Celebrating National Mai Tai Day 2016

The Rum Trader loves a well crafted Mai Tai and I am happy that we have a day dedicated to this terrific cocktail created by Victor Bergeron 72 years ago. Tonight I will be mixing up multiple versions of the cocktail using a variety of different rums. I made a special trip out today to pickup a bottle of Denizen Merchant Reserve which is an blend of aged pot still Jamaican rum and excellent rhum grande arome from Martinique. Its 60-40 blend is perfect for Mai Tais so one of the versions I make will be Denizen’s recommended recipe (see below).

Check out the video’s below from my friends Marie King, Executive Bar Manager at Los Angeles’ Tonga Hut and Martin Cate, Owner of San Francisco’s Smuggler’s Cove.

From Wikipedia:
Victor J. Bergeron claimed to have invented the Mai Tai in 1944 at his eponymous restaurant, Trader Vic’s, in California. Trader Vic’s rival, Don the Beachcomber, claimed to have created it in 1933 at his then-new bar named for himself (later a famous restaurant) in Hollywood. Don the Beachcomber’s recipe is more complex than that of Vic’s and tastes quite different.

The Trader Vic’s story of its invention is that the Trader (Victor J. Bergeron) created it one afternoon for some friends who were visiting from Tahiti. One of those friends, Carrie Guild, tasted it and cried out: “Maita’i roa ae!” (literally “very good!”, figuratively “Out of this world! The best!”)—hence the name.

In 1953 the Matson Navigation Company (now Matson, Inc.) commissioned Victor Bergeron to create a drink for their new Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Victor then made a variation on the Mai Tai recipe adding pineapple juice; this variant is still served today at the hotel.

TRADER VIC’S 1944 MAI TAI

1 oz Dark Jamaican rum
1 oz Martinique Rhum Agricole
.5 oz Orange curacao
.5 oz Orgeat
.25 oz Simple syrup
1.5 oz Fresh lime juice

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients and shake with ice. Pour into a double old-fashioned glass, then garnish with mint, a cherry and a spent lime wedge. (Timeout)

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MARTIN CATE’S 2013 MAI TAI

1 oz Appleton Estate Extra 12-year-old dark Jamaican rum
1 oz El Dorado 12-year-old Demerara rum
.75 oz Fresh lime juice
.25 oz Rock candy syrup (2 parts sugar, 1 part water)
.25 oz Orgeat (almond) syrup
.5 oz Orange curaçao

Instructions:
Shake with a heaping cup of crushed ice until the shaker is frosty on the outside. Pour unstrained into a double Old Fashioned glass. Top with more crushed ice and garnish with half of a juiced lime shell and a fresh mint sprig. (Atomic Grog)

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DENIZEN MAI TAI

2 oz Denizen Merchant’s Reserve
1 oz Fresh lime juice
.5 oz Orange curaçao
.25 oz Rock candy syrup (2 parts sugar, 1 part water)
.25 oz Orgeat (almond) syrup

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients into a shaker, add 2 cups of crushed ice, and shake for 10 seconds. Pour unstrained into a double rocks glass. Garnish with maraschino cherries and a paper umbrella.