a cocktail created for a rum that sold out after two years
In a Glass
Ingredients: Rum, Triple Sec, Lime Juice, Orgeat
Taste: Sour, Spirit Forward, Topical, Tiki-ish
Alc. Strength: approx 25%
Garnish: Mint and Lime
Ice: Shaved/Crushed
Glass: Tumbler
The Recipe
4cl aged Rum
2cl Jamaican overproof Rum
1.5cl Triple Sec
2cl lime juice
1.5cl Orgeat
Glass: Tumbler
Ice: crushed ice
Garnish: Mint and Lime
Method:
Shake all ingredients with ice in a Shaker. Strain into a chilled tumbler glass over fresh crushed or shaved ice. Garnish with Lime and Mint.
The Taste
Definitely a Rum Forward drink, It was originally developed for a high-quality rum (J. Wray & Nephew 17y), which is why it leaves plenty of room for the rum to express itself. The Lime juice makes the experience lighter and fresher, the acidity is also a counterpart against the sweetness of the Triple Sec and Orgeat which brings in some almondy notes.
The History
The Story of the Mai Tai starts in 1944 in a Restaurant in Oakland, California. In any case, if one attributes the creation to Victor J. „Trader Vic“ Bergeron what nowadays most of the People do.
One Night Trader Vic was in his Restaurant with a Bottle of 17 years old J. Wray & Nephew in his hands and wanted to create a new Rum-based Cocktail. Because of the exclusivity of the Rum he added Lime, Triple Sec, Orgeat and Rock-Candy-Sirup but with the Goal to not cover the Rum.
Every new Cocktail creation needs to be tested so he handed the Drink to his Tahitian Friends Ham and Carrie Guild. „Mai Tai-Roa Ae“ is what Carrie shouted after she had tried, at least, that’s how the story is told by Bergeron. To make it simpler he took just Mai Tai as the name for his new cocktail. But what does „Mai Tai-Roa Ae“ mean? Analogously it means something like “out of this world”
As I mentioned at the beginning “In any case, if one attributes the creation to Victor J. „Trader Vic“ Bergeron” because the Story of Trader Vic is not undisputed. Also Donn the Beachcomber, one of the most important Tiki Bartenders claimed a connection to the origin.
Alleged did Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt first served this the Mai Tai in 1933 at his Don The Beachcomber’s bar in Hollywood, California, but with a different Recipe.
Today Trader Vics Recipe is more common and used in Bars, he is considered as inventor and creator of the Mai Tai.
Although it seems the Cocktail seems to come from Hawaii or an other tropical island, his actual birthplace is California. But it’s also part of Trader Vic’s work that so many people think the Mai Tai must come from Hawaii, because Bergeron went 1953 there with his version of the Mai Tai in his Backpack his drink was listed in different Bars like the Royal Hawaiian, Moana and Surfrider Hotels, through turism his Rum-cocktail went to a Symbol for Tiki and Exotic.
My Take
6cl Rum blend of your choice just add a little funk to it.
2cl Triple Sec
3cl lime juice
1cl Orgeat
Glass: Tumbler
Ice: crushed ice
Garnish: Mint and Lime
For a long time in my Bartender-Career i couldn’t understand Tiki Cocktails. The Mai Tai was the cocktail that made everything click for me and drew me further and deeper into the subject matter. It’s also the drink that got me into mixing different rums and rum styles in cocktails.
Trader Vic said once that he wanted to create a drink that is easy to make, with his basic ingredients. But it’s a wonderful one also to play around with different rums and their style.
Variants and relatives
Don’s Mai Tai
Jamaican Rum · White Rum · Triple Sec · Falernum ·
Lime · Grapefruit · Angostura
Island-Style Mai Tai
Your Mai Tai · any Fruit juice
If you like the Mai Tai, than maybe you have to try:
Scorpion
Rum · Brandy · Lime · Orange · Orgeat
Jet Pilot:
Rum · Lime · Grapefruit · Cinnamon · Falernum · Absinthe
Three Dots and a Dash:
Rum · Orange · Lime · Honey · Allspice
Some Facts just for Fun
The original recipe became problematic due to the drink’s success, as the 17-year-old J. Wray & Nephew rum used in it eventually became unavailable; the rum sold out sometime in 1946, about two years later.
In 2009, August 30 was officially declared “Mai Tai Day” in Oakland.
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