Post #158691 by freddiefreelance on Fri, May 13, 2005 1:51 PM

I've seen taste testing of the Rums & Liquors used Mai Tai recipes, but what of the other parts of the drink?

I see several people noted the differences in taste between different limes, and that Dr. Z suggested fresh squeezing to extract some essensial oils from the peel, but I wanted to expand on some of the different limes & methods of squeezing.

On the different types of limes, I found a list from Professor & Horticulturalist Julian W. Sauls of Texas A & M:

Mexican lime is also known as key lime and West Indian lime. It originated in Asia, was introduced to the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa by Arab traders and was brought to the Americas during the early sixteenth century by Spanish and Portugese explorers. It became naturalized in the West Indies, south Florida and some Caribbean countries.

The tree is somewhat small and bushy, with slender branches, having short spines (thorns). A thornless selection is somewhat more desirable but less productive. The fruit is small, rarely achieving 2 inches in size, round to oval in shape, and contains a moderate number of polyembryonic seeds. The rind is thin and yellow at full maturity, while the juice is faintly greenish yellow, highly acid and has the distinctive lime aroma.

Tahiti lime is also called Bearss lime and Persian lime. Although its exact origin is unknown, it appeared in a home planting is California about 1875 and is believed to have originated from seed of citrus fruit imported from Tahiti to San Francisco sometime after 1850. It is also believed to be of hybrid origin.

The tree is somewhat larger than Mexican lime, achieving heights of 20 feet under optimum conditions. The branches are variably thornless or armed with quarter-inch thorns--even on the same tree. The fruit is oval, about 2.75 inches long and up to 2.5 inches in diameter, but it will get even larger if left too long on the tree. It is characterized by the presence of a nipple on the blossom end of the fruit. The rind is thin, smooth and dark green at commercial maturity, becoming very light green to yellow at full maturity. The fruit is normally entirely seedless, although one or two seeds may occur when grown in close proximity to other citrus. The juice is greenish and acidic, having the distinctive lime aroma.

Giant key lime was released by ARS-USDA in 1994. It is a spontaneous autotetraploid Key lime seedling that was selected in 1973. The major difference in this lime is that its fruit are more than twice the size of common Mexican limes. Budwood is not available in Texas, so it is only reported as an item of interest for the future.

Rangpur lime is an acidic fruit that more closely resembles mandarins than limes. Its fruit are highly acid, very seedy, with a loose, thin rind. It is primarily used as a rootstock for other citrus and as an ornamental tree.

Palestine sweet lime is not a true lime. Its fruit are pale yellow, juicy and subacid in flavor. Its primary use is as a rootstock, although there is some production in the Mediterranean, in India and in Latin America.

Limequats such as 'Eustis', 'Lakeland' and 'Tavares' are hybrids between Mexican lime and kumquat. The fruit closely resembles Mexican lime and the trees are somewhat more cold hardy than limes--though not nearly so hardy as kumquats.

Mexican lime and the limequats are sufficiently small trees that they can be readily grown in large containers in areas where cold temperatures would preclude their being grown in the ground.

This doesn't mention Kaffir, also called Thai or Wild limes, or mention the difference between the original Key limes & the current, Mexican limes being grown in parts of the keys as Key limes. It also doesn't mention that the Kaffir & original Key limes were the only truely green limes, and that the rest are really more yellow unless picked before they're ripe. One of the reasons that you don't get much juice from a lime is that they're under-ripe when picked.

Is there a way to collect a number of these different limes & test the difference they make in Mai Tais? I'd assume that Trader Vic was using either original Key limes or green Mexican limes, since they're the most popular limes in the US, but Bearss limes are a definite possibility since they trace their lineage to San Francisco. There's also the Australian lime, but that isn't related to the true limes.

To get more of the juice of the lime from the fruit, roll the fruit between your hand & the counter ot bartop before slicing it. If you want to get some of the essential oils from the rind when squeezing the fruit you'll want to either squeeze the lime in your hand or use a clamping-type mechanical juicer. A reamer or press-down hand juicer will squeese the rind less & get less oils from the skin.

Next, Mint: when people say "Mint" they usually mean Spearmint, has anyone tried making a Mai Tai with Pineapple Mint, Grapefruit Mint or Apple Mint? All three of these are versions of Apple mint (the same Mint that they use for Apple Mint Jelly) and have less menthol in them but finer flavors. Most of the other mints are too strong, although if you're drinking your Mai Tai through a straw the stronger mint scent of a Peppermint or Japanese Peppermint might be preferable.

And Pineapples for garnish, or (if you like them that way) juice: Most of the Pineapples & Pineapple juice found in the US is from the Del Monte Gold, a variety of the Cayanne Pineapple, the sweetest of the pineapple breeds available in the US, but you might find the tarter Spanish Red in Florida and the Carribean. There's also a Mexican breed called Sugar Loaf that isn't usually found in the US due to it's lack of shipability, but it's supposed to be delicious. Some of the other, lesser grown breeds of Pineapple are Hilo, St. Michael, Natal Queen, and Pernambuco.

Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Freelance, Ph.D., D.F.S

[ Edited by: freddiefreelance on 2005-05-13 13:53 ]