Name: Mai Tai (Beaumont-Gantt's)
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 12 fresh Mint leaves; 45 ml OP high ester aged pot still rum; 30 ml Light white rum; 22.5 ml Triple sec; 15 ml Falernum liqueur; 30 ml Lime juice; 30 ml Pink grapefruit juice; 2 dash Aromatic bitters

Ingredients

12 fresh

Mint leaves

1 1/2 fl oz

Overproof aged pot still rum (high-ester 4-6 years old)

1 fl oz

Light white rum (charcoal-filtered 1-4 years old)

3/4 fl oz

Cointreau L'Unique triple sec liqueur

1/2 fl oz

Difford's Falernum liqueur

1 fl oz

Lime juice (freshly squeezed)

1 fl oz

Pink grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)

2 dash

Angostura Aromatic Bitters

How to make

Glassware

Prepare

Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.

Prepare garnish of mint sprigs bouquet.

Method

Gently MUDDLE mint in base of shaker (just to bruise).

Add other ingredients and SHAKE with ice.

STRAIN into glass filled with crushed ice.

Garnish

Garnish with mint sprigs bouquet.

Health & Nutrition

Alcohol content:

2.9 standard drinks
21.65% alc./vol. (43.3° proof)
40.2 grams of pure alcohol

History

It is claimed that Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt first served this cocktail in 1933 at his Don The Beachcomber's bar in Hollywood, California. This is eleven years earlier than Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron's Mai Tai origin story.

In his 2014 Potions of the Caribbean, Jeff Berry recounts that Don "told Edward Brownlee [a Tiki-carver and friend of Don] that Vic had derived the Mai Tai's flavour profile from a punch that Vic had particularly liked at the Beachcomber's: "The Q.B. Cooler was the basis for a cocktail he took with him, and he called it the Mai Tai." Fred Fung, who worked as Vic's executive assistant for 41 years, disagrees. "Vic did copy Don The Beachcomber's look. He did go down and copy. But the Mai Tai, he did concoct that, and Carrie Guild did name it."

Comments & Discussion

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Calvin Grant Premium Member Commenter Appreciated Commenter 1 year ago

For me this was excellent. Plenty excellent. Probably a good thing I was out of S&C or it might have been a bit too excellent. 15ml Rum Fire, 30ml Myers's, 30ml Carta Blanca, Velvet, Combier. Nicely dryish, slightly bitter. Perfect.

Calvin Grant Premium Member Commenter Appreciated Commenter 4 months ago

30ml Stade's light, 30ml S&C, 5ml Rum fire, 10ml Myers's, 5ml Hamilton 86. Yum! So nice on all that ice!

John Hinojos Premium Member Commenter Appreciated Commenter 1 year ago

Loved this. Not a fan of mint, but I do not remember the mai tai at Don the Beachcomber restaurants having mint (yes I am that old).
When you leave out the mint the spicy nature of the Angostura bitters comes through.

Alex Grieb Commenter Appreciated Commenter 2 years ago

I didn't like this variation very much. A lot of the flavours get lost, and it is quite dry. It felt like a slightly bitter daiquiri with a lot of extra steps. I used smith and cross overproof and havana club 3 years for the rums, cointreau and velvet falernum.

Anton Efimov Appreciated Commenter Conversation Starter 3 years ago

К сожалению без оршада не очень. Можно смело добавлять сахарный сироп или лайм сокращать на треть. Может раньше фалернум или куантро были послаще. (Использовал bitter truth Falernum)

Mariusz Twardowski Commenter Appreciated Commenter 3 years ago

Brilliant! Using S&C and omitting orgeat are quite bold changes from the more common recipe and yet the drink still feels like a mai tai while having a much spicier edge...

What Zit Tooya Conversation Starter 4 years ago

Where'd you source this recipe from? Beachbum Berry's listing (taken from the recipe book by Donn Beach's widow Phoebe) has some different ratios, plus 6 drops of Pernod and no muddled mint. Curious where things might've diverged.

John Hinojos Premium Member Commenter Appreciated Commenter 4 years ago

I have the same books, but one thing we all need to remember about Donn Beach's cocktails, is that nothing was ever written down by specific ingredients. It was by coded ingredients. When he died no one actually new all the ingredients.

View 6 comments and discussion

Mai Tai (Beaumont-Gantt's)

How to make

Glassware

Prepare

Method

Garnish

Health & Nutrition

Alcohol content:

History

Variations/similar cocktails

Comments & Discussion

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