The Mai Tai is one of the most famous Tiki cocktails, with a history rooted in the mid-20th century Polynesian pop craze in the United States. Its story involves rivalry, exotic flair, and a bit of myth-making, especially between two legendary figures: Trader Vic and Don the Beachcomber.

🍹 The True Origin of the Mai Tai

✅ Trader Vic’s Claim (Victor Bergeron) – Widely accepted origin

Date: 1944

Place: Trader Vic’s bar in Oakland, California

Story: Trader Vic claimed he created the Mai Tai for some Tahitian friends visiting his bar. Upon tasting it, one of them exclaimed: “Maita'i roa ae!”, meaning “Out of this world – the best!” in Tahitian.

He named the drink “Mai Tai” after that exclamation.

🥊 Rival Claim – Don the Beachcomber (Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt)

Donn Beach also had a rum punch-style drink that predates Vic’s version (from the 1930s), but it was more complex, with many ingredients.

Some believe Vic simplified and refined Donn’s rum punch into the modern Mai Tai.

Most cocktail historians credit Trader Vic with the modern and original Mai Tai as we know it today.

🍍 The Original 1944 Mai Tai Recipe (Trader Vic’s)

The classic recipe is rum-forward, with fresh citrus and almond flavors:

Ingredients:

2 oz Jamaican rum (originally 17-year-old J. Wray & Nephew)

0.75 oz fresh lime juice

0.5 oz orange curaçao

0.25 oz orgeat syrup (almond syrup)

0.25 oz rock candy syrup (simple syrup with a richer sugar-to-water ratio)

Instructions:

Add all ingredients to a shaker with crushed ice.

Shake well.

Pour (do not strain) into a double old-fashioned glass.

Garnish with a spent lime shell and a mint sprig.

🍹 Notes on Authenticity

The original version had no pineapple or grenadine – those came later as bars started modifying the recipe.

The rum used in 1944 was high-quality aged Jamaican rum, often blended with Martinique rum in later versions for complexity.

Modern versions often use a rum blend to approximate the now-rare J. Wray & Nephew 17-year.

🧠 Trivia

The Mai Tai helped define Tiki culture, which romanticized South Pacific aesthetics and flavors, though it was largely an American invention.

The drink became so popular that the demand allegedly exhausted the world’s supply of the original 17-year rum by the 1950s.

Would you like a modern version using more available rums?