143 replies to this topic

[John Rosevear]

..Your coworker says she likes Mai Tai's, and you ask her if it contains pineapple juice and grenadine, then laugh when she says yes and tell her that's not a Mai Tai.

... or you go off on an extended monologue about the Royal Hawaiian Hotel's pineapple-fueled "Mai Tai" vs Vic's original and the apparently-outsized influence of the former and its progeny on what people think a Mai Tai really is.

[Shamanjoe]

... or you go off on an extended monologue about the Royal Hawaiian Hotel's pineapple-fueled "Mai Tai" vs Vic's original and the apparently-outsized influence of the former and its progeny on what people think a Mai Tai really is.

John, how did you know?

Shalmanese, that photo, plus my home screen (the one the phone goes to after you run your finger across the "slide to unlock" I think would make the ultimate cocktail snob phone accessory. Especially if you count in the reputation the iPhone has for being in the pocket of Apple snobs..

Edited by Shamanjoe, 26 December 2009 - 07:06 PM.

[John Rosevear]

I knew because of this: Of the hundred-plus Jeff Berry recipes we've tried over the last few years, the Surf Room Mai Tai is my wife's absolute total favorite, hands down, second place not even worth mentioning... and I've maybe felt moved to explain the whole "it's not REALLY a Mai Tai" deal to her friends a time or three.

[edited for typo fix]

Edited by John Rosevear, 26 December 2009 - 09:20 PM.

[Shamanjoe]

I knew because of this: Of the hundred-plus Jeff Berry recipes we've tried over the last few years, the Surf Room Mai Tai is my wife's absolute total favorite, hands down, second place not even worth mentioning... and I've maybe felt moved to explain the whole "it's not REALLY a Mai Tai" deal to her friends a time or three.

[edited for typo fix]

You know you're a cocktail snob when.. John mentions his version of the Mai Tai is the Surf Room and you immediately go online looking for the recipe because the one you're using came from Trader Vic's iPhone app and even though it's credited to Jeff Berry, you still want to be sure..

[John Rosevear]

The Surf Room variant is from Berry's book Intoxica... if you have the Tiki+ iPhone app, it's listed as the "Mai Tai (Hawaiian Style)". It's not Vic's Mai Tai, and it's not exactly a *deep voice* Great American Cocktail, but it's a tasty tiki drink, well worth trying on a warm night.

1 oz orange juice
1 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz lime juice
1/4 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz orange Curacao
1/4 oz orgeat
1/4 oz simple syrup
1 oz Demerara rum (80 proof)
1 oz dark Jamaican rum
1 oz light Puerto Rican rum

Shake, pour unstrained into a DOF glass (or a pint glass if you used a lot of ice), garnish with pineapple, sugar cane, orchid, and mint sprig.

[Shamanjoe]

You might be a cocktail snob if..

You've been eyeing the Mai Tai (Hawaiian Style), but hadn't decided to crack open your bottle of Lemon Hart and try it until John said it was good..

John, I had been looking at it, but I wasn't sure about the orange juice and pineapple juice. I'll have to try it though, as well as the Mai Tai swizzle if I can get my hands on some falernum. I think sourcing all of the syrups and infusions is going to be the main sticking point in giving all these Tiki cocktails a try. That, and finding a reliable way to crush ice..

Ooh, I thought of another one..

..if you keep a canvas bag and giant wooden mallet in your kitchen for the sole purpose of crushing ice, and are confused when guests don't immediately understand what they're for..

or

..you've broken a tile on your counter top while crushing ice for a cocktail..

[jmfangio]

Every time you squeeze a lemon or orange for juice (in a non cocktail related application), you shed a little tear thinking of all those beautiful twists gone to waste...

[nickrey]

You feeeze ice, take it out and let it thaw, freeze it again, take it out and let it thaw, then refreeze it. Because triple frozen ice is the ants pants for making cocktails. It is crystal clear and takes a long time to thaw.

Now how many of you are going to try this?????

[vice]

You feeeze ice, take it out and let it thaw, freeze it again, take it out and let it thaw, then refreeze it. Because triple frozen ice is the ants pants for making cocktails. It is crystal clear and takes a long time to thaw.

Now how many of you are going to try this?????

I probably will, mostly because I can't see why the trapped air won't just redissolve after the second thaw. I haven't seen much difference between once- and twice-frozen cubes; neither have others.

[Shalmanese]

You feeeze ice, take it out and let it thaw, freeze it again, take it out and let it thaw, then refreeze it. Because triple frozen ice is the ants pants for making cocktails. It is crystal clear and takes a long time to thaw.

Now how many of you are going to try this?????

Why not just make ice from boiled water?

[nickrey]

Mixologist Grant Collins who has topped British and Australian Bar competitions and fronts promotions for Moet Hennessy's vodka brand Belvedere said that this was the way to go.

The ice that he used certainly looked and felt more solid and clear than conventional ice. It reminded me of glacial ice that I had in a Scotch on the way back from Antarctica.

I suppose the question is Internet links with interesting experiments aside, why would he use it see this link if there was no difference? Note he said that he used "pure water," which may fit in with what some of you are saying.

[John Rosevear]

Shamanjoe, you totally need some falernum because you totally need to try the 1934 zombie, the real king of tiki drinks. Fee's falernum syrup is a little scary but works (Berry actually recommends it, or did) and is widely available on the 'net if your local sources fail you.

Cinnamon syrup is easy to make at home -- actually most of these syrups can be made at home without too much fuss, even orgeat. And of course (to get us back on topic), making your own syrups is a premier sign of cocktail snobbery.

[cramper]

...you think one of those 4-bottle under-the-counter wine refrigerators would be perfect for vermouth.

...then you realize you have more than four kinds of vermouth.

...you get rid of all the food in the freezer because you don't want it to taint the flavor of your ice.

[Dave the Cook]

. . . not to mention that you stock at least four different types of ice.

[Shamanjoe]

...you get rid of all the food in the freezer because you don't want it to taint the flavor of your ice.

Is that from your clear ice experiments?

. . . not to mention that you stock at least four different types of ice.

Dave, only 4 kinds?

[KD1191]

...you think one of those 4-bottle under-the-counter wine refrigerators would be perfect for vermouth.

Agreed, but go for more than 4-bottles. The vermouth shelf of my wine fridge always seems to be full...

Edited by KD1191, 04 January 2010 - 02:16 PM.

[Dave the Cook]

. . . not to mention that you stock at least four different types of ice.

Dave, only 4 kinds?

Oh, I was just trying to count what I could make out in cramper's freezer! To me, "exotic" is having two different brands of gin on the shelf.

[Shamanjoe]

Oh, I was just trying to count what I could make out in cramper's freezer! To me, "exotic" is having two different brands of gin on the shelf.

Dave, I take it that the following quoted thought has never popped into your head then

...you think that, while not the worst thing, a bar's selection of Tanqueray, Tanqueray 10, Bombay, Bombay Sapphire, and Hendricks is predictable, unimaginative, and ultimately disappointing.

edited to correct spelling and formatting..

Edited by Shamanjoe, 04 January 2010 - 08:35 PM.

[Kent Wang]

When you spill some bitters while transferring it into a dropper bottle and decide to dab the excess on your neck like a cologne.

[rather be travelin']

When you spill some bitters while transferring it into a dropper bottle and decide to dab the excess on your neck like a cologne.

This made me laugh out loud long and hard. And then made me wonder how many surfaces I've swiped errant drops of fernet, only to lick it off my fingers. It's nice to be in good company.

[judiu]

When you spill some bitters while transferring it into a dropper bottle and decide to dab the excess on your neck like a cologne.

Oddly enough, my favorite perfume smells A LOT like Angustora bitters!

[brinza]

Every time you squeeze a lemon or orange for juice (in a non cocktail related application), you shed a little tear thinking of all those beautiful twists gone to waste...

Or every time you peel an orange to eat and orange oil is spritzing in all directions, you weep thinking of how good that would be sprayed over a cocktail . . .

[brinza]

Oddly enough, my favorite perfume smells A LOT like Angustora bitters!

I'll bet you'd make a great Manhattan!

[Shamanjoe]

You bartend your own baby shower because you don't trust anybody else to get it right..