I found myself in the Merchant Hotel in Belfast recently. It's a very fine hotel indeed. I'm tempted to say that it's posh and elegant and opulent and splendid and sumptuous and swank because it's all of those things, but there's something special about the Merchant that makes you forget that you're in a highfalutin joint - the atmosphere there is just about as down home and friendly as you'll find in any neighborhood tavern. You tend to forget your surroundings and just get on with having a great time when you're in the bar there.
On my third evening in Belfast I arrived at the Merchant's bar to meet up with my cousin and his son, who had popped over to Belfast from England to hang out with me for a few days; an old friend from New York was there and a few newfound Belfast bartender types were in attendance, too. I was about to order my usual Manhattan when Sean Muldoon, the beverage manager at the Merchant, suggested that I have a mai tai instead.
I had a mai tai the likes of which you won't find anywhere else in the world. It was whipped up for me by Jack McGarry, a splendid specimen of a Belfast bartender. The drink was heavenly. Just heavenly.
What makes the mai tai at the Merchant Hotel so special? Well, for a start, they charge 750 pounds sterling for it. Call it 1,500 bucks. Why? Because the Merchant Hotel is the only bar in the world that has a bottle of the original 17-year-old J. Wray & Nephew rum that Victor J. "Trader Vic" Bergeron used when he created the drink in 1944.
I doubt that many of you will be dashing off to Belfast to buy yourself one of these mai tais, though if you find yourself in that part of the world I highly recommend that you stop in at the Merchant Hotel. But to save you the trouble of going to the bar for a drink, here's a mai tai recipe, based on the original, that you can make at home.
I chose rums that, when mixed, come close to replicating the powerful punch, and the soft vanilla notes, of the original bottling that Trader Vic used, and instead of curacao, I went for Grand Marnier - the rich sweetness in this liqueur negates you having to make the rock-candy syrup that Bergeron called for in his recipe. Orgeat, an almond syrup with rosewater accents, isn't the easiest thing in the world to find, but nor is it impossible - Torani makes a good bottling that can be found via any decent search engine.
One question did come to mind as I left the bar that night. What's a fair tip on a $1,500 cocktail?
Mai tai
Makes 1 drink
1 1/2 ounces 10 Cane rum
1/2 ounce J. Wray & Nephew overproof rum
1/2 ounce Grand Marnier
3/4 ounce orgeat syrup
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1 mint sprig, for garnish
On my third evening in Belfast I arrived at the Merchant's bar to meet up with my cousin and his son, who had popped over to Belfast from England to hang out with me for a few days; an old friend from New York was there and a few newfound Belfast bartender types were in attendance, too. I was about to order my usual Manhattan when Sean Muldoon, the beverage manager at the Merchant, suggested that I have a mai tai instead.
I had a mai tai the likes of which you won't find anywhere else in the world. It was whipped up for me by Jack McGarry, a splendid specimen of a Belfast bartender. The drink was heavenly. Just heavenly.
What makes the mai tai at the Merchant Hotel so special? Well, for a start, they charge 750 pounds sterling for it. Call it 1,500 bucks. Why? Because the Merchant Hotel is the only bar in the world that has a bottle of the original 17-year-old J. Wray & Nephew rum that Victor J. "Trader Vic" Bergeron used when he created the drink in 1944.
I doubt that many of you will be dashing off to Belfast to buy yourself one of these mai tais, though if you find yourself in that part of the world I highly recommend that you stop in at the Merchant Hotel. But to save you the trouble of going to the bar for a drink, here's a mai tai recipe, based on the original, that you can make at home.
I chose rums that, when mixed, come close to replicating the powerful punch, and the soft vanilla notes, of the original bottling that Trader Vic used, and instead of curacao, I went for Grand Marnier - the rich sweetness in this liqueur negates you having to make the rock-candy syrup that Bergeron called for in his recipe. Orgeat, an almond syrup with rosewater accents, isn't the easiest thing in the world to find, but nor is it impossible - Torani makes a good bottling that can be found via any decent search engine.
One question did come to mind as I left the bar that night. What's a fair tip on a $1,500 cocktail?
Mai tai
Makes 1 drink
1 1/2 ounces 10 Cane rum
1/2 ounce J. Wray & Nephew overproof rum
1/2 ounce Grand Marnier
3/4 ounce orgeat syrup
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1 mint sprig, for garnish
Instructions: Fill a cocktail shaker two-thirds full of ice and add both rums, Grand Marnier, orgeat syrup and lime juice. Shake for approximately 15 seconds, strain into a crushed-ice-filled old-fashioned glass, and add the garnish.
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