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Mai Tais are a popular tiki drink (probably the most popular) blending both light and dark rum, lime juice, Orange Curaçao, and Orgeat syrup to make a fruity, sweet, nutty, and all-around delicious cocktail. This is a drink that’ll instantly transport you to a beach somewhere, kicking back with your worries thrown aside and feet firmly in the sand.
Its popularity is well-deserved, but that same popularity has brought on poor, shortcut-inspired renditions that make finding the original Mai Tai recipe as it was intended all the sweeter. Just watch out, because this drink’s sweetness can fool you into putting more than one down in the blink of an eye.
Bar Tools
- Jigger
- Shaker
To Serve: in a double rocks, aka a double old fashioned glass or festive, tropical glassware
Ingredients
- 1 oz. aged Jamaican rum
- 1 oz. Martinique Rum or Rhum Agricole (if unavailable you can substitute with 1/2 oz. dark rum and 1/2 oz. aged rum)
- 1 oz. fresh lime juice
- 1/2 oz. Orange Curaçao
- 1/4 oz. Orgeat syrup
- 1/4 oz. Simple syrup
To Garnish: Garnishes vary in many bars, but a traditional garnish made to resemble an island and palm tree calls for half of a spent lime and a mint sprig.
How to Make
Add rums, curaçao, lime juice, orgeat, and simple syrup into a shaker with crushed ice and lightly shake. Pour unstrained into a double rocks glass and top with more crushed ice (as much as you can fit in the glass). Top with a garnish — lime and a mint sprig, or other tropical garnishes like pineapple.
Nutritional Facts and ABV
- ABV (alcohol by volume): 18.4%
- Calories: 210 calories
- Total carbohydrates: 14.4 grams
- Total added sugar: 12.3 grams
History
The origin of the Mai Tai is so heavily disputed that it’s actually led to lawsuits. Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt’s claim takes us back the furthest, alledly serving the drink in 1933 at Don the Beachwood Comber’s Bar in Hollywood, California. But it’s Victor Jules Bergeron, aka Trader Vic, who is said to have come up with the actual Mai Tai recipe we know and drink today. His 1972 Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide actually has two Mai Tai recipes printed, one from his original concoction and another using commercial “Mai Tai Mix” that marketed both the drink and his wildly popular restaurant chain. When another commercial Mai Tai mix hit the market from Don the Beachwood Comber’s Bar, claiming Beaumont-Gantt was the drink’s creator, Trader Vic sued and a lifelong feud between the two ensued. Yes, all this over a cocktail.
FAQ
Is there any substitute for orgeat syrup?
While Orgeat syrup is a non-alcoholic ingredient, it’s key to a Mai Tai. The almond-flavored addition gives this drink its distinct taste and is used for a number of other popular tiki drinks. However, in a pinch, it can be substituted for regular simple syrup. Just note that the resulting Mai Tai will not have the complex nutty notes that Orgeat lends.
What is Martinique Rum/Rhum Agricole?
Classic rum, as most know it, is distilled from fermented sugarcane products — usually molasses. Rhum Agricole (or Martinique Rum) comes from the island of Martinique in the French Caribbean and is distilled directly from pressed cane sugar, rather than fermented juice or sugar cane byproducts like molasses. As such, this type of rum has a unique grassy, slightly funky taste, more similar in flavor to Brazillian Cachaça than traditional rum. This rum packs a lot of depth of flavor in a small package, and the blend of aged Jamaican rum and Rhum Agricole do a lot of the heavy lifting in the traditional Mai Tai recipe.
What if I can’t find Rhum Agricole?
Rhum Agricole can be difficult to find in normal liquor stores. If you’re looking to replace it in your Mai Tai you can increase the amount of Jamaican rum to 1.5 oz, make the drink as-normal, then float an extra .5 oz of dark rum on the top of the finished drink. This is a variation commonly seen at many bars when the proper blend of rums are not available.
