Post #253390 by virani on Sun, Sep 10, 2006 2:09 AM

Ladies and gentlemen, here is the reply from the great Beachbum Berry, after asking him to come on that thread :

Aloha Virani and Fellow Alcohologists!

I apologize for not posting officially in my own name, but Tiki Central is like heroin -- if I start I would never be able to stop! Then I'd never be able to finish my new book, Sippin' Safari ... which, by the way, has an 8 page chapter about the roots of the Mai Tai, called "Who's Your Daddy? A Mai Tai Paternity Test."

Basically, the gist of the chapter is this: James Michener claims the Mai Tai was invented on Bora Bora and made its way to Hawaii. The Royal Hawaiian Hotel claims its bartenders invented the Mai Tai. Bandleader Harry Owens ("Sweet Leilani") claims he invented the Mai Tai. Trader Vic claims he invented the Mai Tai, and in 1970 he won a court case to prove it. Court case aside, Donn Beach's third wife Phoebe and assorted journalists still claim Donn invented the Mai Tai. Donn himself never claimed he invented the Mai Tai -- what HE said was that his drink, the Q.B. Cooler, was stolen by Trader Vic, who RE-NAMED it the Mai Tai. Ever the gentleman, Donn refused to argue the point in public. Whenever Trader Vic's name came up, he always said, "I am pleased to ignore him."

In my humble opinion: 1) The Q.B. Cooler doesn't taste all that much like Vic's Mai Tai. 2) With all due respect to the gentleman posting from Norway, the country that gave us Thor Heyerdahl, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail doesn't taste like a Mai Tai. The difference is orgeat: Vic pioneered the use of this ingredient in tropicals. Donn never used orgeat. And orgeat is NOT interchangable with falernum. Orgeat tastes like almonds, falernum like ginger and lime. If we were in the kitchen instead of the bar, would we be arguing that sole almondine tastes like ginger-lime glazed sole?

So I think it's time to give the Trader a break: Literature professors tell us that every novel ever written is derived from one of seven basic plots. Similarly, a case can be made that any given cocktail is derived from any other given cocktail. A Margarita is a Sidecar with tequila instead of cognac ... a Sidecar is a Daiquiri with cognac and lemon instead of rum and lime ... where does it end? Yes, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail has lime and citrus and orange liqueur and sugar in it. So do about 100 other rum drinks. My feeling is, whatever Vic based the Mai Tai on, the Mai Tai is his original mixture.

Again, I apologize in advance for not being able to follow this up with any more posts for a while: I'm sure others will disagree at least part of the above, which is fine -- that's what makes TC so great -- but as a Bum I must conserve what little energy I have to finish the new book! (It will be published in June.)

Mahalo to you all for keeping the legacy of Vic and Donn alive in your hearts (and palates!), Beachbum Berry