Post #316232 by The Gnomon on Mon, Jul 2, 2007 7:19 AM

On 2007-06-29 08:47, jingleheimerschmidt wrote:
How scandalous is that claim about the mai tai?

Not very, when you think about it. Unlike other Mai Tai claims of origin, the Royal Hawaiian hotel on Waikiki does have considerbable stature in Mai Tai history.

I had my first Mai Tai (actually, it was Aunt Mary's Mai Tai; hee hee) in 1964 at the Lahaina Inn on Maui about a block and a half from the world's second largest banyan tree. That would be a good topic—when and where did everyone have their first "real" Mai Tai along with the exciting details. I'll have to check to see if there's already a viable thread out there collecting dust.

Anyway, the Royal Hawaiian hotel is probably one of the, if not THE place where the Mai Tai was launched into global popularity. The hotel was taken over by the Navy during WWII as an R&R center. With the great influence and inspiration of South Pacific adventure, it was a perfect place for the Mai Tai to thrive. In 1947, the hotel reopened to the public and became a major hotspot, not only for locals, but for anyone visiting the islands via Honolulu.

In many people's minds, that is where the Mai Tai was born. We all know it was born in Oakland, CA, but it was raised in Honolulu where it called the Royal Hawaiian home. I don't believe the Mai Tai would ever have acheived the worldwide acclaim it did had it not been for its upbringing at the Royal Hawaiian.

So, while the claim does not reflect the true origin of the Mai Tai, it is also not totally incorrect. "Legend" is, generally, part fact and part fiction. If no one ever heard of a Mai Tai before visiting Honolulu, they knew about it before they left.

[ Edited by: The Gnomon 2007-07-02 07:21 ]