“Here, see if you can make me something with this”, the liquor rep taunted as he dropped a bottle of aquavit on the bar. If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I don’t really work that well under pressure. I try, but it literally takes me weeks to come up with a new drink that I’m happy with. Maybe I’m slow, maybe I’m a perfectionist, doesn’t matter: I hate it when I have to work under pressure.
So I was especially vexed when this particular wiseass handed me a bottle of aquavit. For those of you who don’t know, is a traditional Scandinavian liquor flavored with caraway and - typically - other herbs such as fennel and anise. It’s delicious, but it’s unique and isn’t known for its superb mixability.
However, I knew the liquor boob was insinuating that I might not be able to rise to the challenge, so I whipped this up (after about three false starts). A small handful of visitors to the bar at Clyde Common have suggested that it might be one of the best drinks I’ve come up with so far, but I’ll let you be the judge of that. I just think it tastes delicious.
1 oz aquavit
1 oz applejack
¾ oz sweet vermouth
¼ oz yellow Chartreuse
1 dash Angostura bitters
Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. Garnish with a large twist of lemon peel and serve.
My problem with homemade tonic water has always been a flavor profile that was too esoteric for the general audience. This recipe takes some of the positive qualities people have come to understand from commercial tonic water and updated them with fresh ingredients.
One question I'm often asked is "Do you have any drink-related book recommendations?" Well, funny you should ask, I've compiled a list of the ten books every professional bartender or home mixologist should own. I keep every one of these close at hand and have read most of them several times. I suggest you do the same.
The problem with living in Oregon is the absence of little wooden shacks by the sea that sell cases of fresh ginger beer stacked on back porches. But with some readily-available ingredients, a recipe I've been revising for several years - and a few free minutes - I can easily transport myself to a little fishing boat on the ocean as I sip a Dark and Stormy made with fresh, house-made ginger beer.
It's always mojito season somewhere, so this advice is timely in your area about half the year. Wether you're making them or simply enjoying them, this advice will help you look like a pro in no time at all.
The flavors of the Richmond Gimlet are imbued with sunshine. Fresh mint mingling with the herbaceousness of gin and the tartness of lime have made this drink a Eugene classic for many years now.
You'll get a lot of snarky advice on this site about how to make a proper drink, but if you ever need to know what not to do, this is the video for you.
Not to be confused with the Spanish wine-and-fruit-based alcoholic beverage sangria, sangrita (meaning "little blood") is a traditional accompaniment to a tequila served completo; a non-alcoholic sipper that cleanses the palate between fiery doses of agave.
The world of booze can be mystifying to people that don't work in bars or around alcohol all the time. I hear a lot of assumptions about the industry I'm in that are - much like 90% of what you hear in bars - completely false. Here are a few you've probably heard yourself.
The debate rages on: Should we try to look cool and crack open the Boston shaker or be tidy professionals and use the Hawthorne strainer the way God intended? Be sure to leave your two cents in the comments section.
The traditional garnish for a Pisco Sour is a couple of drops of bitters in the foam, but I've never been particularly impressed with the way these few paltry drops of bitters sat in their little egg-white mattress and didn't play along with the rest of the drink. I envisioned a Pisco Sour with a uniformly-distributed bitters-scorched foam: slightly crisp as the fire burnt the sugars, and slightly warm as the foam insulated the rest of the frosty cocktail from the heat. A pisco creme brulée in a glass!
I get so many visitors looking for tips on how to write a bartending resume that I thought I should finally post a tutorial on how to write your own. Click the headline to read more.
I always love showing up to a party with a gallon jug of pre-mixed margaritas, so I've decided to share my recipe. This margarita recipe is the perfect blend of strong, sweet, and sour. But be warned: this recipe packs a serious punch.
There isn't much I can say about this video that hasn't been said already. If you've read anything I've written about cocktails, you'll understand why this video symbolizes everything wrong with the state of bartending in America today. Watch and learn, but be warned: this one isn't for the feint of heart.
About Me
My name is Jeff Morgenthaler and I'm the head bartender at Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon.
I'm 37, I've been tending bar since 1996 and writing about it since 2004. Mixing drinks has become something of a passion for me in recent years, and I strive to elevate the experience of having a drink from something mundane to something more culinary.
The writing I do here is intended as a work in progress. My recipes are like my opinions: they are constantly being revised and refined as I work them through my mind and my fingers. Comments and participation are encouraged, so please don't feel the need to tread lightly here.
Victor Bergeron - Trader Vic - created this drink back in the 40s, and is quoted in the 1947 edition of his Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide as saying, “Anyone who says that I didn’t create this drink is a dirty stinker.”
When I visited Trader Vic’s in Beverly Hills, I watched their skilled mixologists closely to try to learn the secrets of this drink (shaved ice is key here, kids) but I recently found the recipe online here.
When made properly, the Mai Tai is a smooth, slightly sweet, and potent concoction - and well worthy of our sophisticated palates (heh).
1.5 oz light rum
1 oz dark rum
1 oz fresh lime juice
.75 oz orange curaçao or triple sec
.5 oz orgeat (almond syrup)
.5 oz simple syrup
Build this drink in a wine glass, stirring just enough to mix, before finishing the drink with crushed ice and floating the dark rum on top. Garnish with an orange wedge and maraschino cherry.
Comments
5 Responses to “Mai Tai”
15 Aug 2006 at 5:58 pm 1. Anonymous
Shouldn’t the dark rum should be “J. Wrays Nephew” a favorite of Trader Vic? And the triple sec be the orginal orange cuarcao, no longer sold off the island?
[...] Jenny and I started with Mai Tais, and Sarah grabbed a Maui Fizz. The drinks were, in one word, amazing. Absolutely incredible. The Mai Tai was the best I’ve ever had, way better than mine. I’ll print the recipe here when I get home to my Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide. They came with crushed ice and we gulped them down in two seconds. The Maui Fizz was light, refreshing, and flash-blended. [...]
[...] is variable. You can to garnish yours Mai Tai with orange wedge and maraschino cherry (flag) (as Jeffrey Morgenthaler), with lime shell and sprig of mint(as Trader Vic) or exotic [...]
26 Mar 2009 at 7:58 am 4. The Concierge
What kind of Orgeat do you use? The Monin Almond syrup doesn’t seem to be true orgeat. Sonoma Syrup has a Vanilla Almond made with flower water but I heard it has a very strong vanilla flavor. I have been looking for commercially available version rather than making my own because between the blanching of the almonds and inclusion or rose and/or orange flower water- its seems as those the taste can get royally messed up.
Also, btw, have you used the gum arabic and/or orange peel from Tenzing Momo, and, if so, any comments?
Thanks for your contributions that you make through your blog. If I am ever in Portland, your place will definitely be the top of my list.
29 May 2009 at 4:26 pm 5. Tan
making the orgeat is a breeze. it add such flavor and mouth feel and it really is hard to do wrong
I absolutely hate it when someone sends me a box full of sex toys in the mail. Sure, it might sound like fun to some of you (you know who you are), but receiving a big box of free sex is much more trouble than it’s worth. Believe me. So I get a [...]
15 Aug 2006 at 5:58 pm 1. Anonymous
Shouldn’t the dark rum should be “J. Wrays Nephew” a favorite of Trader Vic? And the triple sec be the orginal orange cuarcao, no longer sold off the island?
24 Jan 2007 at 12:57 pm 2. Jeffrey Morgenthaler » My Pilgrimage to Trader Vic’s
[...] Jenny and I started with Mai Tais, and Sarah grabbed a Maui Fizz. The drinks were, in one word, amazing. Absolutely incredible. The Mai Tai was the best I’ve ever had, way better than mine. I’ll print the recipe here when I get home to my Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide. They came with crushed ice and we gulped them down in two seconds. The Maui Fizz was light, refreshing, and flash-blended. [...]
12 May 2008 at 11:06 am 3. Mai tai - roa ae!
[...] is variable. You can to garnish yours Mai Tai with orange wedge and maraschino cherry (flag) (as Jeffrey Morgenthaler), with lime shell and sprig of mint(as Trader Vic) or exotic [...]
26 Mar 2009 at 7:58 am 4. The Concierge
What kind of Orgeat do you use? The Monin Almond syrup doesn’t seem to be true orgeat. Sonoma Syrup has a Vanilla Almond made with flower water but I heard it has a very strong vanilla flavor. I have been looking for commercially available version rather than making my own because between the blanching of the almonds and inclusion or rose and/or orange flower water- its seems as those the taste can get royally messed up.
Also, btw, have you used the gum arabic and/or orange peel from Tenzing Momo, and, if so, any comments?
Thanks for your contributions that you make through your blog. If I am ever in Portland, your place will definitely be the top of my list.
29 May 2009 at 4:26 pm 5. Tan
making the orgeat is a breeze. it add such flavor and mouth feel and it really is hard to do wrong