the real mai tai.. not pink and orange?!

nytimes

UM. NOT COMPLICATED AT ALL.

1 ounce light rum (I had great results with Banks’ 5 Island)
1 ounce gold rum (Appleton’s Estate Reserve, Zacapa, Clément V.S.O.P., El Dorado 12-year)
½ ounce orgeat syrup (recipe follows)
½ ounce orange Curaçao or Cointreau
Juice of 1 lime.

Combine ingredients in a shaker with crushed or cracked ice and shake vigorously. Pour, with shaken ice, into a double old-fashioned glass and garnish with the spent lime shell and a sprig of fresh mint. Some, who live large and dangerously, like to float an extra 1/2 ounce of dark rum atop it. Serves 1. Adapted from Trader Vic’s.

Homemade Orgeat Syrup

1.1 pounds blanched or toasted blanched almonds
1.5 pounds sugar (1/2 demerara, 1/2 white)
1 tablespoon orange-flower water
2 teaspoons almond extract.

Combine almonds with 11 ounces of water in a blender and blend briefly until uniformly but roughly chopped. Pour into a nonreactive bowl and add one liter of boiling water. Stir well and let stand for three hours. Line a sieve or chinois with overlapping layers of fine cheesecloth, arranging them in an X pattern and leaving a fair amount trailing over to grab hold of. Pour in the mixture and allow it to filter through, assisting with a wooden spoon if necessary. Fold up the ends of the cheesecloth carefully to trap the pulp in a bag and squeeze out the remaining liquid. (This is important, as the pulp retains a fair amount of emulsion.) Discard cheesecloth and pulp. Place emulsion mixture in a pan, add sugar and heat mildly through (140 degrees or less), stirring until sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Add orange-flower water and almond extract and funnel into a clean, capped bottle to refrigerate. Optionally you may add 2 or 3 ounces of vodka to the syrup, as a preservative. Yields about 1.6 liters.

Note: The syrup will separate after a short while. Simply shake it up again before using.

-nytimes