My Favorite Mai Tai (Trade Vic's Rum and Orgeat Classic Tiki Drink)

Today we tackle one of the most popular Tiki Cocktails, the Mai Tai!

The Mai Tai was purportedly created by Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron in 1944 at his restaurant Trader Vic's in Oakland California. There is some controversy as Don The Beachcomber claimed to have invented the Mai Tai in 1933 at his selfed named Hollywood restaurant. Who invented the Mai Tai? We will probably never know. What we do know is that the original drink called for Wray and Nephew 17 year rum which you can find here:
Since that is way out of our price range and would definitely make the world's most expensive Mai Tai, variations on this cocktail, all trying to equate the flavor of the original abound. In this episode I teach you my own tried and true recipe. If you were to come and see me at Cole's and order a Mai Tai this is what you would get. I stand by this recipe. I will maybe post another episode sometime in the future where we do another variation on this drink which purports itself to be close to the original.
Anyway as always hope you enjoy the episode!

The Specs:

2oz or 60ml Aged Jamaican Rum
.75oz or 20ml Orange Curacao
1oz or 30ml Lime Juice
.5oz or 15ml Orgeat
Lime Wheel and Mint Sprig Garnish

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[nicholasgraves]

I made some homemade orgeat with almond milk, sugar, almond extract, and orange blossom water tonight. Gotta say, if I were a coffee drinker, I'd sweeten my coffee with that every morning. Made a Mai Tai with 1oz Appleton Reserve (their new label threw me off when I went shopping) 1oz of Bacardi Gold (my local liquor store isn't great about keeping the "good" spirits in stock always, so I like to make them last when I can (If you need a thousand bottles of Captain Morgan, however, they've got you), .75oz Pierre Ferrand Curacao, 1oz lime, .5 orgeat, and just a barspoon or so of rich demerara syrup to give it just that hint of molassesy flavor. It was as good or better than any tiki drink I've had at a bar before.

[maurizioparidimonriva]

I think I've tried 4 or 5 Mai Tai recipes, and this one is easily the best. More Tiki please!

[GravityWellSounds]

I watch this video every time I go to make a Mai Tai. I probably should write it down. Well, I'm watching again so that means it's time for a drink.

[patriciaaturner]

Looks so yummy. Mai Tai is one of my favorite cocktails.

[slimwest]

Just tried your recipe, this one is much more balanced than the prior recipe where the curacao kind of overpowered it, I did one ounce of light and gold rum and topped with dark since I didn't pick up appleton estate, but next time I might pick that up or plantation instead of meyers.

[PATRICKANDERSONbippityboop]

Just bought some syrups from Liquid Alchemist, thanks for the reco! I like to make my own orgeat but you made it sound so good.

[DwightMS]

Leandro, I bought all the same ingredients (except your brand of orgeat) and tried your Mai Tai this evening--delicious. I'll put it on my list of drinks for guests. Thank you.

[AlyenasKitchen]

Thank you for introducing us to this better quality orgeat syrup. Your version looks amazing! Great video! 🌼🌷😊

[adrianwahl]

Still hoping there will be more Mai Tai videos. Would be an awesome video to feature several Mai Tai’s using various Rums

[bobmack]

Nice job. Emphasize fresh squeezed lime juice (there are some lazy imbibers out there). I believe Trader Vic's original recipe also used a small amount of simple syrup made of demerara sugar (Sugar in the Raw) and water (2:1). And Appleton Estate does make a 12 year old rum. Yum.

[blossomblack]

Very good am learning driffrent drink to make

[pmrp]

I too enjoy an all-Appleton Signature Mai-Tai. Curious how using a traditional mix of Jamaican and Martinique alters the drink. I also heard Denizen Merchants Reserve was specifically blended of both to be the single rum in the drink. Any experience with either mixing rum or using the Denizen here?

[luckythepainproofman]

Spent lime shell. No wheel.

Otherwise, one of the most solid videos on the Mai Tai out there. Thanks for not fucking it up like so many others.

[mathiashansen]

Have you ever experimented with rhum Agricole in your mai tai? I am yet to try it but for some reason the combination of el dorado 12 and clement vsop rhum agricole, maybe one oz of each, seem very appealing to me. What is your thoughts on that?

[Barprints]

Loving binging the back catelogue! Appleton Signature (mostly commonly known as V/X in JA) is one of my favorites to mix with. And yes, Wray & Nephew and Appleton are the same distillery.

[grapetonenatches]

So i did this: Ferrand½Wray&Nephew½Appleton
2 Fresh Snipped and Spankied Sweet Mint. Heaven opened up before me. Excellent videos gentlemen, thank you.

[triplecap]

1oz smith/cross, 1oz cana brava 1 oz fresh lime, 3/4 ferrand curacao, 1/2 orgeat . Slight variation from yours but killer. The biggest challenge is not smashing your fingers crushing the ice for the second round.

[jasonsawires]

Swapping the ARB for A12YO is a wild difference in my opinion. Would strongly recommend trying this out with their aged offering!

[msinksgyap]

Probably the best Mai Tai in the world I’m loving it

[RickClassico]

Question: why do some Mai Tai recipes call for two rums instead of just one?