Mai Tai Hawaiian Cocktail Recipe

The Mai Tai is Tahitian for "the very best" and was invented by a gentleman by the name of Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. from San Francisco. In 1934 he opened a small restaurant in Oakland, California named Hinky Dink's, which name was soon changed to "Trader Vic's and became a very popular Polynesian-themed restaurant chain. The Mai Tai was created in his restaurant in 1944 and introduced to the Hawaiian islands in 1953. While creating this new cocktail, Victor employed what was quickly becoming the hallmark of all his recipes: a gentle touch, which was meant to compliment the original taste, not to over power or disguise the main ingredients. The following recipe is the original, and though today there are many variations, this will remain "the very best".

Ingredients:

• 1oz Jamaican rum (17-year-old J. Wray Nephew Jamaican rum is an excellent choice)
• 1oz Martinique rum (Rhum St. James is good)
• 1/2 oz orange curacao (Holland DeKuyper Orange Curacao)
• 1/4 oz Orgeat syrup (French Garnier Orgeat)
• 1/4 oz Rock Candy Syrup
• 3/4 oz freshly squeezed lime juice.
• and a dash of vanilla...is how "Trader Vic" did it.

Preparation:

Put ice in a Shaker. Combine all ingredients, and as with any cocktail, always add your non-alcoholics first as to not water down the beverage. Shake 5-6 times, and pour into a rocks glass. Garnish with a mint sprig, one pineapple spear, and a cocktail cherry.

Now as mentioned before there are many ways to make a Mai Tai, however just to clear up several misconceptions...There is no float of dark rum, nor grenadine or 5 different tropical fruit juices. No umbrella, unless you are on a cruise ship and it is raining. And the original recipe did not call for sour mix.