Cool. Rummy. Fruity. Fun. Tiki drinks have been making a big comeback lately. This summer, how about mixing yourself up a couple at home?
Tiki recipes can seem a little daunting to the home mixologist. Sometimes they call for obscure ingredients like falernum and orgeat syrups. Often a single drink will be made with multiple types of rum. And then there's the barware. Ceramic mugs shaped like Polynesian wooden carvings, bamboo stalks, and even skulls. Where to begin?
Well, it doesn't have to be that complicated.
I'm a bit of a newbie to tiki myself. I But this summer, I decided to make tiki a special project - starting with a Mai Tai.
Mixing That First Mai Tai
One of the all-time greatest tropical drinks, the Mai Tai seemed like a good place to start. I used a recipe from Trader Vic's, circa 1958, that I found in Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari by Jeff Berry.
The Ingredients
Like most tiki drinks, the Mai Tai has a longish list of ingredients: lime juice, simple syrup, orgeat (a special almond syrup flavored with rose and/or orange flower water), orange curaçao, and two, yes two different kinds of rum: an aged Jamaican rum as well as an amber rhum agricole from Martinique.
The Technique
I rounded everything up, including a bottle of orgeat syrup made by Fee's. (There are also a number of recipes for homemade syrup on the web, including this one, from Art of Drink, which I'd love to try out later.)
I started out by crushing the ice. I took 10 or so cubes and wrapped them in a tea towel, then hit them several times with a rolling pin. I measured out the ingredients and shook them up in a cocktail shaker, then poured everything (ice and all) into a rocks glass.
The Verdict
The drink was delicious. With the addition of orgeat syrup, orange liqueur, and two types of rum, my Mai Tai really was more complex and layered than the drink's simpler cousin, the Daiquiri. Definitely a keeper. I'm looking forward to further adventures in tiki this summer.
Mai Tai (adapted from Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari by Jeff Berry)
makes one drink
1 ounce aged Jamaican rum (I used Appleton Special)
1 ounce amber Martinique rum (I used Saint James Royal Ambre Rhum Agricole)
1/2 ounce orange curaçao liqueur (I substituted the rum-based orange liqueur, St. Clément Créole Shrubb, but you could use Cointreau or triple sec instead)
1 ounce fresh lime juice
1/4 ounce simple syrup
1/4 ounce orgeat syrup (or almond syrup)
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with crushed ice. Shake vigorously and pour (ice and all) into a rocks glass. Garnish with a mint sprig.
Have you ever made tiki drinks at home?
Nora Maynard is a longtime home mixologist and an occasional instructor at NYC’s Astor Center. She is a contributor to The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food and Drink Industries and is the recipient of the American Egg Board Fellowship in culinary writing at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow. She previously covered food and drink in film at The Kitchn in her weekly column, The Celluloid Pantry.
Related: Will You Help Save the Daiquiri?
(Images: Nora Maynard)
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uh, yes, one of my favorite cocktails. though I like the almond taste and leave out the simple syrup, doubling the orgeat. and once I only had red curacao - looks freaky, but tastes great
Just got back from Hawaii for the first time and I've been looking all over for a *simple* Mai Tai recipe! They mixed them so quickly at the hotel we stayed at - I find it hard to believe there were that many ingredients involved. It just looked like ice, light rum, some sort of juice mix (is pineapple juice ever used?) and then topped with a layer of dark rum.
One last comment - is the orgeat syrup hard to find?
orgeat isn't hard to find at all, actually. most well-stocked liquor emporia should have at least one brand, tirani. i'd go for the fee bros if your place has it, though.
The best Mai Tai I ever had featured float of Cruzan Blackstrap Rum on top. I highly recommend it.
I'm so happy that you gave the authentic recipe, not the fruit juice-filled recipes I've seen online.
We've tried a couple of different orgeats, and the commercial stuff is ok, but if you're in the Bay Area, there's a small producer called Small Hand Foods that makes an amazing (though expensive) orgeat. They also make gum syrup and a couple of other old-timey cocktail products. I don't know if they ship their stuff out, but it's the best I've had so far. It makes me wish there were more recipes with orgeat, but I *guess* I can use it all up making Mai Tais :)
Where on earth do I get one of those glasses? It looks amazing.