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