Recipes

Classic Recipe No. 107 —

Trader Vic’s Mai Tai

It’s get­ting hot out, so I’m shak­ing up a Trad­er Vic’s Mai Tai. Before I get into the recipe there are a few things we should prob­a­bly dis­cuss first. The Mai Tai comes with its fair share of drama.

First, this clas­sic cock­tail has been slaugh­tered so many times that most patrons would­n’t rec­og­nize the clas­sic ver­sion if you put it down in front of them. You know what I’m talk­ing about. That neon pink con­coc­tion dom­i­nat­ed by bot­tled pre-mix­es, canned pineap­ple juice and an umbrel­la. Yeah, noth­ing like the classic.

Then there’s the age old argu­ment regard­ing who was the orig­i­nal inven­tor of the Mai Tai. Some say Don the Beach­comber and some say Trad­er Vic. If you want to read more about the his­to­ry of the Mai Tai go here. I’d rather drop all the dra­ma and get to the part where we make this time-hon­ored drink.

RECIPE

  • 1 oz amber Mar­tinique rum
  • 1 oz dark Jamaican rum
  • 1 oz fresh lime juice
  • 1/2 oz orgeat syrup
  • 1/2 oz of Cointreau
  • gar­nish with mint (a lime if you like)

Add all ingre­di­ents to a cock­tail shak­er, except the gar­nish. Shake and strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Gar­nish with fresh mint and a lime if you fan­cy that. You can also float some dark rum on top of the cocktail.

Recipe by Trader Vic’s, circa 1944

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