Not normally drinkers, we had committed to trying traditional drinks in each new location along our World Cruise. So of course while we were in Hawaii, that meant we would be taste testing Mai Tai’s.
Although Mai Tai’s were first introduced in California by Victor Bergeron (owner of Trader Vic’s restaurants) when he brought the recipe to Hawaii in 1953where he created a cocktail menu for the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and Moana Hotels. The cocktail became an instant hit and was called the “top tourist tantalizer” in 1959. In the years thereafter, pineapple juice, orange juice, and a dark rum float became commonly used in Mai Tais produced in Hawaii.
The name was allegedly taken from maita?i, the Tahitian word for “good” or “excellence”, although the drink is usually spelled as two words, sometimes hyphenated or capitalized.
The Mai Tai was also prominently featured in the 1961 Elvis Presley film Blue Hawaii.
Following our taste test we concluded we really enjoyed the sweet rum punch.
If you want to make the sunny drink for yourself, here is the traditional recipe:
| Type | Cocktail |
|---|---|
| Base spirit | Rum |
| Served | shaved or crushed ice |
| Standard garnish | pineapple spear, mint leaves, and lime peel |
| Standard drinkware | Old fashioned glass |
| IBA specified ingredients  | 30 ml amber Jamaican rum 30 ml Martinique molasses rhum 15 ml orange curaçao 15 ml orgeat syrup (almond) 30 ml fresh lime juice 7.5 ml simple syrup |
| Preparation | Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a double rocks glass or a highball glass. |
| Notes | The Martinique molasses rum used by Trader Vic was not an Agricole rum but a type of “rummy” from molasses. |
Mai Tai recipe at International Bartenders Association