Beach, Wedding, and Mai Tais

What a wonderful weekend I had!  Not only was it my first wedding of the season, but I got to photograph a truly wonderful couple who’s love and laughter was contagious!  I couldn’t have asked for better weather either.  After last weekends freak snow which was then followed by a week of gloom, I was little worried.

The hubs, dog, and I all packed in the car Friday evening and headed down to Southern Maryland to a little town called Lusby.  Since I already had to make the 3 hour trek to photograph this wedding we figured, what the heck?  Let’s make a weekend out of it and go ‘off the beaten path’ to a little eclectic cabin right next to the beach.

After shooting a wedding, I’ve found the perfect cure for a tired body and achy feet.  Beach sunsets.  Could it get any more perfect then this?

The answer is yes!  Yes, it can!  What is the miracle after wedding cure you might ask? Well sit down, relax, and mix yourself up a fun fruity drink of course! Now for those who knew my grams, she wasn’t much of a drinker, but she sure was a partier.  She had a roomful of just party decorations, linens, table settings, and serving dishes.  No lie.  Like… you literally could probably plan 100 different themed parties with all the items in my gram’s backroom. There’s a whole space her cookbook dedicated to drinks and I figured, what the heck? It’s been a long day, let’s sip on something cold and enjoy the weather.  Right?

Flipping through gram’s notes, this recipe for Mai Tai’s stood out to me.  Not because it’s a Mai Tai… but because it’s unlike any Mai Tai recipe I have ever seen.  This thing could seriously take the paint off a car.  So.. using the hubs as my taste tester, we started out with the base recipe (pictured below) and made our own modifications to make it ‘more fun sipping’ drink and less ‘my whole body is on fire’ drink.

Full disclosure, I was also very ill-prepared for drink making.  We didn’t have a jigger (a bartending tool used to measure liquor).  So, I used a rough estimation figuring a shot is 1.5 fluid ounces and this little bowl was a shot’s worth and went from there.  So don’t judge.  I know.. not 100% scientific by any standards… but seriously, this is a good freaking drink once it’s toned down some.  That is of course.. if you like rum.  If you don’t, move on lol, this is NOT for you.

Gram’s Mai Tai Recipe:

• 1 oz light rum
• 1/2 oz orange curacao
• 2 oz sweet & sour bar mix (gram’s originally called for a splash but it definitely needs a little more ‘non-alcohol’)
• 3 oz pineapple juice (again, gram’s originally called for a splash, but you need something to cut all the alcohol, otherwise we’re getting into shot territory)
• 1/2 lime’s juice
• 1 oz dark rum (floated, meaning carefully poured on the top to keep the liquors separated)
• Ice for 12-16 oz glass

Pour first four ingredients over ice.  Squeeze half a lime into drink.  Stir until combined.  Float dark rum on top of drink (if you’re not a strong drink lover, you could also skip this step and just enjoy drink as is). Garnish with lime.  Sip, absorb the sunshine and enjjjooy.  Num num.

To ‘float’ liquor, a lot of people spoon it in carefully.  We aimed for the ice on the top and slowly poured it in.

Photography and writing by:

Alysha Yoder Photography

(b) www.alyshayoderphotoblog.com  www.alyshayoderphoto.com

(e) alyshayoderphoto@yahoo.com (p) 610.762.7810