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 a riff on the Eastern Sour, a Trader Vic’s cocktail that features orange juice, lemon juice, orgeat, and bourbon. I thought I’d try it with rum instead.
2 ½ oz Orange Juice
¾ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Orgeat
1 oz Appleton Reserve Rum
1 oz Plantation Xaymaca Rum
This didn’t turn out as good as I thought it would. Perhaps lemon juice would have paired better with the orange. They can’t all be winners.
New issue of Exotica Moderne!
A ray of sunshine is the new release of the magazine covering the tiki lifestyle, including artists, music, and essays. This time, I have a cocktail published which makes it three issues in a row with photos, an article, or a recipe. It makes me feel good to contribute this magazine. Head on over to House of Tabu and pick up your copy.
This term has been the matter of some debate amongst tiki nerds. It has been used most recently to refer to a Mai Tai made with a 151 float, a practice developed at the now-shuttered second Trader Vic’s location in San Francisco. According to the story in Smuggler’s Cove by Martin and Rebecca Cate, a long-time customer liked his Mai Tais this way and the name was adapted based on the patron’s age.
But as recently as the 1990s, the Old Way Mai Tai was how Trader Vic’s referred to the cocktail made with the original ingredients and not using the Mai Tai mix that was used in place of the orgeat and curaçao. You can see this on some press materials distributed through the late 1990s, and Trader Vic’s grandson Peter Seely used that term in an interview in 1998. Today, the “1944 Mai Tai” is the most commonly used term to designate a Mai Tai made according to the original formula and with scratch ingredients and Trader Vic’s uses the term “Original Mai Tai” for trademark reasons.
The Old Way Mai Tai recipe shown here is also notable in its use of the St. James Rhum from Martinique. This agricole-style rhum made from sugar cane juice differs from the Jamaican rum that is made from molasses and was used in the original Mai Tai in 1944. During yesterday’s Zoom webinar organized by Trader Vic’s, cocktail historian Jeff “Beachbum” Berry theorized that the use of St. James dated back to the 1960s at Trader Vic’s locations. Eve Bergeron of Trader Vic’s noted that the Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum sold in the late 1960s-1980s contained 70% Jamaican Rum, 20% from Martinique, and 10% Virgin Islands.
Last night’s Zoom with the Oakhana turned into Havana Club night. Somehow nearly every one of the Bay Area locals had a bottle of the contraband Havana Club rum on hand.
That’s how you know we’re hardcore rum nerds.
So much fun seeing all the Oakland Ohana. Someday soon, in person.
