The Mai Tai Cocktail

The Mai Tai is a very misunderstood cocktail. Many people think this is a tropical fruit juice cocktail, but the reality is that this is a very strong rum based drink. The confusion comes from a hotel in Hawaii that modified the original formula in the 1950's and added pineapple juice (often called a Maui Mai Tai), then someone added guava and orange juice and eventually the drink barely resembled the first incarnation. The classic recipe uses top quality rum and curacao* plus orgeat (pronounced: or-zat) and lime. A small amount of sugar can be added to balance the lime. The grenadine is strictly added for colour. The Mai Tai was created by Trader Vic.

The Mai Tai is recommended for people who like the flavour of rum. The cocktail should be thoroughly iced, crushed being best. The dark rum float, on the Mai Tai, can be any dark rum, such as Myers. Personally, I prefer Gosling Black Seal rum, but as with any cocktail, there is room for subtle adjustments. Using a quality orgeat is another important factor. If you can't locate good orgeat you can find a recipe for orgeat here.

If you are feeling adventurous try adding 1/2 oz of Bols Vanilla Liqueur to your Mai Tai, which works beautifully with the Havana Club rum. For the weak, I would recommend a Maui Mai Tai version. To do this ad pineapple, orange and guava juices to the Mai Tai recipe. Substitute lower quality rum in this cocktail or try a Zombie.

* The original Mai Tai drink recipe calls for Orange Curacao but I've been unable to locate this in Canada, so since we use excellent rum, I would only add an excellent orange liqueur. Also, the true original recipe calls for 3.5 oz of liquor which is 0.5 oz above the legal limit in Ontario for a single serving of alcohol. The days of power drinking are long gone, but the Mai Tai still has its place.

The creation of the Mai Tai happened in Oakland in 1944 by Victor Bergron, better known as Trader Vic. The name of the drink was expressed by the the guests, who were from Tahiti, when they exclaimed "Mai Tai - Roa Ae", which means "Out of This World - The Best". That is how the Mai Tai was born.

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