No cocktail exudes the visions of palm trees, beaches and the tropics more so than a Mai Tai served in a Tiki glass. It’s a cocktail with a long history starting with the classic Trader Vic’s version that led to the classic Hawaiian Mai Tai, and now today, another riff on a classic the Coco- Loco Mai Tai. My friend Chris and I have both been searching for the perfect Hawaiian Mai Tai and each of us had our views on what was needed. The journey ended one night in Naples, Florida as my friend Chris and I were determined to work together and finally craft a perfect Hawaiian Mai Tai which we both have sought for years. We knew the basics of what we liked but needed to fine tune the ingredients and proportions into perfection. We took on the challenge of making 9 different versions of the Mai Tai and presented each one to an independent esteemed panel of taste testers (aka our friends who volunteered to drink). Slowly but surely, we narrowed down the field and ingredients until we settled on the Coco-Loco Mia Tia recipe presented. It was interesting that once we added the smidge of coconut rum all involved agreed it added a nuanced flavor that must stay (hence the added Coco-Loco to the name). We also started with a homemade orgeat that did enhance the drink a bit but decided, given the number of ingredients, to give two options so if orgeat is not readily available you can either go with 1 ½ oz of Amaretto, or as an alternative, you can substitute ¾ oz orgeat and reduce Amaretto to ¾ of an ounce. Either way the drink is perfect. This is one drink you must not get overwhelmed due to the ingredient list and instead plow through, and you will not be disappointed. Enjoy!!!
Ingredients:
- Gold Rum – Appleton Estate V/X
- Dark Rum – Goslings Black Seal
- Amaretto Disaronno
- Cointreau
- Coconut Rum – Malibu
- Orange Juice
- Pineapple Juice
- Home-made Sour Mix (see recipe below)
- Ingredients: Water, Sugar, Lemon, Lime
- Grenadine
- Optional – Orgeat (e.g., Liber & Co. Almond Orgeat Syrup)
- Pineapple Wedge or Orange Wedge (for garnish)
- Maraschino Cherry
Tools:
- Oxo two-sided shot glass/jigger
- 16 oz Tiki Cocktail Glass
- Cocktail Shaker
- Drink Umbrella
- Rubber Duck (optional)
Directions:
- Make home-made sour mix
Ingredients- Sugar 1 cup
- Water 1 cup
- Lemon 1 cup
- Lime ½ cup
- In the sauce pan add equal parts of sugar and water and stir and dissolve while bringing to a boil. Once boiling remove from heat and let cool.
- Squeeze the lime and lemons and set aside the appropriate amount of each juice.
- Once simple syrup is cool mix together the simple syrup, lemon juice, and lime juice together and the place into plastic squeeze bottle for use (Refrigerate to store)
- Fill cocktail shaker with ice and then add ingredients for one cocktail.
- Gold Rum – 2 oz (example: Appleton Estate V/X)
- Goslings Black Seal – 1 oz
- Disaronno – Amaretto – 1 ½ oz (or can substitute ¾ ounce orgeat and reduce Amaretto to ¾ oz)
- Cointreau – ¾ oz
- Malibu Coconut Rum ¾ oz
- Pineapple Juice – 2 oz
- Orange Juice – 1 oz
- Home-made Sour Mix – ½ oz
- Grenadine – ½ oz
- Shake cocktail until very cold (10-15 seconds)
- Add ice to 16 oz Tiki Cocktail Glass
- Strain drink using cocktail shaker (liquid only – no ice cubes) into Tiki glass that contains the fresh ice
- Garnish
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The items shown above are just suggestions/examples and each consumer should do their own research and choose the proper product that suits their needs the best.
