See below: Our Chocolate Snowflake review | Tribute recipe
Related: Mai-Kai cocktail guide
In the mood for an after-dinner drink that’s very non-traditional, or simply an alternative to straight-up ice cream? Look no further than The Mai-Kai’s Chocolate Snowflake.
It’s one of the classic Polynesian restaurant’s two ice cream drinks (along with the vanilla-flavored Mai-Kai Blizzard) on an otherwise classic cocktail menu. But don’t be fooled into thinking this is something akin to a T.G.I. Friday’s milkshake with a little rum added.
The Snowflake contains the same high-quality rums and liquors as any other cocktail, and also perhaps a house-made ice cream as well. To make our tribute recipe below, you’ll need your own ice-cream maker. But the ability to make these two great after-dinner treats alone justifies the purchase of such an appliance.
The official menu description
Chocolate Snowflake
A cool, creamy blend of rums, ice cream, mocha flavors and spices.
Okole Maluna Society review and rating
The Chocolate Snowflake. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward, March 2011)
Size: Medium
Potency: After dinner
Flavor profile: Mocha and chocolate ice cream with a nice little rum kick.
Review: A decadent dessert drink, much like a spiked chocolate milkshake.
Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars (see how it ranks)
Ancestry: Along with the Mai-Kai Blizzard, one of the two ice-cream drinks on the dessert menu that veer away from classic cocktail conventions. Neither were on the original 1956 menu but were likely added later to enhance the dessert menu.
Bilge: Since chocolate is typically associated with love and romance, a pair of Snowflakes makes a nice Valentine’s Day treat (see photo below).
Agree or disagree? Share your reviews and comments below!
Chocolate Snowflake tribute by The Atomic Grog, February 2012. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward)
Tribute to the Chocolate Snowflake
By The Atomic Grog
* Fresh-churned soft-serve chocolate ice cream
* Equal parts Kahlua and gold rum to taste
Stir in the Kahlua and rum with the freshly-made ice cream. Enjoy immediately.
Notes and tips for home mixologists
* Like our tribute to the Mai-Kai Blizzard, we found that the Chocolate Snowflake is perfectly suited to fresh soft-serve out of our new ice-cream maker.
* The menu description touts “rums, ice cream, mocha flavors and spices” but we were able to approximate the taste with a high quality gold rum and Kahlua, which adds the necessary mocha and spicy notes. We tried strong coffee instead of the Kahlua but the flavor wasn’t intense enough.
* Don’t over-do the liquors. A ratio of about 4-to-1 ice cream to booze works well. We prepared 5-ounce cocktails with around 1/2 ounce each of Kahlua and rum. Feel free to add more if you’re in an amorous mood.
Okole maluna!
This is one of my wife’s favorite Mai Kai drinks!