The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai
Traveling the Bay Area and beyond to find the best Mai Tai in the world! Tiki, cocktails, and adventures by Kevin Crossman
This was dinner that Mrs Mai Tai made the other night, which I ate while isolating in my office since the weekend with COVID again. Only a mild case, thankfully.
So, having the option for a Trader Vic’s canned Mai Tai was pretty nice. Add this to the reasons to get these and gave them on hand at home. Plus a reminder that among the canned Mai Tais in this price tier, the Trader Vic’s is the best we’ve tried so far. Available at BevMo and online.
More info: Ready to Drink Mai Tais
For some reason this video didn’t make it into my ego filters after it was published on Mai Tai Day. Thanks to Australia’s Steve the Bartender for showing off the Ultimate Mai Tai rum blend and recipe to his 600,000 subscribers.
The Ultimate Mai Tai rum blend features four flavorful rums, including two overproof ones. So it’s a rum blend for rum lovers, as Steve says. I’ll take Steve’s verdict, “it’s an excellent Mai Tai” any day. Cheers, mate.
Ultimate Mai Tai by Kevin Crossman
1 oz Lime Juice
½ oz Orgeat (Latitude 29)
¼ oz Demerara Syrup (BG Reynolds)
½ oz Orange Curacao (Ferrand Dry Curacao)
½ oz Appleton 12 Rum
½ oz Smith & Cross Rum
½ oz Plantation OFTD Rum
½ oz Plantation Xaymaca Rum
Garnish with Mint Sprig and spent Lime shell
Watch the video on the Steve the Bartender channel
We returned to Tiki Tom’s last Thursday when the temps in Walnut Creek were 112°. Thankfully, everything was cool inside.
The interior remains gorgeous and music is on point. We also got a preview of some new special effects that are coming soon in conjunction with some upcoming menu changes. It’s great to see investments continuing here, even after their elaborate renovation last year.
The cocktail prices have come down a bit since our last visit, so the $15 Mai Tai ($10 for Happy Hour) is within reasonable norms in the Bay Area. Especially since this Mai Tai is so tasty, using an aged and overproof Jamaican rums. Mrs. Mai Tai really loved the Ohana Punch, a Pina Colada riff featuring green apples, walnuts. So outstanding she ordered a second. The menu is split between classics and originals.
Our food was pretty good and all items were delivered to the table at the same time, which is an improvement over the procedure on our previous visit. The menu leans into Hawaiian favorites, and I liked the Kahlua Pork Bowl with rice.
Thanks to our friend Tiki with Ray who arrived before we did, we were introduced to owners Darrin and Rick DeRita, as well as Steffani DeRita who is the GM. Suffice to say that they told us a lot about the rebirth of the venue and discussed some of the upcoming menu changes too. There are some very interesting things coming, including the BenZombie cocktail that pays homage to Bamboo Ben who led the renovation build.
We appreciate the hospitality from the DeRitas who were super accommodating on a couple things during our visit.
Recorded July 1, 2022 at Tiki Kon, we’ve combined the professionally recorded audio with the slides so that you can experience it at home. There are a couple bonus slides during the Q&A.
Everyone is familiar with the iconic Hawaiian Mai Tai that features pineapple juice and a dark rum float. This version of the Mai Tai is quite different from the original 1944 Mai Tai created at Trader Vic’s. When did the Mai Tai in Hawaii become the “Hawaiian Mai Tai?” It wasn’t in 1953 when Trader Vic brought the Mai Tai to Hawaii and is later than you might think. Learn more about this iconic cocktail and how it evolved over the years based on contemporaneous reports and published recipes.
Note that this presentation was updated for Mai Tai Day at Trader Vic’s. That presentation wasn’t recorded but you can view the slides on this site.
The iconic Mai Tai at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki was introduced by Trader Vic Bergeron in 1953. During the 1950s the reputation for this cocktail built such a following that it was described as the “top tourist tantalizer” in 1959. This original Hawaiian Mai Tai was similar to the original, notably switching from long-aged Jamaica rums to a blend of Light Puerto Rican and Dark Jamaican rums – and no added pineapple or orange juice!
But the Mai Tai you get today at the Royal Hawaiian differs considerably, since it uses the pineapple juice and orange juice commonly seen in modern Island-style Mai Tais.
The earliest known recipe for the Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai comes via a letter written to a customer by Trader Vic himself. This is still substantially similar to the original 1944 recipe, though with different proportion of sweeteners and notably using both a Dark Jamaican rum and also a light rum. It is light and refreshing and a good dark Jamaican rum does punch through in this recipe. Try Worthy Park 109.
1956 Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai
Juice of One Lime
Dash of Rock Candy Syrup
Dash of Curacao
Dash of Orgeat
1½ ounces Trader Vic’s Puerto Rican Rum
¾ ounce Myers’s Plantation Punch Rum
Stir and decorate with fresh mint
This style of original Hawaiian Mai Tai was commonly seen during the 1960s and beyond. It is noteworthy to note that Trader Vic never added pineapple juice to a Mai Tai.
The use of Pineapple Juice became common in Mai Tais in Hawaii starting in the 1960s, but The Royal Hawaiian seems to be a late convert. There’s a published recipe from their sister hotel The Moana Surfrider in 1968 that’s substantially similar to the 1956 version. However, there must have been pressure to include Pineapple Juice from many tourists.
This recipe comes from Drinks of Hawaii, 2nd Ed. 1972, by Paul B. Dick. The entry describes this is “now being used by the Sheraton” implying a recent change. The recipe included in the book did not specify an exact amount of Pineapple or Orange Juice except to say that they should be used in equal parts. The recipe is notable in that it describes using 3 ounces of rum, including two flavorful dark rums. But a rum float is not specified.
This recipe was later used in many books by Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, who designated 1 oz each for the Pineapple and Orange Juice. This seems like the correct choice, keeping the balance with the other ingredients.
1972 Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai
½ oz Lime Juice
¼ oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
1 oz unsweetened Pineapple Juice
¼ oz Sugar Syrup
¼ oz Orgeat
¼ oz Orange Curacao
1 oz Demerara Rum
1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum
1 oz Light Rum
This recipe comes from a 1997 Honolulu Star-Bulletin article, and curiously doesn’t include any Pineapple Juice.
1990s Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai
5 oz Mai Tai Mix
1 oz White Rum
1 oz Myers’s Dark Rum
Fill glass with ice, add mix and rums
Mai Tai Mix
10 oz Orange Juice
4 oz Orange Curacao
2 oz Orgeat
2 oz Rock Candy Syrup
2 oz Sour Lemon
Combine all ingredients and add water to make 1 quart
Mai Tai Mix (single use)
1½ oz Orange Juice
⅔ oz Orange Curacao
⅓ oz Orgeat
⅓ oz Rock Candy Syrup
⅓ oz Sour Lemon Juice
1¾ oz Water
This devolved “secret recipe” was published on the Royal Hawaiian’s website, and includes some curious ingredients. The use of almond-flavored Amaretto liqueur in place of Orgeat syrup is sadly not uncommon in Mai Tais. Amaretto is fine elsewhere but doesn’t add the right flavors or body to the cocktail like Orgeat does. The use of Cherry Vanilla Puree, even in a small amount, is also a noteworthy head-scratcher.
2010s Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai
Build in shaker with ice:
1 oz Bacardi Rum
1 tsp Cherry Vanilla Puree
½ oz Amaretto di Saronno
½ oz Cointreau
1 oz Fresh Govinda Orange Juice
2 oz Fresh Govinda Pineapple Juice
½ oz Whaler’s Dark Rum Float
In mid-2022, the Royal Hawaiian updated their website to include this updated “secret recipe” and thankfully it’s much more of a standard Island Mai Tai. It is nice to see Orgeat coming back, though I don’t find Old Lahaina rum to be particularly good. Nonetheless, I did very much enjoy the cocktail in June 2022 when I sat looking out at Diamond Head.
2022 Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai
2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
½ oz Orgeat
½ oz Orange Curacao
1 oz Old Lahaina Light Rum
1 oz Old Lahaina Dark Rum (float)
Shake all ingredients except the Dark Rum with ice. Pour in a large “bucket” glass. Float the Dark Rum, garnish with a parasol with cherry, pineapple and lime wedge.
Congrats to our friends at The Kon-Tiki who celebrated Monday evening with the long-awaited release of their Worthy Park Single Barrel Rum. This cask-strength rum from Jamaica comes in at a hefty 66% ABV and you’ll taste every bit of the flavor. Obviously overproof and quite funky by general rum standards, but not so much that this can’t be sipped neat or on the rocks. It’s from barrel 717 and aged five years in the tropics.
These bottles are for sale. Prices vary depending on whether you buy one, two, or a case, but think ~$60 per bottle. It is a great rum and supplies are limited, so be sure to visit The Kon-Tiki soon to secure this great rum.
For the party on Monday, there were some cocktail specials featuring this rum along with other products from the Worthy Park / Rum-Bar Rum portfolio. Of course I had to try the Kon-Tiki Barrel Mai Tai and this rum is simply a great choice. One of my favorite Mai Tais of 2022. Expect to see this as a higher-end Mai Tai option in a revised menu coming soon.
Got to speak a little with Zan Kong who is the Commercial Manager for Spirits at Worthy Park. Such a nice guy and knowledgable and passionate about what Worthy Park is doing.
For many years the distillery has made a tidy profit selling bulk rum to the likes of Hamilton Rums, Doctor Bird, and others. But lately the distillery seems to be using more of their rum for their own products. I’m a fan of their mainstream aged rum release Worthy Park Single Estate Reserve, but also their unaged Rum-Bar Overproof expression and Worthy Park 109, a lightly aged dark rum. 100% pot still rum, always.
Our first time back to Last Rites in a couple years. We had an early dinner nearby and popped in shortly after they opened at 6:00 to find a few folks at the bar. So we found a little nook off behind the front door, so still quite immersive. This was our first time sitting in the airplane seats that reinforce the plane crash into the jungle backstory.
Cocktails were fantastic. I was driving and just had the Bahama Trauma, quite spicy thanks to the spiced rum, syrups, and bitters – but still a great punch. It’s topped with a dried mango that was decadent. Mrs. Mai Tai tried the Kali Ma’s Doom, a gin and cream cocktail that I thought was fabulous. She also tried the Golden Idol which is a great no-ABV Painkiller riff with Turmeric Milk.
The atmosphere inside Last Rites is still going strong, with some light background music that at times leaned into New Age to nice effect. Staff were super friendly and prompt with service. We really need to get back here more often.
