DrinkBoy : Cocktails : Mai Tai

Mai Tai: 1 ounce white rum; 1 ounce gold rum; 1/2 ounce orange curaçao; 1/2 ounce orgeat; 1/2 ounce lime juice; Garnish: Float of dark rum (optional), and garnish with speared pineapple chunk and cherry.; Shake with ice. Strain into an ice filled Old Fashioned glass.; Source: Created in 1944 by Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron.; This recipe is a slight variation of the original Trader Vic's recipe. Feel free to experiment with different rums if you like.

Mai Tai: Trader Vic's original Mai Tai recipe was made with 2 ounces of 17 year old Wray & Nephew rum, the juice from one lime, 1/2 ounce of Holland DeKuyper Orange Curacao, 1/2 ounce of French Garnier Orgeat, and 1/4 ounce Rock Candy Syrup. Today, the Wray & Nephew rum is no longer available, and it was a wonderfully rich flavored rum indeed.

My version of the recipe is trying to simplify this drink as much as possible in order to make it easily approached by home bartenders. For this reason I am simply using an ounce of gold and an ounce of white rum. Because this isn't nearly as heady as the 17 year old Wray & Nephew, I am leaving out the simple syrup, because that would have otherwise made this drink too sweet. Feel free to experiement with different rums on your own, and if you feel it necessary, by all means add a little simple syrup to adjust the balance.