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Mai Tai (Trader Vic's)
A Mai Tai is basically a Daiquiri based on aged rum, with orange curaçao liqueur and orgeat syrup contributing to its flavour and sweetness. Trader Vic's...
CJ Grant
17th August at 20:08
Went with the (sorry) liquor.com recipe which *mostly* just differs by using a 1/4 ounce more orange liqueur. It is really good, with the key (as with many cocktails) seems to be finding the balance of orgeat (sweet) and tart (lime).
14th June at 02:07
Since most Tiki drinks are overly sweet, we eliminated the sugar syrup and used a mixture of dark Jamaican rum and Guyana rum. Our rum was Hamilton Strong Water Lost Voyage rum. Strong Water is a new tiki bar in Southern California and this rum was blended for them. It is outstanding in a cocktail or over ice.
13th March at 01:20
I just remade this to try my homemade pistachio "orgeat". 1.5 Oz Dos Maderas 5+5, 0.5 Oz coconut-infused Smith and Cross, and Pierre Ferrand curacao. Significantly different from the almond orgeat version, but equally delicious, with a more pronounced nut character.
22nd September 2024 at 23:29
Per Theo Clark's comment below, I made with 1.5 oz of Appleton Estate and 1/2 oz of Plantation overproof rum. An extremely well-balanced cocktail, both in between sweet / sour and gentle / boozy. I also doubled the sugar syrup as mine was 1:1
16th August 2024 at 06:57
I do this with 1.5 ounces of Jamaican rum, and half an ounce of Wray & nephew overproof white rum and it is one of the most dangerously enjoyable cocktails I have ever made. I mixed 7 of these over the last five days of a beach vacation and cannot recommend it enough. The overproof rum makes it sparkle like nothing else.
11th August 2024 at 20:41
Outstanding! I totally get how and why folks got hammered and laid around drinking these! I hybridized this recipe w/ Difford's version, adding a mix Gosling's 151 and Plantation Rum, plus a 1/4 oz each of Amaretto and Falernum to boost the Carribean and nutty notes.
22nd June 2024 at 23:38
Not entirely sold on the recipe's construction - it's grabbing a Havana 7 Year by default instead of a Jamaican which is a real shame. Local rum supplies vary with the weather, but I reacquainted myself using Myer's Rum, that Jamaican pot still rum bottled like it's still the 1800s in a squat square bottle that could just as easily have contained Snake Oil. Delicious. Cut right through all the dilution that limes and crushed ice could muster. Trader Vic was a genius.
21st June 2024 at 00:21
Just made this against n with Denizen Rum, a replica of the original Wray & Nephew. Really good.
26th December 2023 at 05:24
Week 4 & final quest for a better "mai tai": Omit curacao and simple syrup, do instead 20ML lime,orgeat syrup,passion fruit puree.
The outcome is delicious balanced richness. With this I finish my experimentation with Mai tais. The original felt flat and thus lead to one of my top 5 ever for sure. Maybe id try Diffords mai tais recipe if i ever get all the ingredients but for now these 2 Rifts will serve me well. Tip of the hat to Trade Vic.
The outcome is delicious balanced richness. With this I finish my experimentation with Mai tais. The original felt flat and thus lead to one of my top 5 ever for sure. Maybe id try Diffords mai tais recipe if i ever get all the ingredients but for now these 2 Rifts will serve me well. Tip of the hat to Trade Vic.
15th December 2023 at 21:09
40 ML RUM EL DORADO 12 | 15ML GRAND MARINER |25ML orgeat, no simply syrup| 22ml Lime = Opulant MAI TAI
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The coming of the cognac based Grand M. and the aged rum results in a deliquecy carried the orgeat and balanced by the lime.
10/10 expensive but def. making more !
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The coming of the cognac based Grand M. and the aged rum results in a deliquecy carried the orgeat and balanced by the lime.
10/10 expensive but def. making more !
7th July 2024 at 17:11
for a less sweet drink consider 15ml orgeat instead of 25. for my Personal taste i concluded on 17.5ML as my final recipe.
5th December 2023 at 21:01
25ml orgeat syrup no sugar syrup for me, makes for a richer drink, and this stuff expires quick. USE IT.
9th October 2023 at 09:47
Another website has the Vic Bergeron Mai Tai as without the extra syrup (just the divine orgeat) and with a healthy dose of each a white rum and a (floated at the end) dark rum. Well, how do these issues get resolved? I have no idea, but I will say that when you don't have TWO syrups (the orgeat is sufficient) and when you float the dark rum, you really do end up with a marvelously balanced mai tai.
25th June 2023 at 10:46
A truly wonderful combination. The zestiness of the Orange Curacao (adjunct, as it is not made with real Laraha), lime sourness, almost marzipan-esque nutty sweetness of the orgeat (did not use sugar syrup) and finally, the fruitiness and tiniest hint of funk from the rum. Not the most ideal choice using Appleton Estate Reserve, but it was still delightful. Can't imagine what levels this would go to with a bette rum and/or Curacao.
9th June 2023 at 09:27
I make mine with 3cl appleton 12y and 3cl el dorado 8. I use clement creole shrubb for the orange liquer. It makes a mind blowingly good mai tai.
9th April 2023 at 23:29
Fantastic drink with one style of rum, but as previous posters have stated, the Mai Tai really shines when using a blend of rums. For me, it is the perfect template to experiment with different styles and ratios, and to take note of how changing just one can alter the whole experience. My constants are: Liber & Co orgeat, fresh squeezed lime, 2:1 turbinado simple, and Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao. Rums for this iteration: 1/2 Brugal 1888, 3/4 Clément Blanc, 3/4 Smith & Cross.
17th February 2023 at 09:48
I used my franken-rum (perpetual stew but with my rums), homemade orgeat and homemade orange curacao. I skipped the sugar syrup because my curacao is quite sweet and did a spray of absinthe. This drink is fantastic.
16th May 2022 at 17:33
I find that version of the original Mai Tai is better using a mix of different rums: 20 ml dark Rhum Agricole, 20 ml dark Havana Club 7 yr rum, 20 ml light Havana Club 3 yr rum,
20 ml orange triple sec dry Curacao, 10 ml orgeat syrup, 20 ml lime juice, 10 ml strong sugar syrup
20 ml orange triple sec dry Curacao, 10 ml orgeat syrup, 20 ml lime juice, 10 ml strong sugar syrup
27th April 2022 at 01:50
So I remade this again Denizen Merchants Reserve 8 Year rum. Martin Cate of Smugglers Cove Bar in San Francisco formulated it with the distiller based off the type of rum Trader Vic would have been using when the drink was created. It was great. The rum has the Jamaican funk with a touch of the Agricore from Martinique. It was a completely different cocktail.
12th October 2021 at 00:09
Living in San Diego, we have a lot of Mai Tai cocktails available. This is one of the 3 best. They are all different. This is a very good one.
22nd March 2021 at 00:09
DH's favorite cocktail is a Mai Tai, but I've yet to hit on the one that we will make from here on out. We did enjoy this one, but it still is not *quite* what we've enjoyed at bars previously. The quest continues...
24th February 2021 at 20:13
Delicious. New favourite cocktail. Had to use Cointreau instead of Curaçao - will try the original at some point.
19th November 2020 at 08:53
I tried with bacardi 8 year old rum. Well that's a delicious and easy rum cocktail to make
12th October 2020 at 05:24
So I went for this tonight - to try to get closer to Trader Vic's recipe I used a mix of Myers Jamaican rum, and as I had nothing from Martinique I used Cruzan aged rum from St. Croix. I also made rock candy strength sugar syrup. It was quite delicious.
Here's a video of me making it, if you're interested: https://youtu.be/_9xirLN4t6Y
Here's a video of me making it, if you're interested: https://youtu.be/_9xirLN4t6Y
29th October 2020 at 17:10
It will work well. Perhaps also cut the sugar syrup back to 5ml.
5th October 2020 at 11:37
I am surprised ♥ ♥ ♥