My Mai Tai

Everyone has a different cocktail recipe for a Mai Tai. We prefer it Hawaiian style with pineapple juice. For that, again, we turn to the Trader Joe's juice isle. TJ's pineapple juice is so much better than buying those tiny cans that Dole offers (I wonder if the origin is the same).

We've been making a few Mai Tais lately and have been experimenting with the formula. The base rum is typically white but last night we made two with spiced rum (one with Sailor Jerry and the other with Tortuga). The result was great. Here's what we have thus far:

My Mai Tai:
Fill glass with ice.
Fill to 2/5 glass with white or spiced rum.
Fill to 1/2 glass with equal parts Amaretto and Triple Sec.
Trader Joe's Pineapple Juice to nearly full, leaving room for the floater.
Mix by stirring.
Float dark rum on the top to taste.

Bars always use Myer's for their dark rum. We picked up some dark Big Black Dick when we visited Grand Cayman a few years back. I'm sure you're all laughing up some joke right now so I'll leave that for you to comment!

Rrr! Pirate Tap Handle

Yet another good find on eBay. This wooden pirate figure was about $6 with shipping. Another $1.25 buys a threaded insert sized to fit the tap. Other tap handles can be quite expensive and making your own can give any home tap/draft system its own custom character.

The best part about this scurvy dog is that it looks like a good friend I like to call, Captain Dennis. He's a huge fan of a yearly pirate festival at Two Harbors on Catalina Island called Buccaneer Days. The festival takes place at the start of October and draws a large crowd to the island. The little town of Two Harbors teems with dirty pirates and skanky wenches, perfect for a weekend of drunken debauchery.

Somewhere in the mix, you'll find Captain Dennis firing off his canon and toasting, "Here's to you, here's to me, and may we never disagree, but if we do, fuck you! ...here's to me!"

We keep a collection of rum on our "top shelf" behind the kegerator for sipping and making our favorite pirate drinks. We keep Mount Gay, Extra Old in the decanter. To the left is rum direct from the Caribbean. Hmm, looks like we're out of our staple spiced rum, Sailor Jerry. I'm also a big fan of Captain Morgan's Private Reserve.

The most consumed rum drink is, by far, the Skinny Pirate!

Skinny Pirate:
Fill glass with ice.
Mostly spiced rum.
Splash of Diet Coke.
Mix with hooked hand.
Pillage at will.

La Jolla Ice Tea Cocktail

We crave cocktails! We have yet to find a perfect bartender in San Diego. Actually, I've yet to experience anywhere that I can depend on consistency, quality, and well-crafted cocktails. If you want a quality drink, you simply gotta make it yourself!

My wife and I shop Trader Joe's on a regular basis. They're our primary grocery store while most treat them as a specialty grocer. As far as alcohol is concerned, they have outstanding deals on spirits and wine (yes, they've got beer too though I rarely buy bottled beer), but what truly stands out is their juice isle. You heard that right, juice!

TJ's despises high fructose corn syrup and so, much of their juice is the real thing. When sugar is added, TJ's uses cane sugar rather than that syrup crap that plagues most juices and soft drinks. The result at TJ's is a myriad of juices suited for cocktails!

One day, I discovered the organic tea and lemonade and thought, "hmm, an Arnold Palmer would taste good about now, maybe with some vodka."

Got home and opened the liquor cabinet to make a new concoction with TJ's Organic Tea and Lemonade and the La Jolla Ice Tea was born. Here's the rough recipe:


La Jolla Ice Tea:
(I use visual proportions for mixing)

• Fill glass with ice cubes.
• Vodka (your choice) 1/5 glass full.
• Tommy Bahama White Rum to about 1/2 full.
• TJ's Organic Tea and Lemonade to just shy of a full glass.
• Mix well (or use a shaker).
  
• Float Grand Marnier on top.
• Mint garnish.