Don's Mai Tai Recipe
Nothing like the orgeat Mai Tai: Jamaican rum with grapefruit, lime, falernum, curaçao and a flicker of absinthe and bitters — drier, spicier and more aromatic.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Old fashioned glass
- ABV: 14%
- Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients
- Dark Jamaican rum30 ml (1 oz)
- Grapefruit juice20 ml (0.7 oz)
- Orange curaçao15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Fresh lime juice15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Falernum10 ml (0.3 oz)
- Simple syrup1 tsp
- Absinthe2 dash
- Angostura bitters2 dash
How to Make It
- Add all ingredients to a shaker with crushed ice.
- Shake briefly, just a few seconds.
- Pour into an old fashioned glass and top up with more crushed ice.
- Garnish with a brandied cherry, a lime wedge and fresh mint.
Garnish
Brandied cherry, lime wedge and fresh mint
What it tastes like
It smells of lemon and lime peel and there is pineapple and passion fruit in it.
The technique
Shaking. Anything with juice, syrup, egg white or cream gets shaken: the shaker chills the drink and adds roughly 20% water, and that water is what takes the edge off. Twelve to fifteen seconds, until the tin frosts over. Under-shaking leaves the drink harsh because it never got enough dilution.
Glass and ice
A heavy-bottomed, wide old fashioned glass. Wide enough for one large cube, which is the point: a big cube has less surface area, so the drink gets cold without getting watery.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Dark Jamaican rum
- Jamaican rum is set apart by the banana-and-pineapple note called funk, which comes from long fermentation and cannot be faked with another rum. It is where tiki drinks get their character.
- Grapefruit juice
- Grapefruit juice. Pink is sweet and soft, white is bitter and sharp — when a recipe does not say which, pink is the safer call.
- Orange curaçao
- A liqueur made from the bitter orange of Curaçao; usually brandy-based, which makes it darker and rounder than Cointreau.
- Fresh lime juice
- Freshly squeezed lime. Bottled lime tastes cooked and flat; one lime gives about 30 ml. If you have none, half lemon and half grapefruit juice comes closest.
- Falernum
- A Caribbean syrup-liqueur of lime, clove, ginger and almond. It sweetens and spices at once; a non-alcoholic syrup version also exists, which lowers the drink's strength.
- Simple syrup
- One part sugar to one part water, stirred until it dissolves — no need to boil it. Keeps a month in the fridge. No syrup? Use the same amount of honey, loosened with a little water.
- Absinthe
- The anise spirit, 55-70% alcohol. In cocktails it is used as a rinse rather than a measure: most recipes have you coat the glass and pour the rest away, leaving only the aroma.
- Angostura bitters
- The salt of the cocktail world. Measured in dashes, not millilitres: a few of them cut the sweetness and add spice. One bottle lasts years.
The Story
Based on the Mai Tai Swizzle served by Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood, a drink at the heart of the long-running dispute with Trader Vic over who invented the Mai Tai.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Don's Mai Tai mixed?
- It is shaken and served in an old fashioned glass.
- How strong is a Don's Mai Tai?
- Roughly 14% ABV as served — right around a glass of wine — an aperitif or an early-evening drink.
- Can a Don's Mai Tai be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Don's Mai Tai hard to make?
- Moderate. A shaker or mixing glass plus a strainer covers it.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.