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Mai Tai (California)

maitaiGo to a bar and order a Mai Tai and 8 out of 10 times you will get a blend of juices shaken with some rum and served in a glass with an umbrella. It will be nothing that resembles the actual Mai Tai that was created around the '40's. The Mai Tai has an interesting history that was somehow lost in modernization, as was the recipe. Nowadays, cocktail aficionados are bringing back the original flavours of the Mai Tai and bringing justice to its history. The tale of the Mai Tai started in 1944, according to Trader Vic. Victor Jules Bergeron, better known as Trader Vic, was the owner of a tiki restaurant of the same name. Together with Donn Beach, from Donn the Beachcomber, they were the first ones to start the tiki culture. The tiki culture is a blend of the Polynesian and the Caribbean. It was a place where people could escape reality and be transported to the tropics while enjoying tropical flavoured cocktails. The cocktails were a careful combination of tropical flavours like lime juice, curaçao liqueur, and Caribbean rum. The Mai Tai is perhaps one of the best examples of a cocktail that has a good combination of tropical flavours and where quality ingredients are important to get the right flavour. The recipe for the Mai Tai in the Trader Vic's Bartending Guide Book, is as follows:

1 lime
¼ oz rock candy syrup (7.5 mL)
1 oz dark Jamaican rum (30 mL)
1 oz Martinique rum (30 mL)
½ oz orange curaçao (15 mL)
¼ oz orgeat syrup (7.5 mL)

Garnish:
lime
sprig fresh mint
fruit stick

Cut the lime in half then squeeze the juice. Mix the lime juice with the remaining ingredients and shaved ice in a shaker.

Strain into a double Old-Fashioned glass filled with ice.

Garnish with the spent lime shell (place it peel side up into the cocktail), a sprig of mint, and skewered fruit, if desired.

Makes 1 cocktail.

Cook's Notes: Rock candy syrup is a sugar syrup made by mixing two parts sugar with one part of water then bringing it to a boil. Once the syrup has cooled to room temperature, it can be stored in a sealed container.