Category: Rum

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Mai Tai Day 2025

What a fabulous day in Emeryville for the annual Mai Tai Day celebration at Trader Vic’s. This year was similar in format from what they’ve been doing since 2019, a ticketed event with a tiki vendor marketplace and live music out in the parking lot, seminars and spirits tasting inside plus guest bartenders, DJs, and Trader Vic’s cocktails and food. Trader Vic’s rums were a noteworthy new entry for tasting this year.

Mrs. Mai Tai and I got things started with a wonderful Frozen Mai Tai. Out on the deck there were Mai Tais for sale but also the opportunity to make one yourself with the guidance from the Trader Vic’s bartenders. People trying this seemed to be having a lot of fun, but we just let Mika make the Original Mai Tai and the Guava Tai for Mrs. Mai Tai – both were excellent. I also tried the Spice Trader from guest bartenders The Barbary, a very allspice forward cocktail. Forbidden Island was the other guest bartending station this year and their signature Forbidden Island cocktail sold out quickly.

Seminars are always a highlight for me. I kicked things off inside a packed Lanyu Room with my presentation on the Search for the Ultimate Tai. The audience was very receptive and we thank them for bearing with the heat of the room. Slides are available if you attended or are interested. We also caught a bit of Mike Hooker‘s presentation about Holmes Cay rums including their interesting and well-reviewed new Réunion Island Rum Traditionnel. Mike even treated me to a delicious Mai Tai with this rum.

Eve Bergeron shared details of a forthcoming new Trader Vic’s cocktail book that’s being written now with a target for a release next summer. The book will feature cocktails from throughout Trader Vic’s 80+ year history including current cocktails and specialty items that are unique to each location. She also shared some details including a 1948 Trader Vic’s Oakland menu that included the Mai Tai.

Eve Bergeron

I was asked to provide the Mai Tai Toast outside and hope I did a good enough job given all the Mai Tais I’d had up to that point. It is always a pleasure to share the good word of the world’s best cocktail and Mai Tai Day is always a highlight of the year.

DJ Speakeasy Ray
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A Mysterious 17 Year Jamaican Rum

Derek from Make and Drink surprised me with a rare 17 year old Jamaican rum sold under the Golden Devil brand sold by K&L Wine Merchants. The rum is now completely sold out and remains an interesting mystery as there is no marque or distillery attribution. Could it be related to Appleton’s 17 Year Legend release?

I was able to procure a bottle and it tastes similar to the Appleton Hearts releases, 100% pot still rums that are aged for 20 years or more, but I suspect that we’ll never truly know the origin.

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Not the Mai Tai Rum You’re Looking For. Or Is It?

There’s been a lot of online hype for Holmes Cay’s new Réunion Island Rum Traditionnel – Single Origin Edition, a rum from a French island but made with molasses rather than sugar cane juice that’s commonly seen French rhums in U.S. markets. Because Trader Vic used a rum from French department Martinique in his “second adjusted Mai Tai formula” there’s been interest in what kind of rum was used back in the 1950s. Sleuthing by Martin Cate and Matt Pietrek indicates a molasses origin for Vic’s Martinique rum, and since molasses rum from Martinique is not available having one from a different French department is seen as the next best thing.

But is it the rum you want for a second adjusted formula Mai Tai?

Photo courtesy Derek from Make and Drink

No, no it isn’t.

Vic said that “Martinique rums are similar to dark Jamaica rums because they are dark and pungent in flavor and aroma” which is nothing like the Holmes Cay Traditionnel. While this rum does has industrial/solvent type notes but they’re very mild and nothing like Holmes Cay’s Réunion Island Grand Arôme Rum. It is fairly light in color and comes from a column still, so lighter in body than Jamaican rums.

So if you’re trying to replicate the second adjusted formula, this rum isn’t it; we suggest Worthy Park 109 as a readily available substitute that tastes like Vic described it.

But are you looking for a pretty interesting rum to make a great Mai Tai? Here we have better news, because Réunion Island Rum Traditionnel is fantastic in a Mai Tai. We paired it with Appleton 12 but it was honestly better on its own. There’s a rich character to the flavor of the Mai Tai but it is just mild enough that we think anyone would love it.

Réunion Island Rum Traditionnel is 46% ABV and retails for around $55, make it a splurge that’s worth it.

Mai Tai comparison

“Réunion Island Rum Traditionnel is fantastic in a Mai Tai”

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National Rum Day 2025

I decided to celebrate early with this fab 1991 rum from Trinidad, made at an undisclosed distillery, during a visit to Smuggler’s Cove this week. Quite a full bodied flavor.

It is truly a blessing to be able to try these super old rums at Smuggler’s Cove. Time machines in a bottle.

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Tommy Bahama’s Amazing Frozen Mai Tai

Had to make time to swing by the Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar at the Fashion Valley mall while we were across the street at Tiki Oasis. This still impresses, it tastes like a Mai Tai and has plenty of rummy flavor thanks to the dark rum float.

The Marlin Bar has pretty good cocktails and I enjoyed some great sliders as well. There was even a couple playing live music during our visit.

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The Essential Ingredient in the Halekulani Mai Tai

Everyone is getting geared up for Mai Tai Day on August 30, including the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki. This is the home of one of Waikiki’s best Mai Tais, made in a fashion very similar to the original Hawaiian Mai Tai that was introduced in 1953 by Trader Vic.

Earlier this year we covered the evolution of the cocktail based on published recipes that the Halekulani has made available over the years. The current version is pretty good and like that 1950s original Hawaiian Mai Tai it uses the sweeteners in equal portions, plus a dark rum alongside a lighter rum.

Every great Mai Tai needs a signature rum, and the Halekulani’s Mai Tai is no exception. The key ingredient here is the float of Lemon Hart 151 rum, which adds savory smoky notes to the cocktail along with the layer of color that tourists expect in Mai Tais in Waikiki. It is truly essential to the success of this cocktail, and mild low-proof dark rums simply don’t cut it. Other brands that are suitable for the float here would be Hamilton 151, Planteray OFTD, or any dark Guyana rum.

The recipe is not quite an original 1944, nor is it a “Tourist Tai” with tons of pineapple and OJ. The Halekuani Mai Tai is its own thing, and it is delicious.

Favorite memory at the Halekuani: relaxing in the shade to the sound of waves lapping on the shore, sipping an amazing Mai Tai that’s unlike any other on Waikiki.

Halekulani Mai Tai

1¼ oz Lime Juice

⅓ oz Orgeat

⅓ oz Rock Candy Syrup

⅓ oz Orange Curacao

¾ oz Bacardi Select/Black Rum

¾ oz Bacardi Gold Rum

Combine ingredients over crushed ice

Float ½ oz Lemon Hart 151 Rum

Garnish with lime wheel, sugar cane stick, and vanda orchid

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Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum vs. Ultimate Mai Tai Rum

As previously posted, I set out to recreate the Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum that was issued in the 60s-80s. Comprised of mostly Jamaican rum, plus Martinique and Virgin Islands rum, this rum was used the Mai Tai, Suffering Bastard, and other Trader Vic’s recipes of the era.

As we’re want to do, we did a little comparison test with this rum and our our Ultimate Mai Tai rum blend, a bold and boozy four rum combo of Appleton 12, Smith & Cross, Planteray Xaymaca, and Planteray OFTD. The two Mai Tais were made with common ingredients including shared pool of juice.

These are actually pretty close, but both Mrs. Mai Tai and I preferred the Ultimate Mai Tai blend.