The Mai Tai is what tiki cocktails are supposed to taste like before the 1970s ruined them. Aged rum, white rum, orange curacao, orgeat, fresh lime. No pineapple juice. No grenadine. No little paper umbrella by default. Just five well-balanced ingredients shaken hard and poured over crushed ice.

It was invented at Trader Vic’s in Oakland, California, in 1944. Vic Bergeron mixed the drink for two friends from Tahiti, who reportedly took one sip and said ‘mai tai roa ae,’ which translates roughly to ‘out of this world, the best.’ Vic kept the name. The drink became the headline of every tiki bar from then onwards.

Then the 1970s happened. Bottled Mai Tai mix appeared, neon orange and tasting of corn syrup. Hotel chains started serving them with pineapple juice and grenadine and a paper umbrella. By 1985 most people thought a Mai Tai was a frozen orange slushie. The drink had been kidnapped from itself.

The original recipe survived in a few craft tiki bars (Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco, Trader Vic’s still going) and has been making a comeback since the 2010s. Made properly, it is one of the great rum cocktails: complex, balanced, slightly nutty from the orgeat, just sweet enough.

Scotty Boxa

Mai Tai Cocktail

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Aged rum, white rum, orange curacao, orgeat, fresh lime. Tiki's most famous cocktail, pre-blender era, served over crushed ice with a mint sprig.

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Prep Time 4 minutes mins

Total Time 4 minutes mins

Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x?

• ▢ 1 oz Aged rum dark Jamaican rum traditionally
• ▢ 1 oz White rum
• ▢ 1/2 oz Orange curacao or triple sec
• ▢ 1/2 oz Orgeat syrup almond syrup
• ▢ 1 oz Fresh lime juice
• ▢ Crushed ice
• ▢ Fresh mint sprig to garnish
• ▢ Lime shell reserved from juicing, for garnish

Instructions

 

Shake:

1. ▢
   Combine both rums, orange curacao, orgeat, and fresh lime juice in a cocktail shaker with ice.
2. ▢
   Shake hard for 10 to 15 seconds.

Pour and garnish:

1. ▢
   Strain into a double rocks glass or tiki mug filled with crushed ice.
2. ▢
   Place a spent lime shell upside-down in the drink. Tuck a fresh mint sprig into it. Slap the mint to release the oil before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 230kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 0.3gFat: 0.5gSodium: 0.02mgSugar: 15g

Notes

The original 1944 Trader Vic recipe used 17-year-old Jamaican rum. That bottle does not exist anymore. Use a quality aged rum (Appleton 12, Smith and Cross) and you are honouring the spirit of the drink.

Orgeat is almond syrup. Without it you do not have a Mai Tai, you have a daiquiri with extra steps. Order from a craft cocktail shop or make your own.

NEVER use the bottled red 'Mai Tai mix.' It is artificial colouring and corn syrup and it ruins the drink. Real Mai Tais are amber-coloured, not bright orange.

Servings: 1 cocktail

Calories: 230

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Tips That Actually Matter

• Real orgeat, not flavoured syrup. Orgeat is almond syrup with orange flower water. The cheap bottled stuff is just sweet-and-fake. Spend the money.
• Aged rum + white rum, not just one. The combination is what gives the drink its complexity. Single-rum Mai Tais are flat.
• Lime shell + mint slap. Reserve the spent lime half from juicing, drop it cup-side-down into the ice. Slap the mint between your palms before tucking it in. The aromatics make the drink.