Mai Tai

Name: Mai Tai
Yield: Serves 1
Ingredients: 1 ounce light rum; 1 ounce gold rum; ½ ounce orgeat syrup (see recipe) or amaretto; ½ ounce orange Curaçao or Cointreau; Juice of 1 lime.

Adapted by Toby Cecchini

Updated April 27, 2020

Mai Tai — Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Rating: 5(181)
Comments: Read comments

There are raging debates about the invention of and the proper recipe for this drink among tiki connoisseurs. The more accepted versions are granted to Victor J. Bergeron, the irascible, wooden-legged “Trader Vic,” from his eponymous restaurant bar in Oakland, Calif., in the ’40s. Contrary to what you might think, the mai tai is actually just a rum sour, employing orgeat alongside Curaçao or triple sec as the sweetener, and using two rums to add complexity. The rest is just lime juice, and that’s it. No coconut, no passion fruit, pineapple, mango or orange juice. No umbrellas. It’s a relatively simple drink, but as such, each element has to be of the utmost quality; great rums, fresh lime juice and prefab orgeat syrup equal disappointment. But when concocted with homemade orgeat, all the tumblers click. The rums, the lime, the orange aromatics and the heft of the almond all play in stupendous balance. —Toby Cecchini

Featured in: Case Study | Will the Real Mai Tai Please Stand Up?

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 1

1ounce light rum
1ounce gold rum
½ ounce orgeat syrup (see recipe) or amaretto
½ ounce orange Curaçao or Cointreau
Juice of 1 lime.

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Combine ingredients in a shaker with crushed or cracked ice and shake vigorously. Pour, with shaken ice, into a double old-fashioned glass and garnish with the spent lime shell and a sprig of fresh mint. Some, who live large and dangerously, like to float an extra ½ ounce of dark rum atop it.

Ratings

5 out of 5

181 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Comments

Warren7 years ago

If the 1 lime is at all juicy, this yields a drink that is far too sour. 1/2 to 3/4 oz lime juice should be sufficient for a proper balance -- not the full ounce or more that one gets from a reasonably sized lime.

Marta4 years ago

I made the orgeat syrup. For those who want to go that way, you may want to halve the recipe, or go to even less. I ended up with an amount that will do for all the Mai Tais of the rest of my life and still leave some to my children as inheritance.

Brian5 years ago

The category of rums in 2020 should be more detailed than 'gold' as color does not seem a valid way to judge rums (see "Smuggler's Cove" and "Rum Curious"). Rather an unaged (for 'white') or an unaged rhum (Clement or your favorite from Martinique) and an intermediate aged rum (Denizen 8 year or Mount Gay XO) are my suggestions. I would try 2 parts of each rum with 1 part lime, orgeat and orange liqueur (I would suggest Dry Curacao) blended then a topper of a dark rum (Myers or Plantation).

TGP Italy1 year ago

We scale this up to 700 ml with the formula 200ml dark, 200ml light, 100ml orgeat, 100ml curaçao, and 100ml lime. Also, do yourself a favor and add a generous pinch of Kosher salt. This turns (very good) takeout Chinese into a heart-melting date night. Even after 25 years together, there's still magic in a Mai Tai and some excellent Bao.

DRB1 year ago

Make one of the rums Smith & Cross.

John H1 year ago

1&1/2 oz light rum, then 1/2 oz dark rum floater

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