Two rums — one funky and Jamaican, one aged and molasses-deep — hold the centre, while lime, orange curaçao and almond-rich orgeat are each tuned to flatter the spirit rather than mask it. Shaken hard and poured over crushed ice, it drinks bright, nutty and bracingly cold, crowned with a spent lime shell and a sprig of mint that puts fresh aroma right at the rim.
Garnish: Mint Sprig, Lime Peel, Pineapple Wedge
Shaken · Double Rocks · Crushed
add
Combine both rums, orange curaçao, orgeat, fresh lime juice, and simple syrup in a shaker.
shake
Add crushed ice and shake briefly to chill and integrate.
strain
Pour unstrained (ice and all) into a double rocks glass; top with additional crushed ice if needed.
garnish
Garnish with the spent lime shell, a mint sprig, and an optional pineapple spear.
Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron is documented as creating it in 1944 at Trader Vic's, his Oakland restaurant, and the name came from a guest's exclamation in Tahitian, "mai tai roa aé" — out of this world. A rival claim ties an earlier drink to Donn Beach, of Don the Beachcomber, as far back as 1933, but that story remains contested. Matson's hotels brought the drink to Hawaii in 1953, and today the IBA's standard spec follows Bergeron's two-rum formula.