Tiki Kon Seminar: The (De)Evolution of the Hawaiian Mai Tai
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.
Session Description:
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.
Trader Vic’s Emeryville Mai Tai Day Seminar: The (De)Evolution of the Hawaiian Mai Tai
An expended version of the presentation was presented at Trader Vic’s on Mai Tai Day 2022. This wasn’t recorded but you can view the slides and other materials on this site.
View the slides from the Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Day Seminar
San Francisco Rum Festival Presentation: The Mai Tai in Hawai’i
An add-on experience connected to the San Francisco Rum Festival and Congress held at Trader Vic’s Emeryville in 2023 Rum Education for a Cause was a fundraiser for Maui, including the session about the Mai Tai in Hawai’i, delivered in conjunction with Kuleana Rum Works and Kō Hana Distillers.
Appreciating Rum Through the Lens of the Mai Tai
Presented to the Three Rum Club at Tiki Tom’s in Walnut Creek, the 2024 seminar discusses how the rum in the Mai Tai changed over the years and additional historical details, stories, and photos.
(Nearly) Everything You Know About Rum in a Mai Tai is Wrong
Presented at Tiki Oasis 2024, the session covers the details of how the rums for a Mai Tai changed over the years, including stories and photos from the 1940s to present.
Session Description: While the first Mai Tai was born with long-aged pot-still Jamaican rum, over the decades the Trader used rums from various islands and styles to produce Mai Tais for different purposes. Learn how the rums and recipes for the Mai Tai evolved over the years, and how changing the rum can make your Mai Tai more palatable for your guests. Think you know everything about rum in a Mai Tai? Prepare to have your assumptions challenged.
Rums of the Mai Tai – Secrets Revealed
I presented a session with Rum Wonk Matt Pietrek at the Rum Congress at the 2024 San Francisco Rum Festival. This covered the evolution of rums in the Trader Vic’s Mai Tai, with deep dives on the original J. Wray & Nephew 17, the rums of the original Hawaiian Mai Tai, and the 1950s era Martinique rhum.
