The Mai Tai is an alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

ic cocktail

Cocktail

A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...

 based on rum

Rum

Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...

, Curaçao liqueur

Curaçao liqueur

Curaçao is a liqueur flavoured with the dried peel of the laraha citrus fruit, grown on the island of Curaçao. A non-native plant similar to an orange, the laraha developed from the sweet Valencia orange transplanted by Spanish explorers. The nutrient-poor soil and arid climate of Curaçao proved...

, and lime juice, associated with "Polynesian-style

Tiki culture

Tiki kitsch culture is a 20th-century theme used in Polynesian-style restaurants and clubs originally in the United States and then, to a lesser degree, around the world...

" settings.

History

It was purportedly invented at the Trader Vic's

Trader Vic

Trader Vic's is a restaurant chain headquartered in San Francisco, California. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. was the founder of a chain of Polynesian-themed restaurants that bore his nickname, "Trader Vic," and was one of two people who claimed to have invented the Mai Tai...

 restaurant in Oakland

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 in 1944. Trader Vic's rival, Don the Beachcomber

Don the Beachcomber

Donn Beach , born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, is the founding father of tiki restaurants, bars and nightclubs. The many so-called "Polynesian" restaurants and pubs that enjoyed great popularity are directly descended from what he created...

, claimed to have created it in 1933 at his then-new bar named for himself (later a famous restaurant) in Hollywood. Don the Beachcomber's recipe is more complex than that of Vic's and tastes quite different.

Etymology

"Maita'i" is the Tahitian

Tahitian language

Tahitian is an indigenous language spoken mainly in the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is an Eastern Polynesian language closely related to the other indigenous languages spoken in French Polynesia: Marquesan, Tuamotuan, Mangarevan, and Austral Islands languages...

 word for "good"; but the drink is spelled as two words, sometimes hyphenated or capitalized.

The Trader Vic story of its invention is that the Trader (Victor J. Bergeron) created it one afternoon for some friends who were visiting from Tahiti. One of those friends, Carrie Guild, tasted it and cried out: "Maita'i roa ae!" (Literally "very good!", figuratively "Out of this world! The Best!") — hence the name.

Recipe

There are many recipes for Mai Tais. Seven of them, including three different versions of Trader Vic's, as well as the recipe of Don the Beachcomber, can be found at Wikibooks Mai Tai.

Culture

The Mai Tai became such a popular cocktail in the 1950s and 1960s that virtually every restaurant, particularly tiki-themed restaurants or bars served them. The Mai Tai was also prominently featured in the popular Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 film Blue Hawaii

Blue Hawaii

Blue Hawaii is a 1961 musical film set in the state of Hawaii and starring Elvis Presley. The screenplay by Hal Kanter was nominated by the Writers Guild of America in 1962 in the category of Best Written American Musical. The movie opened at no...

.

Today, the Mai Tai is synonymous with Tiki culture

Tiki culture

Tiki kitsch culture is a 20th-century theme used in Polynesian-style restaurants and clubs originally in the United States and then, to a lesser degree, around the world...

, both of the past and present. Virtually every modern tiki gathering centers around the Mai Tai in some fashion. Contemporary tikiphiles are quite meticulous about the Mai Tai and insist that it be prepared according the traditional Trader Vic's recipe.

As of 2008, Trader Vic's Restaurant chain has begun to open small establishments called Mai Tai Bars, that primarily serve cocktails and pupus (appetizers).

External links

• The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess - Video demonstration for making a proper Mai Tai