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Writer's pictureMangia McCann

Mangia's Mai Tai

Today is Mai Tai day and I thought I’d get in on this classic tiki drink. Fair warning: this is not your average sweet tiki drink, served in ceramic tiki glass along with a cute little umbrella. Some versions of this cocktail will hit you with the vengeance of a large wave off the coast of Maui. While I don’t want to be like one of those commenters you see on a recipe site where they change everything and say it sucked, the Food & Wine version will kill you. It is also riddled with basic errors: they leave out inclusion of the lime juice and get the ratios all wrong for a rich simple syrup. Maybe they wrote it after having several glasses of their Mai Tai. Sadly, this is not the first time I’ve gone with a cocktail recipe out of Food & Wine and have absolutely hated it. In fact, it’s happened several times - they may just want to stick with food recipes.

I didn’t have orgeat (so I went with a substitute of Disaronno, you could also add a drop of almond extract if you have some as it will cut back on the alcohol content) and the liquor store was sold out of orange curaçao, so I went with the F&W suggestion of Grand Marnier instead. Mixing most of that up and then floating dark rum on the top (initial photo you saw) just leads to an unbalanced alcoholic nightmare that will have you reacting like this. I tinkered around a bit with what I had on-hand and made a much more balanced, subtle, and pleasant cocktail (as pictured below). 

Mangia’s Mai Tai

If you want cirrhosis, go ahead and make the prettier but deadlier F&W version. Otherwise, here’s a smoother option. 

  • ½ oz rich simple syrup (2:1 ratio of sugar to water)

  • ½ oz white rum

  • 1.5 oz aged dark Jamaican rum

  • 1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice (typically, 1 fresh lime)

  • ¼ oz of Disaronno

  • Lime wheels and mint for garnish


Prepare your simple syrup (I used 1 cup sugar and ½ cup water) by combining the ingredients in a small pot set over medium-high heat. After a couple of minutes, start stirring the sugar to dissolve it in the water until the mixture is clear. Remove from the heat and cool. 


While the syrup is cooling, gather your other ingredients. 


Fill a shaker about half way full with crushed ice. And add in all of the measured ingredients. Cover and shake for 20 seconds until the shaker is frosty. 


Partly fill a rocks glass with crushed ice and pour the shaken beverage through a strainer over the ice. 


Garnish with a lime wheel and a mint sprig - don’t forget to slap the mint in your palm just before placing it in the glass. ______________________________ Copyright 2024, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.


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