Tiki

Mai Tai

Made with orgeat (almond syrup) · Victor Bergeron, Trader Vic's, Oakland, 1944

  • rocks
  • crushed
  • shake

Mai Tai

  • 2 oz60 ml aged Jamaican rum (or 1 oz aged Jamaican + 1 oz aged molasses-based Martinique rum)
  • ¾ oz22 ml fresh lime juice (juice of 1 lime; save a spent half-shell)
  • ½ oz15 ml orange curaçao
  • ½ oz15 ml orgeat
  • ¼ oz7 ml rich simple syrup
  1. Squeeze the lime and keep one spent half-shell for the garnish.
  2. Add the rum, lime juice, curaçao, orgeat and rich syrup to a shaker with a good scoop of crushed ice.
  3. Shake hard for a few seconds, then pour everything, ice included, into a double rocks glass.
  4. Tuck in the lime shell and a mint sprig.

Garnish: Spent lime half-shell and a sprig of fresh mint

The syrup

In this recipe

Orgeat (Almond Syrup)½ oz15 ml

Orgeat is a creamy almond syrup flavored with orange blossom water, best known from the Mai Tai.

As printed: French Garnier orgeat

Or use

Rich Simple Syrup (2:1)¼ oz7 ml

Rich simple syrup is two parts sugar to one part water by weight: 400 g sugar dissolved in 200 ml hot water.

Rock candy syrup is a very rich sugar syrup; our 2:1 rich simple is the usual stand-in. Our 2:1 demerara syrup also works (Smuggler's Cove uses a rich demerara syrup).

As printed: rock candy syrup

Where it comes from

Victor Bergeron said he first mixed the Mai Tai in 1944 at his Trader Vic's restaurant in Oakland, building it around a 17-year-old Jamaican rum. He took it to Hawaii's Matson hotels in 1953, which is where the later pineapple-and-orange-juice versions grew up.

Source: Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide, Revised by Victor Bergeron (1972).

Checked against: Trader Vic's - Mai Tai History (original 1944 formula) · The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai - Trader Vic's Mai Tai Recipes · Wikibooks - Bartending/Cocktails/Mai Tai · Punch - Martin Cate's Mai Tai · IBA - Mai Tai

Gear for this drink

Illustration of shaker
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Mixology & Craft 16-Piece Cocktail Shaker Set

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OXO SteeL Angled Measuring Jigger

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Cuisinart Fine Mesh Stainless Strainers (set of 3)

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