Mai tai means out of this world in Tahitian. The story goes that Trader Vic invented this tropical drink in 1944 for some visiting Tahitian friends. The drink highlights the flavor of rum with orange, lime, and almond notes. Donn the Beachcomber also invented a drink in Hollywood before he went to Oahu and started the International Marketplace.
For your mai tai get the best dark rum you can find. Goslings Black Seal is our favorite for dark rum. Make sure you choose a good quality dark rum (Appleton Dark, Kohala Bay, Myers’s) – and do not use spiced rum! Trader Vic’s original mai tai used lime juice as the fruit juice. In my recipe research, I found many versions with orange juice. In Hawaii, pineapple juice is used in most bars. My version uses all three juices!
You will need a liquid measuring cup (or jigger or tablespoon), crushed ice, and a small pitcher or cocktail shaker.
Add limeade, rum, triple sec, and amaretto to a container and mix. Use this for your liquor mix.
Tips: 1. You can improve the flavor by using 3 tbsp of fresh squeezed lime juice and 2 tbsp of simple syrup instead of limeade. 2. You can upgrade by replacing the triple sec with Cointreau or curaçao. 3. You can use orgeat syrup instead of Amaretto.
Fill a hurricane glass with crushed ice. Add 3 tbsp of the liquor mix. Add 3 tbsp of orange-pineapple juice. Top with a thin float of dark rum if desired.
Tip: This is a delicious and strong cocktail. You can add up to 3 additional tbsp. of orange-pineapple juice if needed.
Garnish with pineapple slice, lime wedge, and/or cherry. Makes 5 mai tais. Make mai tai cocktails – they are out of this world! Flavors include orange, pineapple, lime, almond, and rum. Mai tai is a classic exotic cocktail.
Nutrition for mai tai cocktail
Mai tai recipe makes 5 drinks at 138 calories each. Nutrition information is an approximate estimate.
Resource links for mai tai
- http://beachbumberry.com/recipes.html
- Cocktail recipes from Beachbum Berry
- http://www.donthebeachcomber.com/pages/about-us
- The story of Donn Beach
- http://www.killingtime.com/Pegu/2009/02/23/who-were-the-elders-of-tiki-trader-vic/
- Trader Vic from The Pegu Blog
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/theres-more-to-classic-tiki-than-just-kitsch-180964473/
- Tiki culture from Smithsonian
- https://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/11/diy-vs-buy-should-you-make-your-own-orgeat-syrup-cocktails-tiki-drinks.html
- Make your own orgeat from Serious Eats
Let’s talk story
We really love mai tais and it is our cocktail of choice when visiting Hawaii. One of our favorite adventures was a day-long trek down Waikiki from the Hilton Hawaiian Village to the Waikiki Aquarium. We tried mai tais all along the way (about 2 miles)! Here’s some of the best: Halekulani House Without a Key, Moana Surfrider Beach Bar, Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai Bar, Lulu’s, Hilton Hawaiian Village Tropics, Waikiki Beach Marriott Moana Terrace.
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