Original 1944 Mai Tai Recipe

The original 1944 Mai Tai might be the most misunderstood cocktail of all time. What was originally intended to be a balanced blend of rum, lime juice, orange liqueur, orgeat, and simple syrup gradually devolved into a broad, catch-all term for any tropical drink with rum and fruit juice.

The Mai Tai was created by Victor “Trader Vic” Bergeron in 1944 at his namesake restaurant and bar in Oakland, California. Bergeron created the cocktail as a way to showcase the 17-year-old J. Wray & Nephew Rum, a bold, funky, yet still refined pot still rum. The distillery stopped producing the 17-year expression when the Mai Tai’s popularity exploded. Bergeron’s supplies quickly dwindled, and he was forced to switch to the 15-year J. Wray & Nephew bottling, which, in turn, also became scarce.

To approximate the flavor of the original 17-year rum, Bergeron created what he called his “Second Adjusted Mai Tai Formula,” a mixture of aged, pot still Jamaican rum and aged rum from Martinique. “Martinique rums available in the United States at that time were molasses-based and pot still, not Agricole rum as we know it today [cane juice-based and column still],” says Martin Cate, author of Smugglers Cove. “This makes the use of Martinique a logical one for maintaining some consistency in taste profile.”

In the intervening years, while the Mai Tai became a sugary mess of pineapple juice, grenadine, and light rum, the original Mai Tai recipe persisted, though not without a small change. Bartenders who adopted Bergeron’s second formula generally used a cane-based rhum agricole. This adaptation of the Mai Tai formula eventually became the broadly agreed-upon recipe for a classic 1944 Mai Tai among mixologists.

Why the Mai Tai Works

The classic Mai Tai is an exercise in balance and intention. Trader Vic created the cocktail specifically to showcase a high-quality, aged rum, and he chose ingredients that naturally complement those flavors. Rum, lime, and sugar are natural companions; that combination is the basis of dozens of cocktails, most notably the Daiquiri.

In the case of the Mai Tai, the sweetening component is split between orgeat, orange curaçao, and a rich simple syrup. The orgeat introduces nutty aromatics to the drink, while the orange liqueur enhances the citrus flavors and adds a bit of sweetness.

Choosing the correct rums is crucial when making a Mai Tai. Many purists will say that anything labeled as a “1944 Mai Tai” should use only a pot-still Jamaican rum, but at this point, the drink has been made with rhum agricole for so long that most drinkers expect it to be there. For the Jamaican component, choose a bold, funky rum that will stand out among the other ingredients. For the agricole, look for one with as much barrel aging as possible, like Rhum J.M VSOP or Clément VSOP.

The mint and halved lime garnishes add more to the drink than just evoking a tiny island with a palm tree. The citrus oil and mint add an aromatic component to the cocktail that brightens and freshens the drink.