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The History of the Mai TaiDoes Don the Beachcomber or Trader Vic Get Credit for the Mai Tai?
The Mai Tai has become one of the great classic cocktails, but who invented it - Don the Beachcomber or Trader Vic?
The Polynesian restaurant fad may have faded since the 1940's, but many of the tiki drinks created during that era still remain. None of these cocktails, though, can match the iconic status of the Mai Tai, named by the U.S. Bartenders Guide as one of the defining drinks of the 20th century. But who invented the Mai Tai? The two best known bartenders of the era - Don the Beachcomber (otherwise known as Ernest Gantt) and Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron - each claimed to be the inventor of the cocktail. The Trader Vic VersionTrader Vic claims to have mixed the first Mai Tai in 1944 at his Hinky Dink bar, and in his 1947 bartenders' guide included the admonition, "Anybody who says I didn't create this drink is a dirty stinker." According to Vic, he wanted to create a new drink using only the finest ingredients. He combined Jamaican rum, fresh lime juice, orange curacao, rock candy syrup, and orgeat, and tested his creation on friends visiting from Tahiti. One sip, and they proclaimed, "Mai tai roa ae!" Translating from Tahitian, it means "out of this world." The Don the Beachcomber VersionIn 1933, Don had opened a small restaurant in Hollywood and put up a sign that proclaiming it to be Don Beachcomber's. He created several rather potent cocktails based largely on rum and juice, including something called the Original Beachcomber Rum Concoction. It is this drink that he says became known as the Mai Tai. The cocktail originally was made from Cuban rum, Cointreau, Pernod, Agnostura bitters, and fresh lime and grapefruit juices. Which Mai Tai Story is Right?Both stories are certainly believable. In fact, in the book Hawai'i - Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuising by Don the Beachcomber, Arnold Bitner claims that the Mai Tai was created by Don in 1933. Bitner is alleged to have claimed that he has a Don the Beachcomber menu listing the Mai Tai before Trader Vic's claimed 1944 date. But there's a catch. In his book, Bitner lists the recipe for the "original" Mai Tai. Neither the drink nor the recipe, though, bear any resemblance to what today's Mai Tai. Did Don make first use of the name, without creating the modern drink? Competition among the Tiki-style restaurants was fierce, and the recipes for their signature cocktails were considered top secret. A bartender attempting to duplicate one of these drinks could only guess at the ingredients, and experiment until it tasted right. This process could easily create drinks that tasted similar, but had wildly differing recipes. It appears that this is a likely answer to the riddle. And possibly as close to an answer as the world will ever know. The Original Trader Vic Mai Tai Recipe - 1944
Combine all ingredients over shaved ice, and shake vigorously. Serve garnished with a sprig of fresh mint. The Modern Mai Tai
Combined all the ingredient in a shaker with ice and shake to chill. Strain into an old-fashioned glass over crushed ice. Serve garnished with a maraschino cherry, fresh pineapple and a mint sprig, and serve with a straw.
The copyright of the article The History of the Mai Tai in Cocktails is owned by Angie Rayfield. Permission to republish The History of the Mai Tai in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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