Trader Vic's Mai Tai

Hi, my name is Michael and I am alcoholic, LOL. You can find me at least several times a month at the bar at Trader Vic's in Atlanta.

Now that we have that out of the way, having sat at that bar so much, I have intimate knowledge that the Mai Tai they make, using their concentrate tastes nothing like the standard '44 recipe. As a matter of fact, you can ask them to make a '44 at the bar and it taste nothing like the standard issue variety.

So I am now on a quest to replicate what we get at the bar with the standard issued Mai Tai made from the concentrate.

Any ideas?

I think they combine the almond flavor along with the orange flavor and cook it down with a bunch of sugar and add a ton of artificial coloring to it and get something unlike an original '44 but yet is still very yummy.

Why don't you just follow what this goon does? :lol:
https://youtu.be/nMeT7n7hFxU

Yeah it is mostly the TV Mai Tai Mix and likely some of their Rock Candy Syrup. I would guess that video is pretty close to the way they do it in Atlanta as well.

On 2016-05-05 00:55, kkocka wrote:
Why don't you just follow what this goon does? :lol:
https://youtu.be/nMeT7n7hFxU

Yikes!! And not only that but he added all sorts of countertop grossness by tapping down the ice with the bottom of the shot glass. :o

On 2016-05-05 13:38, Hakalugi wrote:
Yikes!! And not only that but he added all sorts of countertop grossness by tapping down the ice with the bottom of the shot glass. :o

Later on (there's a part 2) he throws in some Lemon Hart 151. So that's 3 oz of Myers's and maybe 1/2 oz of Lemon Hart, woof!

If you're going to bother making a Mai Tai, why not bother to make it correctly?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZUYP1gn-fY

On 2016-05-04 20:11, mmaurice wrote:
I think they combine the almond flavor along with the orange flavor and cook it down with a bunch of sugar and add a ton of artificial coloring to it and get something unlike an original '44 but yet is still very yummy.

To that end I'd start by making a syrup using the same ingredients you'd use in a homemade orange liqueur (Orange zest, dried bitter orange peel, clove), then dose it with about 1/8 tsp almond extract per cup of syrup. As for artificial coloring, I'd say just get the cheapest stuff.

"Rock candy syrup" is called for in the original recipe, but I can't seem to get a bead on what that actually means. TV's currently marketed RCS lists vanillin (vanilla extract) in its ingredients, but other people state that rock candy syrup means 2:1 sugar to water. I do a hybrid of the two, a rich syrup with 1/8 tsp vanilla bean tincture per cup. If you wanted to, you could add that same amount of vanilla extract to your concentrate as well.

With all of that said, I'll probably stick to the '44 recipe, preferably with a bit of Demerara rum snuck in.

The guys here in ATL make it mostly in the same vane as Beverly Hills. They squeeze in a lime, use the concentrate and use their own Trader Vic's branded rum, which very likely is Meyers. When it is a big night (Dragon Con or big parties), they premix in HUGE batches, minus the lime.

Interestingly, he said the concentrate has pineapple juice, and grenadine in it. Knowing the guys here in Atlanta, they aren't tiki fanatics, but just guys who have been working at TV for a long time and know their specific craft using the tools/supplies they have been given very well but don't know the why's behind it. So I am going to say he isn't in the know and may be making shit up.

The concentrate is an interesting beast, same as their Navy Grog concentrate. Gonna have to ask the boys at the bar about it. When they have run out of supplies (and they do), they improvise and make their own stuff in-house. So, they know how to replicate in a pinch.

Why not make yourself a real Mai Tai mix:

2 parts good orange curacao
1 part 2:1 sugar syrup (demerara is perfect)
1 part orgeat (Monin brand or better)

In a sterilised bottle it will keep for weeks.

Then use:
1oz above mix
1oz aged rum
1oz another aged rum
1oz lime juice (freshly squeezed)

Shake hard with crushed ice into a DoF glass.
Garnish with lime shell and mint sprig.
Sip your way to Nirvana.

The real joy is experimenting with the 2 rums. I particularly like 1oz Havana Club 7 + 1oz Clement Select Barrel. Or 1oz Appleton Estate 12yo + Havana Club Anejo. Or... Or... etc.

I haven't tried making it yet, but found this little gem while surfing.

http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Trader-Vics-World-Famous-Mai-Tai-Copycat-Recipe.html

Stay tuned.

On 2016-05-08 14:06, mmaurice wrote:
I haven't tried making it yet, but found this little gem while surfing.

http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Trader-Vics-World-Famous-Mai-Tai-Copycat-Recipe.html

Stay tuned.

Would not bother.

The rum in both versions is Trader Vic's Royal Amber.
Both use fresh lemon juice instead of lime.
They quickly hand squeeze a quartered lime into the glass first off before adding the lemon and the remaining ingredients.

On 2016-05-09 21:19, Adam Aku Aku wrote:
The rum in both versions is Trader Vic's Royal Amber.
Both use fresh lemon juice instead of lime.
They quickly hand squeeze a quartered lime into the glass first off before adding the lemon and the remaining ingredients.

How is the royal amber? I've never had a TV-brand rum other than the dark, which I honestly didn't care for at all.

It's on par with Coruba. The TV gold and dark rums are kinda rough. Those retail in the ten dollar range, so there ya go.
Royal Amber is more like a $20 rum so it's good to know that even the $9 Mai Tai's still taste the way the should. Honestly, I have went back and fourth between the Trader Vic's Mai Tai and the 1944 Mai Tai (those are the drink names as listed on TV cocktail menus) almost daily during Vic's last four year stint in portland, and the two drinks taste nearly identical to me.

Cruzan makes most of not all of the TV rums. They are a step down in quality from standard Cruzan.

On 2016-05-11 00:26, Adam Aku Aku wrote:
It's on par with Coruba. The TV gold and dark rums are kinda rough. Those retail in the ten dollar range, so there ya go.
Royal Amber is more like a $20 rum so it's good to know that even the $9 Mai Tai's still taste the way the should. Honestly, I have went back and fourth between the Trader Vic's Mai Tai and the 1944 Mai Tai (those are the drink names as listed on TV cocktail menus) almost daily during Vic's last four year stint in portland, and the two drinks taste nearly identical to me.

I think the menu Mai Tai is sweeter and a little thicker than the '44. In Atlanta, the '44 isn't on the menu, you'd have to know about it and order it.

We have gotten pretty close to the menu version with

1 Sugar Syrup
1/4tsp Orange Extract (McCormick's)
1/4tsp Almond Extract (McCormick's)
3/4 Lime
1 Myers Dark
1 Appleton VX

[ Edited by: mmaurice 2016-06-12 19:20 ]

I recently was at Trader Vic's and tried the Royal Amber rum neat. I did not find it particularly well-rounded, and did not have much age at all. For sure it was not comparable to a dark Jamaican like Coruba, unfortunately.

In the cocktail it's not bad in a Mai Tai, but these days I always specify another rum (such as Appleton 12 or Smith & Cross) when ordering my Mai Tai there. Costs a little bit more usually but worth it. Though I did hear from someone who did it this way and they charged based on the rum, not the cocktail, and the better-rum-Mai-Tai was actually cheaper than the standard 1944 Mai Tai.

On 2020-02-05 07:50, kevincrossman wrote:

Though I did hear from someone who did it this way and they charged based on the rum, not the cocktail, and the better-rum-Mai-Tai was actually cheaper than the standard 1944 Mai Tai.

Interesting, I need to try this tomorrow.