The (near) perfect Mai Tai
mfh has been frequenting Trader Vic's with her boss-lady for a good while, and I was finally coaxed into trying one (well, more than one) of their Mai Tais at a recent engagement. I'm not usually a fan of the sweet, but this was a cannonball-sized exception in the hull of my convictions.
Alas, Trader Vic's now says that their recipe is simply a combination of "their rum" and "their mix." How corporate. And if you follow the directions on their mix, you really don't end up with anything that tastes like what they serve at the restaurant.
So, I offer my [slight] variation on their original recipes.
- 4 oz. Trader's Vic's dark rum (yeah, it's tasty)
- 1 1/4 oz. orange curacao (Hiram Walker)
- 1 oz. orgeat syrup (Torani)
- 1 1/2 oz. fresh lime juice (one lime)
Serve over ice (duh). Makes two drinks (easier to make two at a time so you can just use the whole lime)
I cheaped out on the orange curacao. Someone else can tell me whether it makes a difference (before I run out of the bottle I bought).
Oh, one potentially-insignificant perk of this recipe: no HFCS (though I don't know what's in the orange curacao).