How to Make Smugglers’s Cove Mai Tai

If you look up a recipe for a Mai Tai, the only ingredient common between the 10 recipes you see might just be the rum. But why is that? You order a margarita at a bar, you are going to get some variation of tequilla, lime juice, and triple sec most likely. If you order a Manhattan, same thing, you are expecting rye bourbon, vermouth, and bitters. So why does this recipe vary so much?

In the Smugglers Cove book, they talk about the rich history of the cocktail at length, so I’ll spare some of the details. The original Mai Tai (meaning “the best” in Tahitian), was created by Trader Vic in 1944. When first serving it to some friends, one exclaimed “Maita’i Roe A’e!”, and the name stuck from there. Even though the original recipe started to enter the tool kit for bartenders as a drink they should all know, it ended up becoming one of the most bastardized drinks in cocktail history. Instead of translating into “the best”, usually bars translate that into a shit ton of rum, what ever juices we have left, and of course an umbrella on top. Oh, over proof floats were also not original. They became a thing when a regular customer liked his that way, so they started calling this Mai Tai the “old way”. Not because it relates to the original, but because the customer was in fact, old.

Thankfully, Smuggler’s Cove give us some much needed insight into what the real recipe looks like. It’s a simple cocktail, and basically comes out to a nutty rum margarita, what’s not to like right? Let’s take a look.

Drink book – Smuggler’s Cove – Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki

Ingredients –

• Lime juice – 3/4oz
• Rich Simple syrup – 1/4oz (Smuggler’s Cove uses 1 cup water, 2 cups demerara sugar, 1/4tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp salt). If you use just a rich simple syrup, that will still come out great.
• Orgeat syrup – 1/4oz (this is an almond based syrup, can be bought at any Total Wine or order online) Small Hand Foods probably makes the best
• Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao – 1/2oz
• Blended Aged Rum – 2oz – Ideally a 15-17 year, as that was used for the original

Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake until frost forms and pour all of the ingredients into a double old fashioned glass. Ideally garnish with a lime shell and mint spring, but I don’t always have that in my kitchen.