Mai Tai

From Martin Cate

shakenrocks

tikiclassic

Ingredients

0.75 ozfresh lime juice
0.5 ozorange curaçao (Pierre Ferrand preferred)
0.25 ozorgeat
0.25 ozrich demerara simple syrup (2:1 sugar:water)
2 ozaged pot still or blended rum (see note)

Garnish: spent lime shell, mint sprig

Preparation

1.
Combine all ingredients with 12 ounces of crushed ice and some cubes in a shaker.
2.
Shake until chilled and pour — ice and all — into a double old fashioned glass.
3.
Garnish with a spent lime shell and mint sprig (meant to represent an island and palm tree)

Notes

Who better to get Mai Tai tips from than San Francisco barman and rum aficionado Martin Cate? Not only did he just release a new book, <i>Smuggler’s Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki</i>, but his seven-year-old bar of the same name won Tales of the Cocktail's 2016 Spirited Award for "Best American Cocktail Bar." Fresh lime juice is critical. When squeezing, don’t press too hard — extract the juice, not the bitter pith. Historically, there is no "dark rum" float. It’s not in the original recipe. At the San Francisco Trader Vic’s in the 1970s, there was an old regular who liked his with a float of a 151 Demerara rum. The staff called it "Old Way," not because it was an old recipe, but literally because the patron was old! Trader Vic’s does not use umbrellas. The Trader didn’t like them, and they were never in his Mai Tais. This cocktail was born with 100-percent pot-still Jamaican rum that was aged a minimum of 17 years. Rich in both body and oak flavors, there’s no exact substitute today, but look for either 100-percent pot-still or blended pot and column molasses-based rums. Suggested brands: Appleton Estate Reserve Blend, Denizen Merchant’s Reserve.