Mai Tai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the pop-act Mai Tai, see Mai Tai (music group).
- For the martial art with a similar-sounding name, see Muay Thai.
The Mai tai is a well-known alcoholic cocktail purportedly invented at the Trader Vic restaurant in Oakland, California in 1944. Trader Vic's amicable rival, Don the Beachcomber, claimed to have created it first in 1933 at his own newly opened little bar (later a famous restaurant) in Hollywood. The Beachcomber's recipe is far more complicated than that of the Trader's and tastes quite different.
"Maita'i" is the Tahitian word for "good." The spelling of the drink, however, is two words.[1][2][3]
The Trader Vic story of its invention is that the Trader (Victor J. Bergeron) created it one afternoon for some friends who were visiting from Tahiti. One of them tasted it and cried out: "Maita'i roa!" (Literally "good very!", figuratively "Out of this world!") — hence the name.
[edit] Recipe
There are many recipes for mai tais. Seven of them, including three different versions of Trader Vic's, as well as the supposed original recipe of Don the Beachcomber, can be found here.
