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.
If you spend any time drinking with any of us, you'll quickly realize we're crazy huge fans of amari. When we find people we deem potential converts, we'll do anything we can to put a glass of Fernet Branca, Cynar, or Ramazzotti in their gullet.
For the uninitiated, an amaro (pl. amari) is a bitter, herbal liqueur, most often consumed after a large meal to aid in digestion. They are mainly consumed and produced in Europe and flavors vary greatly between brands, the defining factor being bitterness often derived from various combinations of gentian, quinine and many other roots and barks.
We are doing our best to work with the State of Maine and multiple distributors in the region to make more amari available to us at the Club (and you), but currently the selection is thin. Which is why we were so surprised to find Underberg available at one of our favorite stores in the state, Morse's Sauerkraut & Deli in Waldoboro. Make the trip out there for awesome pickles, sauerkraut and sausage, and be sure to grab a pack of Underberg or two while you're at it.
