How to Make a Mai Tai

Start off by bringing down the seventeen year old rum, preferably J. Wray Nephew, then pluck one orchid which we’ll use for the float, and of course don’t forget the French Garnier Orgeat!  Say what nuck-nuck?  How about a Mai Tai recipe for the rest of us?  And not one that calls for a half ounce of Grenadine.  Summer will descend upon our bars before we know it and we don’t all work at Trader Vics.  So let’s lay out a Mai Tai recipe that can be built behind most any bar.

In a cocktail shaker filled two thirds of the way with ice add:

Add 1 oz. of Dark Rum.  (Preferably Aged.)

Add 1 oz. of Light Rum.

Add 1/2 oz. of Orgeat, which is an Almond syrup.

(1/4 oz. of Falernum Liqueur may be substituted but it adds spice to the drink.  Another alternative would be to add 1 dash of Almond Extract.  With either of these substitutes add a 1/4 oz. of Orange Juice.)

Add 3/4 oz. of Orange Curacao.  (Triple Sec. may be substituted for this, but not Cointreau or Grand Marnier.)

Shake all the ingredients over ice for 10-12 seconds before straining into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass.

Add a sprig of mint and a straw to the drink.  Next spear a Maraschino cherry to a wedge of pineapple and set on the rim for garnish.  An orange wedge may be substituted for the pineapple.

See, no big deal.  Any bartender anywhere in the U.S. of A. can make them by the dozen.  Now go make a bundle with all those tiki-heads.