kon-tiki mai tai

1 1/2 oz Appleton Extra Rum (Appleton V/X)
1 1/4 oz Gold Puerto Rican Rum (Don Q Cristal)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Orange Juice (Cara Cara)
3/4 oz Honey Syrup
1/4 tsp Ginger Syrup (2 thin slices fresh ginger)
6 drop Absinthe (Herbsaint)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Blend with 4 oz crushed ice for 5 seconds (shake with ice and strain over crushed ice). Garnish with mint sprigs and a pineapple spear.

A few Fridays ago, Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari called out to me as the night cap-worthy cocktail book. The drink that won out was the Mai Tai created at the Kon-Tiki Restaurant in Cleaveland, Ohio, around 1961. Unlike the classic Mai Tai created by Trader Vic, this one is more of a riff on Don the Beachcomber's Mai Tai that later morphed into the Zombie; Ted Kilpatrick at No. 9 Park played around with that recipe to concoct the Mai Tai Swizzle which also follows this other-Mai Tai formula.
The Kon-Tiki Mai Tai began with a mint aroma that preceded a lime and orange sip. The swallow offered darker rum notes along with complementary spice flavors including ginger, allspice, clove, and anise.