Mai Tai (Trader Vic's)
4.5 490 ratings
Ingredients
How to make
Serve in a double old-fashioned
Prepare
- 1 Select and pre-chill a DOUBLE OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
- 2 Prepare garnish of half spent lime shell, mint sprigs and fruit stick (skewered pineapple cubes and Luxardo Maraschino Cherry).
Method
- 3 SHAKE first 5 ingredients with ice.
- 4 STRAIN into glass filled with crushed ice.
- 5 Optionally, FLOAT dark rum.
Garnish
- 6 Garnish with lime husk, mint sprigs bouquet and fruit stick.
Flavour profile
19.6% alc./vol. · 1.8 standard drinks · 291 calories
History
A Mai Tai is essentially a Daiquiri using aged rum, with orange curaçao and orgeat syrup adding flavour and sweetness. Trader Vic's Mai Tai is the undisputed king of Tiki cocktails and one of the most enduring vintage cocktails. However, like most classics, its origin is debated, and poor renditions have unfortunately damaged its reputation.
In 1934, Victor Jules Bergeron, known widely as Trader Vic, established his inaugural restaurant in Oakland, California. His establishment featured Polynesian cuisine, a blend of Chinese, French, and American dishes, all prepared using wood-fired ovens. However, Bergeron is most celebrated for his inventive rum-based cocktails, most notably the Mai Tai. The widely accepted account of the Mai Tai's creation dates to an evening in 1944. On this occasion, Bergeron presented a new cocktail to two friends visiting from Tahiti, Ham and Carrie Guild. Upon tasting the drink, Carrie is reported to have exclaimed, "mai tai-roa aé," a Tahitian phrase signifying "out of this world - the best!" It was from this reaction that Bergeron conceived and named the Mai Tai cocktail. However, claims to the origin of this beverage have also been made by others, notably Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt, who at the time owned a Hollywood establishment called Don the Beachcomber's. In his Bartender's Guide, Vic asserts, "Anybody who says I didn't create this drink is a dirty stinker." Further addressing the controversy surrounding its genesis, he elaborated in his 1972 publication, Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide Revised Edition: "There has been a lot of conversation over the beginning of the Mai Tai. And I want to get the record straight. I originated the Mai Tai. Many others have claimed credit. Some claim it was originated in Tahiti. All this aggravates my ulcer completely. The drink was never introduced by me into Tahiti except informally through our good friends, Estham and Carrie Guild. In 1944, after success with several exotic rum drinks, I felt a new drink was needed. I thought about all the really successful drinks: martinis, Manhattans, daiquiris... all basically simple drinks. I was at the service bar in my Oakland restaurant. I took down a bottle of seventeen-year-old rum. It was J. Wray Nephew from Jamaica - surprisingly golden in colour, medium bodied, but with the rich pungent flavour particular to the Jamaican blends. The flavour of this great rum wasn't meant to be overpowered with heavy additions of fruit juices and flavorings. I took a fresh lime, added some orange curaçao from Holland, a dash of rock candy syrup, and a dollop of French orgeat for its subtle almond flavour. I added a generous amount of shaved ice and shook it vigorously by hand to produce the marriage I was after. Half the lime shell went into each drink for colour; and I stuck in a branch of fresh mint. I gave the first two of them to Ham and Carrie Guild, friends of Tahiti, who were there that night. Carrie took one sip and said, "Mai Tai-Roa Aé." In Tahitian this means "Out of this world - the best." Well that was that. I named the drink "Mai Tai"." The cocktail achieved considerable popularity in California during the subsequent years, and its success extended to Seattle following the opening of Trader Vic's there in 1948. In 1953, Bergeron introduced the Mai Tai to the Hawaiian Islands. This occurred during his engagement with Matson Steamship Lines to develop standardized drinks for the bars at their Royal Hawaiian, Moana, and Surfrider hotels. Long-time residents of the islands can attest to the drink's widespread adoption and rapid proliferation throughout Hawaii. In 1954, the Mai Tai was further promoted when it was included among a selection of new beverages offered in a bar service for the American President Lines. It is presently estimated that several thousand Mai Tais are served daily in Honolulu alone; and the twenty Trader Vic's restaurants worldwide collectively sell considerably more. "Anybody who says I didn't create this drink is a dirty stinker." Trader Vic's original Mai Tai recipe utilized seventeen-year-old J. Wray & Nephew Jamaican rum, which he described in his book as possessing a "surprisingly golden in colour, medium-bodied, but with the rich, pungent flavour particular to the Jamaican blends." Bergeron's preparation specified "rock candy" syrup, a term referencing the rich sugar syrup composed of two parts sugar to one part water. The designation 'rock candy' relates to the practice of suspending a string in the syrup to encourage sugar crystallization and the formation of rock candy. Mai Tai (Trader Vic's original) 2 ounces seventeen-year-old J. Wray & Nephew Jamaica rum ½ ounce Holland deKuyper orange curacao ½ ounce French Garier orgeat ¼ ounce rock candy syrup Juice of 1 lime Hand-shake and then garnish with half of the lime shell inside the drink and float a sprig of fresh mint at the edge of the drink. The drink should be chilled nicely with a considerable amount of shaved ice in a 15-ounce glass
Created by Victor Bergeron A.K.A Trader Vic