Mai Tai
The king of tiki.
Two rums, curaçao, orgeat and lime: the Mai Tai is the emblem of tiki culture. The original version has no tropical fruit juice, just a dry balance of aged rum, almond and citrus.
- IBA · Contemporary Classics
- Long drink
- Shaken
- Glass
- Rocks glass
- Method
- Shaken
- Strength
- Strong
- Time
- 4 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Ice
- Cubes
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
Jamaican rum
30 ml
-
Martinique molasses rum
30 ml
-
Orange curaçao
15 ml
-
Orgeat syrup
15 ml
-
Lime juice
30 ml
-
Simple syrup
7.5 ml
Garnish
- Pineapple spear
- Mint leaf
- Lime twist
Proportions
How to make
- Pour the Jamaican rum into the shaker.
- Add the Martinique rum.
- Add the curaçao.
- Add the orgeat syrup.
- Add the lime juice.
- Add the simple syrup.
- Fill the shaker with ice.
- Shake well.
- Pour everything, ice included, into a double rocks glass.
- Garnish with pineapple, mint and lime peel.
The story
Origins
ProbableA plausible account, without definitive proof.
The Mai Tai is generally credited to Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron, who said he created it in 1944 at the service bar of his restaurant in Oakland, California, using 17-year-old Wray & Nephew Jamaican rum, lime, curaçao, orgeat and rock candy syrup. By his account, he served it to his Tahitian friend Carrie Guild, who exclaimed "maita'i", meaning "good". The paternity is disputed, however: in 2002 Donn Beach's widow wrote that her husband had created a Mai Tai as early as 1933, though a very different drink. It spread from 1953, when it joined the menu of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki, giving rise to countless versions with pineapple juice.
Sources (3)
Taste profile
- Strong
- 4 out of 5
- Sweet
- 3 out of 5
- Sour
- 3 out of 5
- Fruity
- 3 out of 5