Post #351546 by GentleHangman on Thu, Dec 27, 2007 2:29 PM

Unless I've grossly misunderstood Victor Bergeron's narrative concerning his creation of the Mai Tai In Oakland Cal. back in 1944 . . . the drink was 'all about' the rum. The other ingredients were carefully selected to compliment the rum, not obscure or overwhelm it. And he makes no mention of 'floating' anything 'cept maybe half a lime shell for color. And . . . he only used ONE rum; the Wray & Nephew 17 year old.
Now, to approximate the original . . . I, as many other's have done turn to Beachbum Berry's $100.00 Mai Tai recipe as the modern Holy Grail of Mai Tai recipes . . . one as close to the original as we're going to get unless Appleton Estates comes up with an equivalent to the 17 year old Wray & Nephew of another era.
So, following BB's recipe I mix my Mai Tais (Using Appleton Estates 12 year old & Saint James Hors D'Age) and it produces a wonderful Mai Tai because within you have the sensual fan-dance of the Curacao, Orgeat, Rock Candy Syrup and Lime enjoying the loving embrace of the two married rums finishing with the delicate applause of the fresh sprig of mint.
Admittedly, I've taken that drink and added the following as a 'floater':

Coruba
More Appleton Estates
More Saint James
El Dorado 12
El Dorado 15

And in each case, at least to me, the 'floater' turned my wonderful Mai Tai Ballet into a Burlesque!

Now . . . maybe this 'floater' thing works with some of the Mai Tai variations offered by well-known venues . . . and maybe they cut back on their main rum ingredients and take the 'floater' into consideration to equal the usual 2 oz. of rum(s) - I don't know. But for my taste . . . with the recipe I use . . . it just throws the whole drink out of wack.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!