Mai Tai (Trader Vic's)

1 oz Jamaican rum (dark, 7-15 year old)
1 oz Rhum Agricole, St. James Ambre
3⁄4 oz Lime juice
1⁄2 oz Curaçao
1⁄4 oz Orgeat
1⁄4 oz Simple syrup
1 spg Mint (as garnish)
Instructions

Shake, pour into low-ball without straining, garnish

Notes

Some use more orgeat instead of simple syrup. Some use Clément Créole Shrubb instead of Curaçao. Smith & Cross is a nice choice for the Jamaican rum.

Cocktail summary
Picture of Mai Tai (Trader Vic's)
2007, Creative Commons, Duluoz Cats, Astoria, NY, Wikipedia
Posted by Dan on
Created by
Trader Vic's, Oakland, CA, or Don the Beachcomber, Hollywood, CA. Disputed.
Year
1944
Is an
authentic recipe
Reference

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Bartending/Cocktails/Mai_Tai

Curator
Not yet rated
Average
4.5 stars
(61 ratings)
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From other users
  • Used Trader Vic's Amaretto in lieu of orgeat. Don't forget the mint Alternative: Old Road: 2oz pineapple; 1/4 each: Amaretto, Simple Syrup, Cointreau, lime; 1 oz Old Road Rum; 3ds Angostura. Shake, serve rocks and float more rum {DLL]
  • No simple…orgeat is plenty sweet for me. Also tried w spritz of mezcal (similar to the Tia Mia profile) - great addition! — ★★★★★
  • classic
  • 8/16/20: 1/2 oz S&C, 1/2 oz Appleton Sig Blend, 1/2 oz El Dorado 12, 1/4 oz Barbancourt 8, 1/4 oz La Favorite Blanc, 1 oz lime, 1/2 oz PF curacao, 3/4 oz Liber and Co orgeat.
  • 1/2 oz Orgeat
  • fresh lime juice makes all the difference here
  • Yup use orgeat, skip simple. Used S&C, Barbancourt 8 yr
  • Spring Break
  • Made with S&C and Rhum JM, and more orgeat than simple. Strong! — ★★★★
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Comments
C commented on 12/02/2013:

More orgeat less simple, and never ever use Smith & Cross. That stuff is crap. Don't take my word for it, take Ed Hamilton's.

Norm commented on 11/04/2014:

That's very close to the recipe I use:

1 oz Jamaican dark rum (Apple Estate V/X or Reserve or 12 yr OR Smith & Cross)
1 oz Rhum agricole (at least somewhat aged)
1 oz Lime juice
1⁄2 oz Curacao (Creole Shrubb OR Pierre Ferrard Dry Curacao)
1⁄2 oz Orgeat
1 tsp Simple syrup (made from turbinado or other raw/unrefined sugar, if possible)
1 spg Mint (as garnish)

Optional: 1⁄2 oz float of high-proof dark rum

A touch more lime juice, more orgeat, and less sugar syrup than the posted recipe, with an optional high-proof float.

A true classic.  I keep working with what I have to hit all the right notes.  Tonight's was particularly good...

1 oz. Appleton V/X

1/2 oz. Barbancourt 8 yr

1/2 oz. Neissen Agricole Blanc

1/2 oz. Orange Curacao (Marie Brizzard)

(heavy) 3/4 oz. lime juice

(light) 1/2 oz. Orgeat (B.G. Reynolds)

1/4 oz float - Lemon Hart 151

I can't find any aged agricoles near me so I compensate by going half & half with the Barbancourt which is made the same way and the Neissen which is a true agricole, but unaged.

The other key thing is that Mai Tai's have to be enjoyed outdoors.

 

edit: ( a few days later)

For fun I made one the other night subbing Amaro Ciociaro for the Orange Curacao and I used an oz each of the V/X and the Barbancourt, figuring with the amaro I didn't need any more herbal notes from the agricole.  I had almost an oz. of lime juice and added a heavy 1/2 oz of orgeat.  No Lemon Hart float.  It was pretty tasty but it left an aftertaste that was not entirely pleasant.

Perhaps, unlike the Negroni, the Mai Tai is a classic that does not allow for wild variations. 

In my experience 2 oz of Smith & Cross instead of the Jamaica/Agricole mix work very well. And using Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao is contributing to the depth of the cocktail.

I know the comment is 2 1/2 years old but I was always befuddled but the person above bashing Smith & Cross, a highly regarded rum and one I find unique and interesting.  He evokes Ed Hamilton in his trash talk so I dug around Ed's Ministry of Rum web site looking for his scathing review and pretty much what I found was this...

"...this is not a sipping rum by contemporary standards but rather reflects the tastes and production of the 19th century.  Used sparingly in cocktails it adds a broad dimension to both the aroma and taste in cocktails".

 

Fair enough...  I'm not much of a rum sipper anyway but for me this is spot-on.