The Holiday Mai Tai

How else would you celebrate the life and work of Tropical Modernist Geoffrey Bawa? This cocktail arrived in my inbox this week from Peter Suderman who has a fantastic substack called Cocktails With Suderman.   Given that both Minette De Silva and Geoffrey Bawa were working in similar but slightly different styles of Tropical Modernism and both were from Sri Lanka, it makes sense for Geoffrey’s cocktail to be based on the same classic cocktail as Minette’s; the Mai Tai, albeit with a seasonal twist. The liqueur St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram adds a note of holiday spice to the normally floral Mai Tai, converting the summer classic into a winter warmer.

A cinnamon stick which is native to Sri Lanka makes the perfect stir stick and holiday spice garnish. We've adapted the recipe slightly, by reducing the amount of orange liqueur because as readers know, we prefer our cocktails booze forward here at the modernist's guide. If you prefer your cocktail less boozy and more balanced then double the amount of orange liqueur. We also used a combination of Arrack, a white rum from Indonesia and a dark aged Jamaican rum for a more tropical flavor. Did you miss the post on Minette de Silva, you can find it here. You can find the post on Geoffrey Bawa here.

Recipe:

• 1 tsp. St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram

• 1/2 oz. Orgeat

• 1/4 oz. Orange liqueur (like Cointreau)

• 1 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice

• 2 oz. Rum ( 1oz. Arrack + 1 oz. aged dark rum)

Combine all ingredients except the Allspice Dram, into a shaker with ice to chill and combine. Strain shaker into a cocktail glass filled with crushed ice. Add a float of Allspice Dram to the top and then add grated nutmeg. Garnish with a cinnamon stick. Cheers!