Post #570221 by jardoin on Fri, Dec 24, 2010 10:27 PM

Hi All,

I recently visited Trader Vics on a trip to Atlanta with my wife. We had some Mai Tai's while we stayed at the Hilton there.. and ever since I have been going crazy trying to reproduce this. The main drag for me is that in my area orange curacao is not an option - for some reason it is not sold in this state. I have tried to substitute with cointreau and blue curacao but neither taste right. I am using the following recipe

2 oz jamaican rum (I currently have appleton estate v/x, but I have also tried Myer's)
1/2 oz orange liquor (have tried both bols blue curacao and cointreau, orange is not available)
Half a fresh lime, squeezed and shell placed in glass
1/2 oz orgeat syrup (I have torani.. is this where this is going wrong?)
1/2-1/4 oz simple syrup (I have used both 1/2 and 1/4 oz)
Shake well over ice.

Where is this going wrong? I read all over that taste wise - blue is the same as orange curacao. I have also read that simple syrup is a ready substitute for rock candy syrup. I have easily sank over $150 in this pursuit already. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I wanted to do a whole tiki christmas thing this year.. but alas I fail at the Mai Tai.