Classic Mai Tai: The Original 1944 Rum, Lime and Orgeat Recipe for Easy Weeknights

Fill a cocktail shaker with crushed ice.

Serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 ounce aged Jamaican rum
• 1 ounce aged rhum agricole or Demerara rum
• 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1/2 ounce orange curacao
• 1/2 ounce orgeat (almond syrup)
• 1/4 ounce simple syrup
• Crushed ice
• 1 spent lime shell and 1 mint sprig, for garnish

Instructions

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with crushed ice.
2. Add both rums, the lime juice, orange curacao, orgeat and simple syrup.
3. Shake hard for 10 seconds until the shaker is frosty.
4. Pour everything, ice included, into a double old-fashioned glass and top with more crushed ice to mound.
5. Float the spent lime half on top, cut side up, and tuck a mint sprig beside it to look like a small island and palm tree.
6. Serve immediately with a short straw so the mint aroma meets each sip.
7. The Mai Tai was invented in 1944 by Victor Bergeron, known as Trader Vic, at his Oakland, California bar. He mixed it for friends visiting from Tahiti, and one exclaimed 'Maita'i roa ae!', Tahitian for 'out of this world, the best'. The original is bright and nutty, not the red fruit-punch version later popularized by hotel bars, and it needs only a few bottles to make at home.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 260 kcal
• Protein: 0g
• Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 20g
• Fiber: 0g
• Sugar: 18g
• Sodium: 5mg