Cocktails › Classics › Mai Tai
Mai Tai
Aged rum with real depth, lime pulling everything taut, orgeat rounding the edges with almond, and orange curaçao tying rum and citrus together. A Mai Tai is not a fruit punch. It is a rum drink first, bright and cold and serious about its balance.
Ingredients
- 2oz (60ml) aged rum
- 0.75oz (22ml) fresh lime juice, and the spent lime shell
- 0.5oz (15ml) orange curaçao
- 0.5oz (15ml) orgeat
- 0.25oz (7ml) rich demerara syrup
- Plenty of crushed ice
- Fresh mint sprig, for garnish
Method
- Add the rum, lime juice, orange curaçao, orgeat, and demerara syrup to a shaker with plenty of ice.
- Shake hard for 12 to 15 seconds until the shaker is frosty and the drink is well chilled.
- Pour everything, ice and all, into a short glass, then crown the glass with fresh crushed ice.
- Rest the spent lime shell on top of the ice, cut side up, so it looks like a little island.
- Slap the mint sprig between your palms to wake it up and plant it beside the lime shell, right where your nose will find it.
Tip: Let the rum lead and taste it before you pour. A blend of half aged Jamaican rum and half Martinique rhum agricole gives the classic depth, with funk underneath and grassy brightness on top. One good aged rum poured with confidence works beautifully on its own.
Serve It With
Our sister site Cooking with Dade pairs it with Teriyaki Shrimp Stir Fry.
Variations
- Mai Tai with a Demerara Float. Pour half an ounce of dark demerara rum slowly over the finished drink. It drifts down through the ice as you sip, and the last mouthfuls taste deeper and darker than the first.
- Pineapple Mai Tai. Shake in half an ounce of fresh pineapple juice with everything else. Softer and juicier, with the lime still keeping the drink honest and the rum still firmly in charge.
Questions
What is in a Mai Tai?
Aged rum, fresh lime juice, orange curaçao, orgeat, and a touch of rich demerara syrup. The drink is shaken, poured over crushed ice, and finished with a mint sprig and the spent lime shell.
Where does the Mai Tai come from?
Victor Bergeron created the Mai Tai in 1944 at his Trader Vic restaurant in Oakland, California. He built it to show off a fine aged Jamaican rum, and the name came from a guest who tasted it and declared it out of this world in Tahitian.
What rum works best in a Mai Tai?
An aged rum with real character. A blend of Jamaican rum and Martinique rhum agricole is the classic modern call, though one good aged rum with depth and a little funk makes a superb Mai Tai on its own.
What is orgeat and can I swap it?
Orgeat is a rich almond syrup that gives the Mai Tai its soft, round body underneath the lime. A plain almond syrup works when orgeat is out of reach, though the drink will taste a little thinner and sweeter.
Should a Mai Tai have pineapple juice in it?
The original has none at all, just rum, lime, curaçao, and almond. Many beach bars added pineapple and orange over the years, and those drinks can be lovely, but the 1944 original is drier, brighter, and far more about the rum.