A Mai Tai Brief & Elena's Virtue

We love rum. It's wonderfully diverse, under appreciated, and often misused. If you want to get into a geek conversation about it, corner us on a slow night.

One of the most often-butchered rum drinks, and a true classic, is the Mai Tai. When made properly, it's an earthy, nutty, bitter gem. When butchered, it's sickly sweet and boring.

A great overview of several mai tai recipes can be found over at Andrew Bohrer's blog, Cask Strength. If you want to simply geek about rum for hours, head over to Matt Robold's Rum Dood blog.

These guys are the real deal. Check them out.

Additionally, Andrew posts a recipe for his take on a Mai Tai without any rum, called Elena's Virtue.

1 ounce Amaro Nonino

 .5 ounce Amaro Montenegro

.5 ounce fresh lime juice

.25 ounce Tuaca

.25 ounce Luxardo Amaretto

Shake ingredients and strain over finely crushed ice. Garnish with an orange zest, basil, and .25 ounce of hickory-smoke infused Ramazzotti.