Alchemix Bar

Creating and Learning About Craft Cocktails

Plantation

Plantation Rum Mai Tai

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It’s Plantation Rum Week, and we make probably one of the most popular and well-known tropical rum cocktails, a Mai Tai. There are countless variations and rum options available, and today we chose to use 2 Plantation Rum offerings: their Isle of Fiji and Xaymaca rums. Watch to find out if splitting the liquor base with these two makes this tiki drink great, or if it falls short.

Plantation Rum Mai Tai
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Plantation Rum Mai Tai

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Carl Busch Course: BeverageCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

1

servings
Prep time

2

minutes
Cooking time

1

minute

Using one of our favorite rums, Plantation, to make a great classic cocktail. Combining two different ones gives this a great, unique taste.

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 ounce 1 Fresh Lime Juice

  • .25 ounce .25 Orgeat Syrup

  • .25 ounce .25 Demerara Syrup

  • .75 ounce .75 Dry Curacao

  • 1 ounce 1 Isle of Fiji Planation Rum

  • 1 ounce 1 Xaymaca Plantation Rum

Directions

  • Combine all ingredients into a shaking tin
  • Add ice
  • Shake for 15 seconds
  • Strain into rocks glass over ice
  • Garnish with lime wedge and sprig of mint

An Upgraded to the Painkiller Cocktail Recipe

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It is COLD here in Iowa. The negative temperatures and added wind chills have me wishing for warmer weather, a beach, and a nice cocktail. Since I can only have one of those things right now, I figured I could at least embrace the tropical spirit with a Painkiller.

I haven’t had great luck when I’ve ordered Painkillers in the past. I love all of the flavors individually and have always hoped the drink would be good. Still, I was disappointed time and time again.

But, I’ve had a lot of free time in the past year, so I decided to try to make my own. And WOW! What a drink

Upgraded Painkiller
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Upgraded Painkiller

0 from 0 votes
Recipe by Carl Busch Course: BeverageCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium
Servings

1

servings
Prep time

12

hours 
Cooking time

3

minutes

The Painkiller cocktail is an easy rum, tiki-style cocktail to enjoy anytime. Today, we give it an upgrade to make it boozier and a little less citrus forward.

Equipment

Ingredients

  • Coconut Fat Wash Gold Rum

  • 6 ounces 6 Gold Rum

  • 2 ounces 2 Melted Virgin, Unrefined Coconut Oil

  • Upgraded Painkiller

  • 3 ounces 3 Fresh Orange Juice

  • 1 ounce 1 Coconut Pineapple Puree

  • 1.5 ounces 1.5 Fat Washed Gold Rum

  • .5 ounce .5 Planation Pineapple Rum

Directions

  • Coconut Fat Wash Gold Rum
  • Place all ingredients into a mason jar and seal it
  • Shake vigorously
  • Place in freezer for 12 hours
  • Poke holes in the solid fat
  • Use a coffee filter and strain into a new container
  • Seal and store till ready to use
  • Upgraded Painkiller
  • Combine all ingredients into a tin
  • Add a few pebbles of ice
  • Whip shake until ice is melted
  • Pour over pebble ice in double rocks glass
  • 6 dashes of pineapple bitters
  • Garnish with an orange twist

The Painkiller I made was delicious! So, why were all of the ones I had tried before SO BAD?

I decided that it was probably a bad combination of store-bought juices and poor rum choice that made them so…mediocre.

So I figured I’d play around with the recipe and make a simple, upgraded version. My goal wasn’t to make the original cocktail better. Because it’s pretty awesome as is when you use fresh ingredients and a good rum. I just wanted to experiment with some of the elements and make a unique version of the drink.

My first choice was to reduce the amount of orange juice. I wanted this upgrade to be a little less citrusy and a little boozier. So I started with 3 ounces of OJ.

Then I set my sights on improving the pineapple component by using fresh pineapple. I cored the fruit and put it in our ninja blender with all of the expressed juice and 2 oz of homemade coconut cream.

After blending it all together, I had a great coconut and pineapple puree to add texture, flavor, and a little sweetness. I think this combination made my Painkiller less syrupy and added a lovely freshness to the cocktail.

Since I had reduced the amount of coconut by adding it to the pineapple puree, I needed to find a way to incorporate a little more into the drink.

What better way to add coconut than fat washing your spirit? I used a virgin, unrefined coconut oil to fat wash Bacardi Gold rum. In 6 ounces of the rum, I added 2 ounces of melted coconut oil and let that sit in the freezer for 12 hours. When I pulled it out, I used a coffee filter to strain out all of the hardened coconut oil and was left with a delightfully subtle coconut rum.

I also decided to use Plantation Pineapple rum and charred pineapple bitters to make the pineapple pop a little more.

This is an excellent alternative to the original Painkiller recipe.