Mai Tai - How to Make the No. 1 Classic Tiki Drink & the History Behind It

Here's how to make the 1944 Trader Vic’s Mai Tai. The classic combination of Aged Jamaican Rum, Orange Curaçao, Orgeat, Rich Simple Syrup, Lime Juice and Mint for garnish was not the first Tiki Cocktail, but it is certainly the most popular Tiki Drink. And one that was designed to showcase a good rum.

The story of the Mai Tai is inexorably linked to the history of Tiki bars and exotic drinks. It’s the tale of a professional rivalry between two California restaurateurs. Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic’s bare a lot of the responsibility for making the Tiki world the phenomenon it became.

Vic is often credited with the creation of this drink, especially as it is laid out here. Donn claimed to have invented it first. According to Tiki historian and founder of the Tiki bar, Latitude 29 in New Orleans, Beachbum Berry, in the convoluted story of the Mai Tai, both things may be true at the same time.

Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt (who later changed his name to Donn Beach) opened the first Tiki bar in 1933 in the heart of Hollywood called Don the Beachcomber. A drink that was on his menu for a time was the Mai Tai Swizzle, though, according to Donn’s widow, it was “not one of his favorites.”

The next year, in 1934, Vic Bergeron opened a bar in Oakland called Hinky Dink's. A few years later, in 1937, Vic paid a visit to Donn’s bar and was inspired by the joint’s Polynesian atmosphere, so much so, that shortly after, Vic revamped his bar to be Polynesian themed and he rebranded it as Trader Vic’s. There was a drink on Donn’s menu in 1937, when Vic visited, called the Q.B. Cooler, the recipe for which, as with most of Donn’s drinks, was a closely guarded secret.

Seven years later, in 1944, Vic created his Mai Tai. In the 1950’s, it’s popularity inspired a lot of people to claim ownership of it and Donn was one of them. Because of its demand, Donn was compelled to put the Mai Tai Swizzle back on his menu. Donn’s Mai Tai Swizzle does not taste much like Trader Vic’s.

However, according to Mick Brownlee, a bartender at Don the Beachcomber for over a decade, Donn didn’t claim that Vic stole the Mai Tai Swizzle from him, but rather that he stole the Q.B. Cooler and rebranded that as the Mai Tai. This would seem like a wild rumor, if not for the fact that the Q.B. Cooler tastes amazingly like the Trader Vic’s Mai Tai. So, if Mick was right, if Vic did steal the flavor of the Q.B. Cooler after sampling it off of Donn’s menu in 1937, that would’ve been a helluva reverse engineering job and it would mean that Donn came up with the name and flavor, but Vic invented the drink and made it a phenomenon. Thus, the drink really would have two fathers.

Either way, the Mai Tai, as presented here, was Vic’s Mai Tai. And his intention was to build an exotic support structure to highlight the long-discontinued, 17-year Wray & Nephew Jamaican rum. Once the supply of the 17-year started to dwindle, Vic eventually blended different rums to achieve the right flavor.

If you really want to get into the weeds with this one, you can age the Wray & Nephew at home (https://youtu.be/y5CvdQKYw6Q). It probably will not taste exactly like the one Vic used, but it makes one hell of a Mai Tai. Since it was bottled at 126-proof and the original 17-year Wray & Nephew was bottled at 86-proof, you’ll want to cut the potency of this one a little. That way you’ll end up with a rum that has the flavor profile that Vic described as, “medium-bodied, but with the rich pungent flavor,” that was “nutty, and snappy.”

All that being said, as great as those rums are, you’ll still be able to make yourself a wonderful Mai Tai with another rum. Just be sure to pick a rum with a flavor that you really enjoy. The other components of the drink are only there to put the rum on a pedestal and bow down before it like a forgotten wooden idol. Okole Maluna!
Recipe:
2 oz Rum (or 1.5 oz home-aged overproof Rum, 0.5 oz water)
0.75 oz Lime Juice
0.5 oz Curaçao
0.25 oz Orgeat
0.25 oz Rich Simple Syrup
garnish Mint Sprig
garnish Lime Shell

Shake with 12 oz crushed ice and 3-4 agitator cubes. Slap rim of your glass with Mint. Pour unstrained into chilled double Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with lime shell and mint sprig.
Music:
Southern Flavors 3 by Martin Gauffin
via Epidemic Sound
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Booze:

Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black
http://bit.ly/2nEaBl0

Duquesne Rhum Agricole Élevé Sous Bois
http://bit.ly/2o4zd9t

Denizen Merchant’s Reserve
http://bit.ly/2oTPDif

Books:

Smuggler's Cove (Book)
http://amzn.to/2oAOm31

Beachbum Berry Remixed
http://amzn.to/2nVpH6h

Bar Tools:

Double Old Fashioned Glass
http://amzn.to/2owVAF9

Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Glass
http://bit.ly/2nE8oWJ

Citrus Juicer (Lime)
http://amzn.to/1YKJ4u1

Lewis Bag & Ice Mallet
http://amzn.to/2nz12CK

#MaiTai #TraderVic's #Tiki

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