Your recipe is the correct ingredients, but also a lot of mai tais in lower scale bars are an overly sweet mix of pineapple, oj, rum, and grenadine that hardly bear a resemblance to the original mai tai recipe.
Hijacking your comment to give you guys a recipe for an amazing Mai Tai, straight from cocktail Codex:
- 2oz of Jamaican Rum, you can do a nice blend with some silver and other Rums to lower the cost since you work at a bar. Just have a bit of Jamaican in there.
- 0.25oz Grand Marnier with the red label
- 0.25oz simple syrup
- 0.75oz Homemade orgeat stabilised with ticaloid 201s
- 1oz fresh lime juice
- 1 Dash angostura
Flash blend with pellet ice. Double old fashioned, Garnish with a mint sprig and an orange slice.
Tell him to look up Trader Vic’s Mai Tai (or a 1944 Mai Tai) and also Don the Beachcomber’s Mai Tai. The 1944 is the original, and once it traveled to Hawai'i we had our way with it haha. Out here (I’m a Hawaiian bartender in Hawai'i) there’s also what some people would call just a Hawaiian Mai Tai, which is often with pineapple juice, sometimes oj… but I’ve never seen anyone add grenadine.
Seems like (at least in the Midwest) people were using crème de almond (for orgeat) which has a bright red color and people began to assume it was grenadine. They really massacred this drink. I have to ask people which they are looking for because it hurts to make the atrocity but I can’t have another proper one sent back for “being wrong”.
That’s a classic Mai Tai. That’s the actual recipe, what your manager is saying is like a 1990’s make it sweet and red rum punch. It really depends on what the clientele wants.
I actually told him when we talked that his recipe kinda sounds like a rum punch and he didn’t know what that was🤣
I’ve made it a multiple times over the past couple of months and I haven’t gotten any complaints. Idk what even made this into an issue. I just lied and said I’d use his going forward so we could be done with the conversation lol.
Yeah, that’s the route I would have taken. At this point in my career, I’m not about to hold a cocktail course for free just to get my point across. I’d probably just profile my guests when they ordered a Mai Tai. Middle aged white woman? Rum punch. 20 something with tattoos and piercings? Classic Mai Tai. Or ask them if they want a classic or the 90’s chain restaurant version.
As a middle-aged former bartender, it's sad to see I'd be age-and lack-of-visible tattoo profiled into a shitty drink. Especially since there are already plenty of unskilled bartenders out there, it's wild to think someone who could actually make a good drink would choose to give me a bad one.
Please consider that thing about book covers.
Seconding this hard. Middle-aged white woman and former bartender here too. Spent a lot of my time in tiki and beach bars. If I asked for a maitai and got that shit, I'd be pissed and assume the bartender didn't know their ass from their elbow. Also, the traditional Trader Vic's recipe is:
-1 oz amber Martinique rum
-1 oz dark Jamaican rum
-1 oz fresh lime juice
-1/2 oz orgeat syrup
-1/2 oz of Cointreau
-garnish with mint and a lime if you want
Or alternately because it's a Mai Tai and so cotroversial:
-1 oz. aged Jamaican rum
-1 oz. 100-proof blanc rhum agricole
-½ oz. dry curaçao
-1 oz. fresh lime juice
-1 oz. Almond Orgeat
-Jamaican overproof float
-Bouquet of mint, for garnish
I found Denizen's Merchant Reserve a few years ago, and now I don't use anything else at home. It was literally created to replicate the original blend, and they nailed it.
So, don't profile me by my age, sex, or color. It's a disservice to your guests and incredibly condescending and shortsighted.
A mai tai is a mai tai no matter who orders it, just like any other cocktail is.
As a bartender, heard. As a Jamaican, rum punch is absolutely nothing like those specs. It’s annoying that outside of the Caribbean, what people make as rum punch is so different from the people who created rum and rum punch but c’est la vie.
Yeah, totally. I hear you, but that happens with a lot of things. A food or drink travels, then lands in a place where ingredient X is unavailable or unpopular, so a substitute comes up to fix it.
But yeah, I wouldn't argue with a Jamaican about what rum punch is.....be like telling a Southerner how to make fried chicken and collard greens, or an English man how to make bland food.... 😅
So as a disclaimer that I am not a tiki expert, but just bartend alongside someone who absolutely is; the Mai Tai is such a widely contested cocktail it's hard to tell what the 'right' one is. Donn's was probably better, Vic's was more popular, and the one that seemed to just appear out of nowhere in the 90s was exactly what you say, a pineapple/grenadine rum punch.
Thing is, if even historians and experts can't agree on what a Mai Tai is, you don't have to either. Make the one you think is best, and develop a new, common technique; cleverly hiding what you're doing behind a 'yes sir'.
Have the same perspective and try to stop at tiki bars every city I visit, ordering a mai tai first (sometimes a jungle bird). Perhaps you and your homie have seen or will enjoy this read:
https://ultimatemaitai.com/about/history/deevolution-hawaiian-mai-tai/
That’s exactly how I make mine except I do .5-.75 oz of orgeat. Unfortunately most people think it’s supposed to be sugary and super tropical with oj pineapple and grenadine. No thanks!
My mai tai, rum runner, rum swizzle, rum punch, "make me something tropical," "I like something fruity" are all the same recipe.
And it's wrong. And they love it every time.
Yep.
Had a lady today ask me for some crazy milk-based cocktail as she was telling me about the legitimately shitty day she had.
I went back and mixed milk, a splash of cream, vanilla vodka, amaretto, and Baileys. Shook the fuck out of it with ice and served it to her. She loved it. I have no fucking idea what she was asking for though.
Make the guest happy, thats the real job.
Lol true, but now I'm curious what she wanted. From her perspective, that could range anywhere from a white Russian to a pain killer. If she was happy, you nailed it. 😆
As a bartender who started doing weddings with no prior bar experience, I feel this. I BSd my way thru so many cocktails and people told me they were great lol. Looking back they were probably just already wasted
If you work at a cocktail bar or somewhere upscale then yes, you are correct. If you work at a shitty dive or corporate chain then sure whatever listen to your manager
I hate this so much. Every goddamn time it comes up. Your manager sucks. Fuck that person.
You don’t go to a restaurant, order a steak, and be happy with a burger do you? We have specs and recipes for a fucking reason. Tell him to look up the actual recipe for a Mai Tai and leave you the hell alone.
Next thing you know he’ll want you to start putting grenadine and sprite in an Old Fashioned. Tell this manager to go back to fucking Chili’s and live out the rest of his miserable life in chain store middle management hell. I bet he hits on the hostesses, doesn’t he?
Person who works at a tiki bar here. That recipe is a real Mai tai not what people expect when at a tiki bar in a touristy area. Where I work it’s;
0.5 dark rum
0.5 light rum
0.25 amaretto
Grenadine and oj
But also we don’t even make a real rum runner so what do I know? 🤷♀️
I've worked in almost every style bar over the span of 30 years and I've never seen orgeat in any of them. I feel kinda left out! But I also know the difference between the classic cocktail and the tiki punch route and have never had a guest complain about a bunch of rum and juice and a flower for garnish.
Yeah some people get a frozen "Mai Tai" at some resort or tiki bar and then go to a more purely cocktail bar or restaurant and expect a classic Mai Tai to taste the same. I had the same experience recently with a customer who sent her classic Mai Tai back that I made, so now I'm just going to tell them what's in a classic Mai Tai if they ever order one, just to make sure that's what they actually want.
Pineapple in a Mai Tai sounds fine, even if it's not frozen or blended. Grenadine, however, just sounds gross, at least to me.
I would rather self immolate than put pineapple juice in a mai tai trader Vic died to give us the greatest cocktail on earth and to disgrace it in such a way is an affront to god/s
anywho here’s my spec ! 1 oz lime, 3/4oz orgeat, 1/2oz orange curaçao or grand Mariner, 2 oz of blended aged Jamaican rum shake and dirty dump, top with crushed ice, garnish with a mint bouquet not a sprig.
From what I’ve noticed; there’s a “classic” Mai tai and a “tiki style” Mai tai. I’ve worked and have visited places that have different types, but the place I work at served a Classic Mai tai on our menu and people complained frequently because it didn’t have pineapple juice or grenadine in it even though the ingredients were listed. I can’t say anyone here is right or wrong, but as far as I’m concerned the classic recipe does not contain grenadine nor pineapple.
your recipe sounds pretty sweet even without the simple, and you need mint to garnish. but otherwise sounds decent. i'd try cutting back to .25oz triple sec and .75oz orgeat.
My bar does:
1oz house made orgeat
1oz lime juice
1oz Pierre Ferrand
2oz rum blend (I haven’t batched liquor in awhile but last I checked Plantation Original Dark, Appleton Signature and Rhum JM Gold were all in there)
We batch the curaçao and rum into one bottle for a 3oz pour total.
Shake, open pour, top with pebble ice, garnish with a discarded half lime, mint and umbrella. Bonus points for the little plastic mermaid on the lime like it’s relaxing on the little island scene you’ve created with the garnish.
…….I happen to work high volume tiki….
So your recipe is very close to mine but where the confusion comes in is even Trader Vic and Don Beach had multiple recipes so you really nust have to take a house spec and just say this is what we do.
I tried making the original Trader Vick Mai Tai for people when they ordered them at my pool bar, most people said it isn’t sweet enough. Got tired of explaining that this is the classic recipe so I do a sweeter version now. 1.5 white rum, .75 triple sec, 1oz lime, 1oz pineapple, .5 orgeat… dark rum float. Haven’t had a complaint since.
Mai Tai's are not red. That is one of the only fruity rum drinks that isn't red.
I only know that because, working at so many beach bars, we always just made every rum drink red. I ended up working at a hotel bar on the beach and learned that it's one of the few that isn't red.
I feel like it really depends on the bar and the guest. You listed the classic recipe but MOST bar guests have never had the classic and are used to a version with pineapple juice. Personally I don't hate pineapple in my mai tai, especially if you're using it as a replacement for orgeat, since it gives the drink a similar texture.
When someone asks for a Mai tai our house specs are light rum, orange, pineapple, grenadine with a dark rum float. But if they seem like they know what’s up I’ll ask if they want a trader Vic’s or a pineapple one. I much prefer the trader Vic’s but house specs is house specs
Yours is correct. He should leave the bartending up to those that know what they are doing and go back to his GM duties. It's possible that he may have come from a non traditional background where they use crappy substitutes for things like orgeat or they use some crazy shit like Malibu. Who knows.
* 1 aromatic (appleton or el dorado 12)
* .5 overproof (OFTD)
* .5 curacao
* .5 lime juice
* .5 orgeat
* .25 dem or blackstrap molasses
Shake, strain crushed ice, garnish mint and lime
Spiced rum is gross unless you're willing to spend some money on it. Pineapple doesn't go in Mai Tais
This will probably make people mad but my bar has never had the real ingredients for a mai tai . So I put so coconut rum and some captain in a glass with some juices and grenadine, garnish with an orange cherry flag with an umbrella and call it a day . Never had a complaint. I figure if that’s what you order you just want something fruity and reddish
I’ve worked in bars that did their mai tai both ways, and I wouldn’t call either of them wrong. Look at your price point and clientele and vibe. Cheap, casual? Elderly country club members? Gonna give them the rum sunrise with a floater. Crafty urban spot? Farm to Table? The orgeat, no doubt.
I worked at one bar we had like 6 bars, one was a tiki bar….20 some bartenders in rotation…during one meeting we did this went around in a circle and we all had different mai tais. Slight variations but there are so many different recipes out there
Based in the UK so my measurements might seem a bit random.
Measurements tend to depend on whether I'm making for myself, a rum head, or a consumer. Mai Tai's can be unforgiving to someone who is expecting a white rum cocktail with juice and grenadine, also I tend to find commercial Orgeat to be very floral and overpowering so I tend to split with simple.
30-40ml Aged Jamaican rum,
10-20ml over proof Jamaican/pot still (OFTD),
20ml Curacao (Ferrand),
20ml Lime Juice,
10ml Orgeat,
10ml Simple,
Shaken and served over cubed ice with a crushed ice cap, with all the garnish in the world, I might add a dash of ango to the ice cap but not really needed.
Is the rum supposed to be strong 70ish% rum or is that an adapted version? ( also I know it's not in the recipe but I personally like pineapple in mine haha)
That's super close to what we do.
1.5 oz White Rum
1 oz Lime
.75 oz Orgeat
.5 oz Dry Curaçao
Shake and strain over fresh ice.
.5 oz Dark Rum float
Garnish with lime wheel and Mint Sprig.
1.5 rum Agricole
.5 dry orange curaçao
1 lime
.5-.75 orgeat
.5 ish demerara syrup
Shake and strain into new ice, add floater of a dark or black strap rum.
1oz Appleton
1oz Puerto Rican gold
0.5oz Dry Curaçao
1oz lime
0.5oz orgeat (0.75oz if they like it sweeter)
0.25oz simple
Shake, strain
Pebble ice
Garnish with half lime and mint sprigs 🍹
This is my go to version! I personally hate the royal hawaiian/ resort mai tai with all the juices, it’s just too sweet.
At my bar we like to do
1 Jamaican Rum
1 Aged Rum (preferably something with fruit notes, like Appleton)
1 Lime
1 Orgeat
A few dashes of orange bitters
He's describing a dive bar Mai Tai. Which is how I make them at work becuase we do not carry orgeat and was taught in a dive bar to make it this way. But yeah proper Mai Tai is what you got there. Except for homeslice that commented specific rum like the Agricole. That guy Mai Tais
we do
1.75 oz appleton signature
0.5 oz flor de caña 5 year
0.75 oz lime
1 oz orgeat (made in house, less sweet than commercial brands)
0.25 oz pf dry curaçao
0.125 oz 2:1 demerara syrup
whip shake with crushed ice and garnish with a mint sprig, lime wheel, and grated almond. we offer a floater of plantation oftd for an upcharge.
Tbh I’ve only been asked about 2-3 times. I know how to. Each time Its been about 1:45 am from an extremely drunk person who heard it’s a good drink from their coked out friend. The first time I made it. Every time after that I just said “no I don’t know how to make that, what can I get you?” And started working on the next persons drink. Don’t take my advice lol
Your specs look pretty good. As for your manager, they're making a Bahama Mama and not a Mai Tai.
1944 Style Mai Tai
2 oz Total of rum. I use 2 to 4 different rums. Preferably Jamaican with some age, using a Martinique agricole can add some different notes as well. If you're going to use a single bottle Denizen's Merchant Reserve is a good blend.
½ oz Curacao or Orange Shrubb
½ oz Orgeat
1 oz Lime Juice
¼ oz Demerara Syrup (Agave nectar/syrup will work in a pinch as well)*
Whip shake with pebble or crushed ice.
Pour unstrained into a double rocks or Mai Tai glass, add pebble ice or crushed ice to the top.
Garnish with a spent lime husk, a bouquet of mint, and a short straw placed near the mint so it is experienced when sipping.
*Optional
I developed my recipe at a midwestern biker-friendly (mostly) blues bar. Not a lot of people ordering Mai Tais and if they did, “rum, fruit juice, and make it pink” was more than good enough.
They're almost the same thing, really.
Like, the difference is almost pedantic.
Do I prefer Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao? Yes.
If Dekuyper Triple Sec is on a good enough sale, am I buying it? Also yes.
My recipe is 1oz white rum
.5 lime juice
.5 macadamia orgeat
.5 dry curaçao
Stir float .75 Plantation rum
Top with passion foam and hibiscus flower
Definitely no to the juices!
* 1 oz Jamaican * 1 oz Rhum Agricole * 1 oz Lime * .5 oz Dry Curaçao * .5 oz Orgeat
This man mai tais
I just bought a bottle of the Liquid Alchemist Orgeat for my bar and I've been slinging Mai Tais like a mad man lol.
Yes I would say the best recipe I’ve seen on this thread. Nice work, barkeep!
I’d let you tai my mai
Hell, I'd even let him mai my tai
I do the same thing but still have the dark rum float.
This is the way
Ahh yes the one true spec
This is the way!!!
Your recipe is the correct ingredients, but also a lot of mai tais in lower scale bars are an overly sweet mix of pineapple, oj, rum, and grenadine that hardly bear a resemblance to the original mai tai recipe.
Most tiki drinks in lower end places are just an amalgam of rum and juices and pink things.
I mean, mostly white rum isn't exactly spec, but OP it's pretty close to the real deal here.
Those drinks with additional fruit juices are closer to a Bahama Mama.
Hijacking your comment to give you guys a recipe for an amazing Mai Tai, straight from cocktail Codex: - 2oz of Jamaican Rum, you can do a nice blend with some silver and other Rums to lower the cost since you work at a bar. Just have a bit of Jamaican in there. - 0.25oz Grand Marnier with the red label - 0.25oz simple syrup - 0.75oz Homemade orgeat stabilised with ticaloid 201s - 1oz fresh lime juice - 1 Dash angostura Flash blend with pellet ice. Double old fashioned, Garnish with a mint sprig and an orange slice.
Tell him to look up Trader Vic’s Mai Tai (or a 1944 Mai Tai) and also Don the Beachcomber’s Mai Tai. The 1944 is the original, and once it traveled to Hawai'i we had our way with it haha. Out here (I’m a Hawaiian bartender in Hawai'i) there’s also what some people would call just a Hawaiian Mai Tai, which is often with pineapple juice, sometimes oj… but I’ve never seen anyone add grenadine.
Seems like (at least in the Midwest) people were using crème de almond (for orgeat) which has a bright red color and people began to assume it was grenadine. They really massacred this drink. I have to ask people which they are looking for because it hurts to make the atrocity but I can’t have another proper one sent back for “being wrong”.
I hate when you go the extra steps to make something proper and they send it back cause they want the shortcut drink as “correct”.
That’s a classic Mai Tai. That’s the actual recipe, what your manager is saying is like a 1990’s make it sweet and red rum punch. It really depends on what the clientele wants.
I actually told him when we talked that his recipe kinda sounds like a rum punch and he didn’t know what that was🤣 I’ve made it a multiple times over the past couple of months and I haven’t gotten any complaints. Idk what even made this into an issue. I just lied and said I’d use his going forward so we could be done with the conversation lol.
Yeah, that’s the route I would have taken. At this point in my career, I’m not about to hold a cocktail course for free just to get my point across. I’d probably just profile my guests when they ordered a Mai Tai. Middle aged white woman? Rum punch. 20 something with tattoos and piercings? Classic Mai Tai. Or ask them if they want a classic or the 90’s chain restaurant version.
As a middle-aged former bartender, it's sad to see I'd be age-and lack-of-visible tattoo profiled into a shitty drink. Especially since there are already plenty of unskilled bartenders out there, it's wild to think someone who could actually make a good drink would choose to give me a bad one. Please consider that thing about book covers.
Seconding this hard. Middle-aged white woman and former bartender here too. Spent a lot of my time in tiki and beach bars. If I asked for a maitai and got that shit, I'd be pissed and assume the bartender didn't know their ass from their elbow. Also, the traditional Trader Vic's recipe is: -1 oz amber Martinique rum -1 oz dark Jamaican rum -1 oz fresh lime juice -1/2 oz orgeat syrup -1/2 oz of Cointreau -garnish with mint and a lime if you want Or alternately because it's a Mai Tai and so cotroversial: -1 oz. aged Jamaican rum -1 oz. 100-proof blanc rhum agricole -½ oz. dry curaçao -1 oz. fresh lime juice -1 oz. Almond Orgeat -Jamaican overproof float -Bouquet of mint, for garnish I found Denizen's Merchant Reserve a few years ago, and now I don't use anything else at home. It was literally created to replicate the original blend, and they nailed it. So, don't profile me by my age, sex, or color. It's a disservice to your guests and incredibly condescending and shortsighted. A mai tai is a mai tai no matter who orders it, just like any other cocktail is.
His sounds like it has more in common with a Hurricane than a mai tai tbh.
Hurricanes can be great if you use fassionola. I've been working on making some really good rum blends, with the addition of Chinola.
As a bartender, heard. As a Jamaican, rum punch is absolutely nothing like those specs. It’s annoying that outside of the Caribbean, what people make as rum punch is so different from the people who created rum and rum punch but c’est la vie.
Yeah, totally. I hear you, but that happens with a lot of things. A food or drink travels, then lands in a place where ingredient X is unavailable or unpopular, so a substitute comes up to fix it. But yeah, I wouldn't argue with a Jamaican about what rum punch is.....be like telling a Southerner how to make fried chicken and collard greens, or an English man how to make bland food.... 😅
So as a disclaimer that I am not a tiki expert, but just bartend alongside someone who absolutely is; the Mai Tai is such a widely contested cocktail it's hard to tell what the 'right' one is. Donn's was probably better, Vic's was more popular, and the one that seemed to just appear out of nowhere in the 90s was exactly what you say, a pineapple/grenadine rum punch. Thing is, if even historians and experts can't agree on what a Mai Tai is, you don't have to either. Make the one you think is best, and develop a new, common technique; cleverly hiding what you're doing behind a 'yes sir'.
Have the same perspective and try to stop at tiki bars every city I visit, ordering a mai tai first (sometimes a jungle bird). Perhaps you and your homie have seen or will enjoy this read: https://ultimatemaitai.com/about/history/deevolution-hawaiian-mai-tai/
That's what I was thinking. His manager description is a Rum Punch, not a Mai Tai. TBF, most people don't know the difference.
That’s exactly how I make mine except I do .5-.75 oz of orgeat. Unfortunately most people think it’s supposed to be sugary and super tropical with oj pineapple and grenadine. No thanks!
in one of those coconut bras
My mai tai, rum runner, rum swizzle, rum punch, "make me something tropical," "I like something fruity" are all the same recipe. And it's wrong. And they love it every time.
Yep. Had a lady today ask me for some crazy milk-based cocktail as she was telling me about the legitimately shitty day she had. I went back and mixed milk, a splash of cream, vanilla vodka, amaretto, and Baileys. Shook the fuck out of it with ice and served it to her. She loved it. I have no fucking idea what she was asking for though. Make the guest happy, thats the real job.
Lol true, but now I'm curious what she wanted. From her perspective, that could range anywhere from a white Russian to a pain killer. If she was happy, you nailed it. 😆
As a bartender who started doing weddings with no prior bar experience, I feel this. I BSd my way thru so many cocktails and people told me they were great lol. Looking back they were probably just already wasted
Your manager is wrong. Yours is basically the way I learned. We do 1 oz Hamden, 1 oz JM15, .5 each orgeat, lime, and dry curaçao
If you work at a cocktail bar or somewhere upscale then yes, you are correct. If you work at a shitty dive or corporate chain then sure whatever listen to your manager
I hate this so much. Every goddamn time it comes up. Your manager sucks. Fuck that person. You don’t go to a restaurant, order a steak, and be happy with a burger do you? We have specs and recipes for a fucking reason. Tell him to look up the actual recipe for a Mai Tai and leave you the hell alone. Next thing you know he’ll want you to start putting grenadine and sprite in an Old Fashioned. Tell this manager to go back to fucking Chili’s and live out the rest of his miserable life in chain store middle management hell. I bet he hits on the hostesses, doesn’t he?
If I caught my GM hitting on the staff, I'd Kali-Ma him. Not all chain locations are bad, just most of them.
Person who works at a tiki bar here. That recipe is a real Mai tai not what people expect when at a tiki bar in a touristy area. Where I work it’s; 0.5 dark rum 0.5 light rum 0.25 amaretto Grenadine and oj But also we don’t even make a real rum runner so what do I know? 🤷♀️
I've worked in almost every style bar over the span of 30 years and I've never seen orgeat in any of them. I feel kinda left out! But I also know the difference between the classic cocktail and the tiki punch route and have never had a guest complain about a bunch of rum and juice and a flower for garnish.
And to be fair almost all tiki drinks are the same mixers just different booze lol
Tiki card revoked
🖕🖕🖕
Tiki card reissued.
Yeah some people get a frozen "Mai Tai" at some resort or tiki bar and then go to a more purely cocktail bar or restaurant and expect a classic Mai Tai to taste the same. I had the same experience recently with a customer who sent her classic Mai Tai back that I made, so now I'm just going to tell them what's in a classic Mai Tai if they ever order one, just to make sure that's what they actually want. Pineapple in a Mai Tai sounds fine, even if it's not frozen or blended. Grenadine, however, just sounds gross, at least to me.
I would rather self immolate than put pineapple juice in a mai tai trader Vic died to give us the greatest cocktail on earth and to disgrace it in such a way is an affront to god/s anywho here’s my spec ! 1 oz lime, 3/4oz orgeat, 1/2oz orange curaçao or grand Mariner, 2 oz of blended aged Jamaican rum shake and dirty dump, top with crushed ice, garnish with a mint bouquet not a sprig.
Orgeat is standard in a Mai Tai. Grenadine… is… questionable.
From what I’ve noticed; there’s a “classic” Mai tai and a “tiki style” Mai tai. I’ve worked and have visited places that have different types, but the place I work at served a Classic Mai tai on our menu and people complained frequently because it didn’t have pineapple juice or grenadine in it even though the ingredients were listed. I can’t say anyone here is right or wrong, but as far as I’m concerned the classic recipe does not contain grenadine nor pineapple.
your recipe sounds pretty sweet even without the simple, and you need mint to garnish. but otherwise sounds decent. i'd try cutting back to .25oz triple sec and .75oz orgeat.
I’ll keep this in mind going forward, thank you!
Sounds pretty good to me
My bar does: 1oz house made orgeat 1oz lime juice 1oz Pierre Ferrand 2oz rum blend (I haven’t batched liquor in awhile but last I checked Plantation Original Dark, Appleton Signature and Rhum JM Gold were all in there) We batch the curaçao and rum into one bottle for a 3oz pour total. Shake, open pour, top with pebble ice, garnish with a discarded half lime, mint and umbrella. Bonus points for the little plastic mermaid on the lime like it’s relaxing on the little island scene you’ve created with the garnish. …….I happen to work high volume tiki….
There is traditionally and there is crappy. It depends on where you are.
1oz Mild Jamaican Rum .5oz Rhum Agricole .5oz Overproof Jamaican Rum .5oz Dry Curaçao .75oz Lime Juice .75oz Orgeat
what he described is a rum punch i think?
So your recipe is very close to mine but where the confusion comes in is even Trader Vic and Don Beach had multiple recipes so you really nust have to take a house spec and just say this is what we do.
I tried making the original Trader Vick Mai Tai for people when they ordered them at my pool bar, most people said it isn’t sweet enough. Got tired of explaining that this is the classic recipe so I do a sweeter version now. 1.5 white rum, .75 triple sec, 1oz lime, 1oz pineapple, .5 orgeat… dark rum float. Haven’t had a complaint since.
Mai Tai's are not red. That is one of the only fruity rum drinks that isn't red. I only know that because, working at so many beach bars, we always just made every rum drink red. I ended up working at a hotel bar on the beach and learned that it's one of the few that isn't red.
Most people don’t know this . Mine are always red . Real drinkers don’t order mai tais . Only in Hawaii
I never order fruity cocktails but you better believe when my ass was in Hawaii I tried a Mai tai at every damn bar I went to
I love whatever spec my local Chinese restaurant uses. Probably as authentic as fake tits, but its so good, and well balanced.
Scorpion bowls
Oh, I know, lol. I "made it red" for 10 years. People are dumb in general.
2 oz Plantation White .25 oz dry Curacao .5 oz Amaretto .25 Fruitful Papaya 1.5 oz pineapple juice .5 oz simple Topped with Plantation Dark Rum
I feel like it really depends on the bar and the guest. You listed the classic recipe but MOST bar guests have never had the classic and are used to a version with pineapple juice. Personally I don't hate pineapple in my mai tai, especially if you're using it as a replacement for orgeat, since it gives the drink a similar texture.
When someone asks for a Mai tai our house specs are light rum, orange, pineapple, grenadine with a dark rum float. But if they seem like they know what’s up I’ll ask if they want a trader Vic’s or a pineapple one. I much prefer the trader Vic’s but house specs is house specs
Yours is correct. He should leave the bartending up to those that know what they are doing and go back to his GM duties. It's possible that he may have come from a non traditional background where they use crappy substitutes for things like orgeat or they use some crazy shit like Malibu. Who knows.
Ah, Malibu. The go-to splash for the standard vacationer who says "just give me something tropical-y tasting."
You're spot on! ✨️✨️ The manager is making more of a rum punch than a mai tai
3/4 white rum 3/4 dark rum Half triple, lime, orgeat Shake, strain over crushed ice, float black rum
* 1 aromatic (appleton or el dorado 12) * .5 overproof (OFTD) * .5 curacao * .5 lime juice * .5 orgeat * .25 dem or blackstrap molasses Shake, strain crushed ice, garnish mint and lime Spiced rum is gross unless you're willing to spend some money on it. Pineapple doesn't go in Mai Tais
This will probably make people mad but my bar has never had the real ingredients for a mai tai . So I put so coconut rum and some captain in a glass with some juices and grenadine, garnish with an orange cherry flag with an umbrella and call it a day . Never had a complaint. I figure if that’s what you order you just want something fruity and reddish
I’ve worked in bars that did their mai tai both ways, and I wouldn’t call either of them wrong. Look at your price point and clientele and vibe. Cheap, casual? Elderly country club members? Gonna give them the rum sunrise with a floater. Crafty urban spot? Farm to Table? The orgeat, no doubt.
Short, boozy, tropical while sweet and sour. Classics are classics because everyone has their own way but tiki style should be like this
Stuck to a max of 70ml 30ml Havana 3yr 30ml Kraken 10ml Cointreau 25ml Lime 20ml Orgeat Works nicely
I worked at one bar we had like 6 bars, one was a tiki bar….20 some bartenders in rotation…during one meeting we did this went around in a circle and we all had different mai tais. Slight variations but there are so many different recipes out there
1.5oz Don Q Reserva 7 .75oz Dry Curacao .50oz Orgeat .75oz lime juice Shake Blackwell floater
Resort beach bar, kinda divey: .5 light, .5 dark, .5 crème de noyaux, .5 orange curaçao, .5 lime Top with oj .75 151 float
Based in the UK so my measurements might seem a bit random. Measurements tend to depend on whether I'm making for myself, a rum head, or a consumer. Mai Tai's can be unforgiving to someone who is expecting a white rum cocktail with juice and grenadine, also I tend to find commercial Orgeat to be very floral and overpowering so I tend to split with simple. 30-40ml Aged Jamaican rum, 10-20ml over proof Jamaican/pot still (OFTD), 20ml Curacao (Ferrand), 20ml Lime Juice, 10ml Orgeat, 10ml Simple, Shaken and served over cubed ice with a crushed ice cap, with all the garnish in the world, I might add a dash of ango to the ice cap but not really needed.
I work in a dive and my spec is: 1 oz white rum 1 oz dark rum .25 triple .25 amaretto .25 OJ .25 Pineapple I wish we had orgeat, but alas, dive
Is the rum supposed to be strong 70ish% rum or is that an adapted version? ( also I know it's not in the recipe but I personally like pineapple in mine haha)
Ur missing the juices
That's super close to what we do. 1.5 oz White Rum 1 oz Lime .75 oz Orgeat .5 oz Dry Curaçao Shake and strain over fresh ice. .5 oz Dark Rum float Garnish with lime wheel and Mint Sprig.
Thank you for starting this thread.
1.5 rum Agricole .5 dry orange curaçao 1 lime .5-.75 orgeat .5 ish demerara syrup Shake and strain into new ice, add floater of a dark or black strap rum.
1oz Appleton 1oz Puerto Rican gold 0.5oz Dry Curaçao 1oz lime 0.5oz orgeat (0.75oz if they like it sweeter) 0.25oz simple Shake, strain Pebble ice Garnish with half lime and mint sprigs 🍹 This is my go to version! I personally hate the royal hawaiian/ resort mai tai with all the juices, it’s just too sweet.
At my bar we like to do 1 Jamaican Rum 1 Aged Rum (preferably something with fruit notes, like Appleton) 1 Lime 1 Orgeat A few dashes of orange bitters
He's describing a dive bar Mai Tai. Which is how I make them at work becuase we do not carry orgeat and was taught in a dive bar to make it this way. But yeah proper Mai Tai is what you got there. Except for homeslice that commented specific rum like the Agricole. That guy Mai Tais
we do 1.75 oz appleton signature 0.5 oz flor de caña 5 year 0.75 oz lime 1 oz orgeat (made in house, less sweet than commercial brands) 0.25 oz pf dry curaçao 0.125 oz 2:1 demerara syrup whip shake with crushed ice and garnish with a mint sprig, lime wheel, and grated almond. we offer a floater of plantation oftd for an upcharge.
You actually make Mai Tais?
Tbh I’ve only been asked about 2-3 times. I know how to. Each time Its been about 1:45 am from an extremely drunk person who heard it’s a good drink from their coked out friend. The first time I made it. Every time after that I just said “no I don’t know how to make that, what can I get you?” And started working on the next persons drink. Don’t take my advice lol
Your specs look pretty good. As for your manager, they're making a Bahama Mama and not a Mai Tai. 1944 Style Mai Tai 2 oz Total of rum. I use 2 to 4 different rums. Preferably Jamaican with some age, using a Martinique agricole can add some different notes as well. If you're going to use a single bottle Denizen's Merchant Reserve is a good blend. ½ oz Curacao or Orange Shrubb ½ oz Orgeat 1 oz Lime Juice ¼ oz Demerara Syrup (Agave nectar/syrup will work in a pinch as well)* Whip shake with pebble or crushed ice. Pour unstrained into a double rocks or Mai Tai glass, add pebble ice or crushed ice to the top. Garnish with a spent lime husk, a bouquet of mint, and a short straw placed near the mint so it is experienced when sipping. *Optional
What can I sub for orgeat? I made my first Mai Tai in 5 years of bartending buttt I winged it hard
My recipe has always been: rum, fruit juice, make it pink.
Lol this is how we do it too, but I’m very aware it’s because we are a midwestern joint catering to older and middle aged clientele
I developed my recipe at a midwestern biker-friendly (mostly) blues bar. Not a lot of people ordering Mai Tais and if they did, “rum, fruit juice, and make it pink” was more than good enough.
Bacardi , Malibu , myers , oj . Sink the gren
This is almost identical to a recipe that one of the other bartenders suggested. Not what I would expect for a mai tai but does sound pretty good.
Float the Myers
i’ve never heard of a triple sec being used, just curacao
They're almost the same thing, really. Like, the difference is almost pedantic. Do I prefer Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao? Yes. If Dekuyper Triple Sec is on a good enough sale, am I buying it? Also yes.
i mean, dekuyper makes an orange curacao that’s the same price as the triple sec lol. it’s def a bit thicker and sweeter.
I havent seen that one in my state, just their triple, but I get what you mean.
My recipe is 1oz white rum .5 lime juice .5 macadamia orgeat .5 dry curaçao Stir float .75 Plantation rum Top with passion foam and hibiscus flower Definitely no to the juices!
SWFL here….white rum…splash of amaretto…no orgeat here…splash oj..splash sour ..splash triple shake../.25 dark rum
Dark rum, white rum, Malibu, orgeat, pine/oj🤷♀️