Some of our earliest adventures out of the house during lockdown were a few socially- distanced camping excursions with trusted friends. On one trip, I decided to create Mai Tais for a crowd from a great recipe for various big-batch tiki recipes I found on the Lost Tiki Lounge website. The tricky issue here is that proportions don’t scale linearly, as some ingredients (e.g. bitters or strong syrups like orgeat & ginger) are amplified as they increase. I suggest using 1/2 the amount of these types of ingredients, testing and tasting as you go to avoid going overboard. I break the recipe up into the base (spirits themselves) that we can be mixed well in advance. Next up are the “small but potent” elements like syrup and aromatics which I bottle separately. Finally, there’s the citrus, which ideally you would squeeze to order, but can get away with extracting a few hours ahead of time and bottling on ice until ready to serve. You can use a combination of different of rums here, but the best approximation of the original

Mai Tai for a Crowd

Spirit Rum

Cocktail family Tropical

Flavors

Makes

1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 24 oz Denizen Merchant Reserve Blended Rum
• 6 oz Pierre Ferrand Orange Curaçao
• 12 oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
• 6 oz Orgeat
• 3 oz Simple Syrup

Method

• Any time in the week leading up to your event, mix “base” ingredients (rum and curacao) in a large container, decant into bottles, and store in the fridge.
• Pour “small but potent” ingredients (Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice, orgeat) into a small jug, cover, and place in refrigerator.
• On the day of your event, squeeze limes as close to party time possible, bottling juice and storing in the fridge.
• Make sure you keep all your squeezed lime halves chilled for garnish.
• Ten minutes before guests arrive, take out lime halves, Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice, and pre-mixes, giving the bottles a good shake in the process.
• When serving, add 21/2 oz. of your “base” pre-mix, 3/4 oz. of the “small but potent” mix, and 1 oz. of Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice.
• Add ice and shake vigorously for 15-20 seconds.
• Strain into a double old-fashioned glass over crushed ice.
• Garnish with a sprig of (bruised) mint and drop in one of the lime halves.

Equipment

• Shaker
• Hawthorne Strainer

Glass

Rocks

Garnish

The single-serving recipe for Trader Vic’s classic of the tiki movement.

Mai Tai

Spirit Rum

Cocktail family Tropical

Flavors

Makes

1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 2 oz Denizen Merchant Reserve Rum
• 1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Orange Curaçao
• 1 oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
• 1/2 oz Orgeat
• 1/4 oz Simple Syrup

Method

• Combine all ingredients in tin, then whip- shake with a half-handful of crushed ice.
• Strain into a double old-fashioned glass or tiki mug over fresh crushed ice.
• Garnish with a sprig of (bruised) mint and drop in one of the lime halves.

Equipment

• Shaker
• Hawthorne Strainer

Glass

Rocks

Garnish

This version of the drink comes from San Francisco’s Smuggler’s Cove menu, updating a traditional recipe with bourbon that the 1873 Brooklyn Daily Eagle called it “the surest thing in the world to get drunk on” They weren’t wrong.

Jamaican Milk Punch

UnknownCaribbean1700s

Spirit Rum

Cocktail family Nog

Flavors Creamy · Rich

Makes

1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 oz Smith & Cross Overproof Rum
• 1 oz Whole Milk
• 1 oz Heavy Cream
• 1/2 oz 2:1 Demerara Syrup
• 6 drops Vanilla Extract
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters

Method

• Grated nutmeg for garnish Combine all ingredients and shake for 30 seconds.
• Strain into a double old-fashioned glass over fresh cracked ice.
• Grate a touch of fresh nutmeg over top.

Equipment

• Shaker
• Hawthorne Strainer

Glass

Rocks

Garnish

Humuhumunukunukuapua’a is a modern tropical cocktail created around 2014 by bartender Marcovaldo Dionysos at Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco. Named after Hawaii’s state fish—the reef triggerfish, The name roughly translates from Hawaiian to “triggerfish with a snout like a pig”—the drink stands out as a rare, gin-based addition to the modern Tiki revival canon.

Humuhumunukunukuapua’a

Marcovaldo DionysosSmuggler’s Cove – San Francisco2010s

Spirit Rum

Cocktail family Daisy · Smash

Flavors Fruity · Tart

Makes

1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 oz Plantation 3 Stars White Rum
• 1 oz Rhum Jm Vo Rum Agricole
• 3/4 oz Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
• 3/4 oz Unsweetened Pineapple Juice
• 1/2 oz Orgeat
• 2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

Method

• Add all ingredients to shaker with 8 oz.. crushed ice.
• Shake briefly and open pour into a double rocks glass.
• Garnish with a cherry.

Equipment

• Citrus Press
• Shaker

Glass

Rocks

Garnish

Cherry