This Mai Tai recipe is a slight adaptation on Trader Vic’s (the inventor of the mai tai) recipe from 1944 - excluding the now rare and hard to find Wray and Nephew rum and upping the curacao in place of the rock candy syrup (which is also known as rich simple syrup - a 2:1 simple syrup).

INGREDIENTS

60 mL Bombarda Culverin Rum (2 oz)
22.5 mL Orange Curacao (¾ oz)
30 mL Fresh Lime Juice (1 oz)
15 mL Orgeat (½ oz)

Method of Attack

1. Combine all ingredients into your cocktail shaker.
2. Shake with ice.
3. Strain over fresh ice into a double old fashioned glass.
4. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Dark rum presents oaky notes from aging in barrels, which should appeal to whiskey drinkers, and the allspice dram lends an additional layer of spice and complexity. Simple syrup will suffice, but demerara syrup made from raw cane sugar provides a richer taste and mouthfeel. Finally, the doubled-up bitters bring structure and balance in the form of zesty, insidious citrus and bold aromatics.

This may not be the Old Fashioned you’re used to, but it’s an Old Fashioned whose acquaintance you’ll want to make. The profile mirrors the whiskey-based version enough that even the old salts will be happy, while offering enough unique character to please drinkers who want to branch out.

INGREDIENTS

2 ounces Bombarda rum of choice
1 teaspoon demerara syrup
1 teaspoon allspice dram
2 dashes orange bitters
2 dashes of Angostura bitters

Method of Attack

1. Place a large ice cube into an Old Fashioned glass.
2. Add the rum, demerara syrup, allspice dram, both bitters and stir until well-chilled.
3. Garnish with an orange peel.

INGREDIENTS

2 oz Bombarda Falconet 15 year Rum
1 small lime/juice from
1 tsp brown sugar

Method of Attack

1. Pour the rum into a cocktail shaker half-filled with cubed or cracked ice.
2. Add the sugar and squeeze in the juice from the lime.
3. Shake vigorously.
4. Strain into a cocktail glass and serve.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 oz Bombarda Rum of choice
1/2 oz sherry
1/2 oz lime juice
4 oz ginger ale

Method of Attack

1. In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the rum, sherry, and lime juice.
2. Shake well.
3. Strain into a Collins glass almost filled with crushed ice and top with the ginger ale.
4. Garnish with a lemon twist.