuban bartender was hand squeezing the limes as opposed to using a mechanical squeezer, as he was, allowing the oils to flavor the drink.
He made all his drinks with fresh fruit juice but one of the most important features of his Mai Tai was after the bar tender poured it over ice, he swizzled it and ice formed on the outside of the glass. As you raised the glass to your lips, the aroma of the mint came through making this the best hot weather cocktail I have ever experienced. He was a perfectionist and personally went to Cuba after the Daiquiri became popular and found that the reason his wasn't perfect was that the Cuban bartender was hand squeezing the limes as opposed to using a mechanical squeezer, as he was, allowing the oils to flavor the drink. Rating: 5