mai ta-ipa

2 oz Cruzan Aged Rum
1 1/2 oz Ninkasi IPA Beer
1 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz B.G. Reynolds Orgeat
1/2 oz Bols Triple Sec

Shake with ice and strain into an ice filled Collins glass. Garnish with a cherry and a cocktail umbrella (he was out when he made mine), and add a straw.

For my last drink at Metrovino in Portland, I asked bartender Jacob Grier for one of his famous beer cocktails. After he named off two, I stopped him and asked for the beer-laden Mai Tai variation called the Mai Ta-IPA. His rationale for mixing in the beer was to add a hint of bitterness from the hops to the classic Mai Tai which is more of a sweet-sour drink. While Jacob sometimes makes this drink with a split of aged and white rums, here he made it with a lighter bodied aged one.
Whatever housemade cherry recipe Metrovino uses paid generously in the aroma department where it joined the beer's hops. The lime and malt sip was chased by sweet hoppy beer, rum, almond, and orange liqueur flavors on the swallow. Indeed, the addition of beer to the classic IPA added an intriguing effect -- both lightening the body while contributing bitter notes for contrast.