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Learn how to make an authentic Mai Tai cocktail recipe with aged rum, orgeat syrup, and fresh lime juice. This classic tiki drink recipe is balanced and surprisingly complex!
When someone says Mai Tai, you might picture those oversized hurricane glasses stuffed with pineapple wedges and paper umbrellas. But the original Mai Tai cocktail is a layered blend of aged rum, orange liqueur, and almond syrup, with notes of vanilla, bright citrus, and dark rum that make the whole thing sing.
I became a fan of this drink after tasting the classic version. The Mai Tai in its original form just makes sense. It’s tropical, boozy, and zingy: nothing like a Hawaiian punch juice box. After hundreds of cocktail recipes, I can tell you that a properly made Mai Tai might change your mind about what this drink can be!
What Makes a Classic Mai Tai
The most accepted origin story of the Mai Tai cocktail is that it was invented in 1944 at Trader Vic’s restaurant in Oakland, California. It became very popular in the 1950s and 60s, especially at tiki restaurants (though since Tiki culture is built on appropriation, I won’t exalt its virtues).
What makes this drink special is its balance. The aged rum brings vanilla notes, orgeat syrup adds almond sweetness, and lime juice adds brightness. I’ve tested this recipe dozens of times to get the proportions just right, and this version is very close to the original while still being accessible to home bartenders!
Key Ingredients
Originally, the Mai Tai ingredients didn’t include pineapple juice, which some bartenders later added to give a fruit punch flair. The ingredients in a classic Mai Tai drink are:
- Aged rum: This type of rum is also called golden rum, amber rum, or añejo rum (meaning “aged”). Aging gives it a complex flavor with undertones of vanilla, coconut, almond, citrus, or caramel. I personally like Brugal Añejo Rum.
- Orange liqueur: This balances the flavor of the rum and adds citrus notes. You can use either curaçao, Cointreau, or Grand Marnier. Triple sec works in a pinch.
- Lime juice: Lime adds a zingy acidity. Use only fresh lime juice, never bottled.
- Orgeat syrup: Orgeat is a sweet almond syrup with flavor notes of orange flower water and rose. It gives the Mai Tai its character and is essential here. It’s easy to find online (here’s the orgeat syrup I use).
- Simple syrup: A hint of syrup accentuates the flavor for a fruity, sweet, tart Mai Tai. Without it, it’s a more boozy, spirit-forward drink. (I personally like it fruitier with the simple syrup.)
- Dark rum: Dark rum has a dark color and a rich, smoky, and sweet flavor. Floating it on top of the drink adds complexity and a boozy intrigue.
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How to Make a Mai Tai
Making a Mai Tai is wonderfully straightforward. Here are the basic steps (if you’re ready to get started, jump to the recipe below):
- Add the aged rum, orange liqueur, lime juice, orgeat syrup, and simple syrup (if using) to a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake hard for about 15 seconds until the shaker is ice-cold.
- Strain into a glass filled with ice. I like using a lowball glass or rocks glass, and adding crushed ice is traditional.
- For the dark rum float, pour it slowly over the back of a spoon. This helps it sit on top rather than mixing in immediately. Garnish with fresh mint, a lime wedge, and a cocktail cherry for the classic presentation.
Storage and Make-Ahead Tips
To make a party pitcher (8 servings): Mix the aged rum, orange liqueur, lime juice, and orgeat in a pitcher. Store up to 1 day. When ready to serve, stir in 3 handfuls of ice. Pour 3 ¾ to 4 oz into a glass and top with the dark rum float.
Leftover orgeat syrup keeps in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. Fresh lime juice is best used within a day.
Other cocktails with aged or dark rum? Use aged rum in an El Presidente or Pineapple Rum Cocktail, and dark rum in Rum Punch, Dark and Stormy, or a Jungle Bird.
Frequently asked questions
Orgeat is a nutty almond syrup with hints of citrus and flowers (pronounced or-ZHAAT). I do recommend buying it for this recipe: there’s no substitute for a proper Mai Tai. At around $10 a bottle, it’s worth adding to your bar.
It’s also great in other cocktails like the Japanese Cocktail and Trinidad Sour.
Two kinds of rum make the magic — aged rum (also called golden or añejo) for the base with those vanilla-caramel notes, and dark rum to float on top. The float adds serious depth to the drink, but it’s optional if you prefer a sweeter, less boozy experience.
Traditional recipes call for orange curaçao, but Grand Marnier or Cointreau work beautifully. Use Triple Sec in a pinch.
Mai Tai (Classic Recipe)
Here’s how to make the original Mai Tai recipe! Gather the ingredients for this tropical rum drink that’s as complex as it is fruity.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 drink 1x
- Category: Drink
- Method: Shaken
- Cuisine: Cocktails
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 ½ ounces* aged rum
- ½ ounce orange liqueur: Curaçao, Cointreau or Grand Marnier
- ¾ ounce lime juice
- 1 ounce orgeat syrup
- ½ teaspoon simple syrup (optional**)
- ½ ounce dark rum, to float (optional)
- For serving: Crushed ice or clear ice, fresh mint, cocktail cherry, lime wedge
Instructions
- Place the aged rum, orange liqueur, lime juice, orgeat syrup, and simple syrup (if using**) in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake until cold.
- Strain the drink into an ice-filled glass. Top with the dark rum. Garnish with fresh mint, a lime wedge, a cocktail cherry, and a pineapple slice.
Notes
Here’s a link to these fluted lowball glasses.
*To convert to tablespoons, 1 ounce = 2 tablespoons.
**A hint of simple syrup accentuates the flavor for a fruity, sweet, tart Mai Tai. Omit it for a more boozy, spirit-forward Mai Tai.
Party pitcher (8 servings): Mix 1 ½ cups aged rum, ½ cup orange liqueur, ¾ cup lime juice and 1 cup orgeat in a pitcher. Store up to 1 day. When ready to serve, stir in 3 handfuls of ice. Pour 3 ¾ to 4 oz into a glass and top with the dark rum float.
More Rum Cocktails To Try
The Mai Tai is among the top 50 Most Popular Cocktails. Here are a few more to try with rum:
Easily my favorite mai tai recipe and overall drink. I’ll use Brugal 1888, if I don’t mix the rums, and then a topper of Kraken. Fresh mint from my garden adds a bunch. Also, the orgeat is critical. There are plenty of terrible, cheap orgeats out there. I haven’t made my own, but I really like either Liquid Alchemist’s version or Liber & Co. I find lime overpowers the drink, so only a half ounce.
SO so glad you enjoy this one! Thank you for this orgeat recommendation, we do find there is a lot of variation in orgeat. We’ll check those out: thank you!
Lovely! Delicious! Made it exactly as written with the smidgen of simple syrup and floated dark rum at the end. I decanted into a coupe and felt like a golden age Hollywood film star.
What an adorable young couple!
Warms my heart to see that you honor the traditional; bookmarking your page.
I’d like to add that you have an attractive look with the typography and graphic design.
Highest regards
This is really good and very easy. I’m drinking it right now, or should I say them, because I made a double. I use gold rum and aged rum and squeezed my own lime juice. It’s very refreshing with just the right amount of sweetness.
Who cares if a drink or culture is ‘appropriated’? That’s the entire point of different people getting together and learning about each other, take a bit of this, take a bit of that. Imagine thinking your doing good by virtue signaling in a drink recipe. Enjoy your drink and be glad Tiki appropriated whatever led to a drink you like.
AMEN. All of America is appropriated, so unless you renounce your citizenship, chill out.
BTW, since you couldn’t easily get imported ingredients back when Tiki culture was created by GIs returning from the Pacific in WWII, it was adapted in the same way that Italian-American food is not Italian, and Greek-American food is not Greek.
Close, but not quite the original recipe.
Your proportions are off, you’re not using 2 rums, and you don’t float the rum.
Also, Grand Marnier is -not- “your best bet.’ It’s made with brandy, and that will influence the flavor of the drink. Most tiki bartenders will use Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao, and since a Mai Tai is a Tiki drink, I’ll defer to them.
The original 1944 Trader Vic Mai Tai recipe:
1 oz -fresh- lime juice
1/2 oz orange curaçao (e.g. Pierre Ferrand, Clement Créole Shrubb, or Cointreau)
1/4 oz orgeat (e.g. Small Hand, Liber, Liquid Alchemist)
1/4 oz simple syrup
1 oz Jamaican rum (e.g. Appleton, Coruba, Hamilton)
1 oz Martinique rum (e.g. Clement, Rhum JM, Neisson, St. James)
Shake well with crushed ice, pour unstrained into a large old fashioned glass. Sink your lime shell and garnish with a freshly slapped mint sprig. Enjoy.
I need the math for how many ounces of each ingredient for a gallon of mai tais for a party.
The easiest is to just switch ounce with cup. This gives you an 8x recipe.
What about Don Beach (Of Don the beachcomber’s). He is credited for inventing the Mai Tai in 1933. Just saying!
Merriman’s Monkey Pod Kitchen in Hawaii adds Lilykoi (passion fruit) foam.
Yum