Mai Tai (Trader Vic’s)
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 18.8% ABV ∙
The Mai Tai (Trader Vic’s) is a tiki cocktail of aged rum, orange curaçao, lime, and orgeat, shaken and served over crushed ice.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Caribbean aged rum 60 mlOrange curaçao liqueur 15 mlLime juice 20 mlOrgeat (almond) syrup 10 mlSugar syrup 10 ml
- Strain into the glass filled with crushed ice
- Garnish with a lime twist, a mint sprig and a fruit skewer
Tips
- A full-flavored aged rum matters here; a flat, light one leaves the drink thin and lets the orgeat run sweet.
- Taste before you add all 10 ml of sugar syrup; a robust rum needs less of it than a mellow one.
History
The Mai Tai is credited to Victor Jules Bergeron — Trader Vic — who opened his first restaurant in Oakland, California in 1934 and built his reputation on rum drinks. By his own account in his 1972 Bartender's Guide, he mixed the drink in 1944 at his Oakland service bar using seventeen-year-old J. Wray & Nephew Jamaican rum. He served it to Tahitian friends Ham and Carrie Guild, and Carrie's exclamation "mai tai-roa aé" — Tahitian for "out of this world" — gave it its name.
Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, better known as Donn Beach, founder of Don the Beachcomber's, also claimed to have created it, and the origin remains disputed. Bergeron carried the drink to Hawaii in 1953 for the Matson Steamship Lines hotels, where it spread widely.
FAQ
What's in a Trader Vic's Mai Tai?
60 ml aged Caribbean rum, 15 ml orange curaçao, 20 ml lime juice, 10 ml orgeat (almond) syrup, and 10 ml sugar syrup.
Did Trader Vic's invent the Mai Tai?
By his own account, yes. Victor Bergeron, Trader Vic, said he created it in 1944 in Oakland and defended the claim fiercely. Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt of Don the Beachcomber's also claimed it, so the origin is disputed, though Bergeron's version is the most widely repeated.
What is the best rum for a Mai Tai?
A full-flavored aged Caribbean rum. Trader Vic's original used a seventeen-year-old Jamaican rum, and many bartenders blend an aged Jamaican rum with another aged rum. A light, mild rum gets lost, and the orgeat then makes the drink too sweet.
Is a Mai Tai shaken or stirred?
Shaken. The lime, orgeat, and sugar need a hard shake to mix and chill. It is then strained over crushed ice, which keeps chilling and diluting the drink.
What glass is a Mai Tai served in?
A double old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice, garnished with a lime twist, a mint sprig, and a fruit skewer.
