Mai Tai
The Quirky Foodster Team
Ingredients
- Aged rum — 30 ml (1 oz)
- Rhum agricole or overproof rum — 30 ml (1 oz)
- Orange curaçao — 15 ml (1/2 oz)
- Orgeat (almond syrup) — 15 ml (1/2 oz)
- Fresh lime juice — 22.5 ml (3/4 oz)
Method
- Add all ingredients to a shaker with crushed ice.
- Shake briefly to combine and chill.
- Pour unstrained (with ice) into a rocks glass.
- Garnish with a mint sprig and the spent lime shell.
Description: A foundational tiki cocktail blending two rum styles with orgeat, curaçao and lime for a rich, layered drink.
Cultural Background: Created by "Trader" Vic Bergeron in Oakland, California, in 1944, though rival tiki pioneer Don the Beachcomber also claimed authorship of an earlier, different Mai Tai.
Tips: The rum blend matters enormously — a good funky Jamaican or agricole rum makes a real difference over a single neutral rum.
Variations: Bergeron's original called for a 17-year-old Jamaican rum, long since discontinued — most bars now blend two accessible rums to approximate it.
Serving Suggestion: Serve over crushed ice, unstrained, as the tiki tradition intends.
Nutrition: Approx. 220 kcal per serving
FAQs:
Q: Who really invented it?
A: Trader Vic Bergeron is most widely credited, though Don the Beachcomber's competing claim remains a long-running tiki-history dispute.
- Aged rum — 30 ml (1 oz)
- Rhum agricole or overproof rum — 30 ml (1 oz)
- Orange curaçao — 15 ml (1/2 oz)
- Orgeat (almond syrup) — 15 ml (1/2 oz)
- Fresh lime juice — 22.5 ml (3/4 oz)
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