So, I’m celebrating a milestone today. This is my 100th RECIPE! I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with a cocktail, and this is the best Mai Tai cocktail ever! I am OBSESSED with tiki drinks. I’ve started stocking my bar with all the ingredients I need to make them anytime since I’m away from my favorite tiki bars in San Diego.
What’s more tiki than a mai tai? I am a traditionalist, taking my cues from OG places like Trader Vic’s and Smuggler’s Cove. Did you know the traditional mai tai doesn’t contain pineapple juice or orange juice? And definitely no damn maraschino cherries. The tropical, almost cherry-like flavor comes from the orgeat which is a syrup made with almonds. Now, you can make your own orgeat, or you can just buy your own and I’ve linked my favorite below. The passionfruit juice isn’t particularly traditional, but I love it and I’m always looking for opportunities to use it.
True passionfruit juice is actually very tart. So if you can get your hands on fresh passionfruit, USE THAT JUICE. Otherwise, I’ve linked my favorite passion fruit puree below and it has minimal sugar added to it. I keep it in my freezer when I’m not using it for cocktails and passion fruit curd. This is a perfect cocktail for parties, but be warned it is STIFF. The juice really hides the amount of booze in it. You could get tanked on just a couple of these bad boys. And if you wanna be extra, float a little rum on top before serving. And just a reminder, you can buy ice from Sonic and it’s the perfect pearl ice for cocktails! Salud!
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I love a good tiki cocktail and the Mai Tai is probably my favorite ever! The addition of passion fruit really makes a huge difference.
Ingredients
- 2 oz dark Jamaican rum
- 1 oz light rum
- .75 oz cointreau or other orange liqueur
- 1 oz passion fruit puree
- .5 oz orgeat syrup
- 1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
- crushed ice
- mint sprigs, for garnish
- sliced lime, for garnish
Instructions
- Fill a double old fashioned glass with crushed ice to the top. Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake for 15 seconds. Strain into the glass and garnish with sliced lime and mint springs. Optional: float 1/4 oz of rum on top.
Notes
Fresh passionfruit juice is great for this, but I buy a frozen puree that has very little sugar added to it. This is important because the drink is supposed to be a bit tart.
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