Unlike so many drinks whose origins are lost to history, the Mai Tai has a carefully documented creation story. Victor “Trader Vic” Bergeron was among the greats in the Post-WWII tiki cocktail movement. With increased trade following the war and a sudden fascination with Pacific Island food and drink, bartenders like Vic, Beachcomber Jerry, and others traveled far and wide and found innovative uses for all kinds of fruit and rums and juices. Based in Oakland, Vic was looking for the perfect cocktail to showcase an aged Jamaican rum on his bar. When a visiting friend from Tahiti tasted Vic’s concoction and exclaimed “Mai Tai— Roa Aé!” (“Out of this world— the best!” in Tahitian), the cocktail had its name. Here’s Vic’s original Mai Tai recipe as recorded in Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide (1947):

1 lime
1/2 ounce orange curaçao
1/4 ounce rock candy syrup
1/4 ounce orgeat syrup
2 ounces Trader Vic Mai Tai rum OR 1 ounce dark Jamaican rum and 1 ounce Martinique rum
Cut lime in half; squeeze juice over shaved ice in a mai tai (double old fashioned) glass; save one spent shell. Add remaining ingredients and enough shaved ice to fill glass. Hand shake. Decorate with spent lime shell, fresh mint, and a fruit stick.

I have no idea where to find “Trader Vic Mai Tai rum” (if it’s even available anymore), and “rock candy syrup” isn’t always the most readily available ingredient either, so a few substitutions may help the modern at-home mixologist:

1 ounce dark or gold rum
1 ounce silver rum
3/4 ounce lime juice (equal to roughly half a Persian lime)
3/4 ounce orange curaçao
1 tsp. (1/6 ounce) orgeat syrup
Shake all ingredients; strain into rocks glass over crushed ice; garnish with lime wheel and mint sprig or pineapple slice and maraschino cherry. Bonus points if you can fit an edible orchid into the garnish arrangement.

There’s a lot of room for variation in this recipe. Different types of rum, different garnishes, different levels or orgeat or simple syrup, or (my personal preference) subbing in the slightly sweeter Cointreau for orange curaçao. Also, for you Jaguar fans, you can even swap in blue curaçao for orange and wind up with an incredible teal drink which screams team spirit. (And yes, as pictured at left, it’s fun to garnish it with a super classy candy orange slice. DUUUVAL!)

The Mai Tai was born out of experimentation and adventure, so as you make this drink at home, give yourself license to tweak it and mess around. The Tiki Movement was all about fun, so cut loose, cut up some fruit, and have a good time with this recipe.