Mai Tai Madness
 

As some of you know (all of you? most of you?) I'm having a Pirates and Wenches party next weekend. I'm planning on serving mai tais in pitchers at this party (tropical drinks sort of in keeping with the theme). The problem is...there are loads of mai tai recipes out there--some along the lines of the classic Trader Vic's mai tai with orgeat syrup and some more modern with pineapple juice and grenadine.

My question is...what kind of mai tai recipe do you like? What's your favorite? How do you make your mai tais, and how should I do it in order to make such a quantity of mai tais?

Thanks in advance.

the trader vic's recipe is the only recipe that should be used.. why mess with a classic...

Serve the drinks in cocoanut cups (most party stores sell them pretty cheaply) to look authentic...

have plenty of those tacky little paper umbrellas for the drinks as well as fruit on a stick (or one of those plastic swords in keeping with your theme) to dunk in the drink.

Ohhh yeah... Mai Tai's the Trader Vic's way are the ONLY way to go! Rum, Lime juice (fresh is IMPORTANT), Orgeat, and Triple Sec... Makes it sweet and yummy and just a little bit almondy....

The Trader Vic's recipie is the FIRST Mai Tai recipie... it's the original, and all the others are variations and "fake" Mai Tai's.... It'd be like putting Burbon and OJ in a cocktail glass and calling it a "martini." Go with the original and you can't go wrong!

PS- you can probably get Orgeat from a coffee shop around where you live- if you absloutely can't get real Orgeat you can sub Almond syrup from Starbucks

Anyone care to post the trader vic's recipe that everyone is talking about?

http://www.tradervics.com/mai-tai-1.html

THE ORIGINAL FORMULA
2 ounces 17-year-old J. Wray Nephew Jamaican rum
1/2 ounce French Garnier Orgeat
1/2 ounce Holland DeKuyper Orange Curacao
1/4 ounce Rock Candy Syrup
juice from one fresh lime

Hand shake and garnish with half of the lime shell inside the drink and float a sprig of fresh mint at the edge of the glass.

(Orgeat syrup is a sweet syrup made from almonds, sugar and rose water/orange-flower water. .)