Mai Tai

It’s Sunday! For Connie and me, it’s hard to tell whether it is the beginning or end of the week. When you work every day, the difference is no one calls you on Sunday, other than that, same routine. Wake up with the one you love, feed the furry critters, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. However, we have added the cocktail hour to Sunday. We are so civilized!


Connie went hunting for a recipe tonight and instead of diving into something new, he said he was looking for a 5 star, one that we’ve tried before and topped the 1 – 5 rating. He came up with a Mai Tai. His recipe book says that in Tahitian, mai tai roughly translates to “out of this world”. Connie says that he has always seen it translated as “the best”. One way or another, the translation is correct. This is truly a 5 star drink.


Many of us may have fond “date” memories of a Mai Tai. Many Chinese restaurants used to serve a Mai Tai in a big goblet with straws for two. I remember some of those, the Scorpion Bowl, the Rum Runner. One drink. Two called for a cab.  I guess that rather dates me doesn't it???  Oh, well, I earned these grey hairs for a reason :-)


As good as this is, the preparation is not really for the faint of heart. While it is straight forward enough, it is not that quick to make. It kind of feels like clean out the bar for two. I guess for a professional bartender, where the bottles are all at hand and mixes are already there, it’s not so bad. Regardless, I encourage you to dive right in. Give it a shot.  This is one of those drinks to savor slowly because it can whup you upside the head if you're not careful.So here is the recipe that Connie made for us tonight. It comes from shaken by Jane Lawson.


Mai Tai
(for two)


Ingredients:

Crushed ice
2 oz white rum (we use Bacardi’s)
2 oz dark rum (we use Myer’s)
1 oz Cointreau (we substitute Grand Marnier)
1 oz amaretto (we use DiSaronno)
1 oz lemon juice (freshly squeezed, please)
6 oz pineapple juice (we use Dole’s)
6 oz orange juice (we use Minute Maid frozen concentrate, undiluted)
1 oz sugar syrup (2:1, see our recipe)
Dash of grenadine (we use Rose’s)
Lime slices
Mint leaves (we omitted it this time because it is winter in Indiana)


Directions:
Half fill two large goblets with crushed ice. Add all of the ingredients except the lime and mint. Stir, garnish with the lime and mint, toast the one you love, and enjoy.


One note. This is a fairly rich drink, especially with the undiluted orange concentrate. If it is too rich, please consider backing off on the OJ. On the other hand, I have cooked that way forever. I convinced Connie, who grew up on frozen OJ, 3 cans of water to 1 frozen concentrate, to do it this way. Every once in awhile we wind up with too much orange flavor but that's rare...