Cocktail Ingredients:

• ¾ oz (2¼ cl) Curaçao, orange
• ¾ oz (2¼ cl) Lime Juice
• 2 oz (6 cl) Rum, Jamaican
• ¼ oz (¾ cl) Syrup, orgeat

Accessories:

• Cocktail Shaker
• Cocktail Strainer
• Straws

Steps

• Pour the light rum, lime juice, orange curacao and orgeat syrup shaker filled with ice.
• Shake well.
• Strain into an Old-fashioned glass half filled with ice and serve.
• Garnished with a slice of pineapple or lime wedge.

Don't be afraid to use the best rum you have, and enjoy your Mai Tai!

If you'd like to experiment, you could try a Pineapple Mai Tai:

1 oz light rum
1 1/2 oz pineapple juice
1 oz orange juice
1/2 oz triple sec
1/4 oz lime juice
1 dash of grenadine
1/2 oz dark rum
garnish with a maraschino cherry

History

The Mai Tai was created in 1944 by Victor Bergeron at his tiki bar Trader Vic's in Emeryville, California, which he served to some friends from Tahiti. Mai Tai translates from Tahitian "Mai tai roa ae" which means "Out of this World", which they exclaimed after drinking. A fitting description for this cocktail. Mr Bergeron made the Mai Tai with some good, aged Jamaican rum he had. Over the years the recipe has changed greatly, disguising the rum under layers of fruit. The first recipe is Mr Bergron's original recipe, the second, one of the many newer versions.