Mai Tai in a double old-fashioned glass with crushed ice, a lime twist, mint sprig, and fruit skewer

Mai Tai (Trader Vic’s)

Name: Mai Tai (Trader Vic’s)
Prep time: 3 min
Total time: 3 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: Caribbean aged rum — 60 ml (2 oz); Orange curaçao liqueur — 15 ml (1/2 oz); Lime juice — 20 ml (2/3 oz); Orgeat (almond) syrup — 10 ml (1/3 oz); Sugar syrup — 10 ml (1/3 oz)

Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 21.7% ABV ∙

The Trader Vic's Mai Tai is a shaken tiki classic of aged Caribbean rum, orange curaçao, lime, and orgeat, strained over crushed ice. Toasted almond and orange peel wrap around a deep rum backbone, with fresh lime cutting through before a long, warm finish.

Ingredients

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

Shake hard and fast so the orgeat emulsifies fully — a weak shake leaves it thin and separated.
Pre-chill the glass first; a warm glass melts the crushed ice fast and waters the drink down.
Express the lime twist over the top just before serving so its oils sit on the surface, not lost in the shake.

History

Trader Vic's version is the drink most often identified as the original Mai Tai. Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron said he mixed it in 1944 at his Oakland, California restaurant, Trader Vic's, building the drink around a bottle of aged 17-year-old J. Wray & Nephew Jamaican rum and finishing it with lime juice, orange curaçao, and orgeat. He served it to visiting Tahitian friends, Ham and Carrie Guild, and later wrote that Carrie's exclamation on tasting it, "Mai Tai - Roa Ae" (Tahitian for roughly "out of this world"), gave the drink its name. When the 17-year-old Jamaican rum ran out, Bergeron reworked the formula with a blend of Jamaican and Martinique rums, the version that spread through his restaurant chain and later recipe books.

The Mai Tai's authorship has long been disputed: Don the Beachcomber's founder, Donn Beach, said he had already created a similar drink years earlier and that Bergeron's version echoed his own Q.B. Cooler. A 1970s trademark dispute over the name was ultimately settled in Bergeron's favor on the strength of affidavits from the Guilds. This Trader Vic's build is the lineage most bars and later published recipes trace back to, distinguishing it from Don the Beachcomber's more elaborate, differently flavored rival formula.

FAQ

How do you make a Trader Vic's Mai Tai?

Shake aged Caribbean rum, orange curaçao, lime juice, orgeat, and sugar syrup hard with ice, then strain into a glass packed with crushed ice. Finish with a lime twist, a mint sprig, and a fruit skewer. The result is about 21.7% ABV, so it drinks strong despite the fruity garnish.

What is in a Trader Vic's Mai Tai?

Aged Caribbean rum, orange curaçao liqueur, fresh lime juice, orgeat (almond syrup), and sugar syrup, shaken together and strained over crushed ice. It is garnished with a lime twist, mint sprig, and fruit skewer, and comes in at roughly 247 calories per serving.

What is a classic Mai Tai recipe?

The classic Mai Tai, created by Trader Vic, is aged rum, orange curaçao, lime juice, and orgeat, shaken and served over crushed ice; this recipe follows that build closely, adding a touch of sugar syrup alongside the orgeat for extra sweetness.