"Out of this world"

Literally, the Mai Tai cocktail translates to "Out of this world".  Being National Rum Day, I thought I would pay homage to this classic Tiki cocktail.

As the story goes, Victor Bergeron, owner of Trader Vics, invented this quintessential Tiki cocktail in the 1940's for some friends that were visiting from Tahiti.  One of the friends was heard crying out "Maita'i roa ae!", roughly being translated as "Out of this world!  The Best!"- hence the name.

Over time the recipe has been butchered and now hardly resembles the classic recipe.  Thank god with the re-birth of the cocktail world and the search for these classic recipes...you can find this original recipe in many "handcraft cocktail bars".  The original recipe was 2 ounces of rum, lime juice, Orange Curacao, rock candy syrup and Orgeat syrup.

It is my belief that at some point bartenders began substituting Orgeat syrup with Creme de Noyaux(a nut liqueur very similar in taste to Orgeat), which adds a red tinge to the cocktail.  Also there was in many cases a float of dark rum added to the mix which seems to coincide with the color structure of the bastardized versions of the original.  

For a fun, strong play on the Mai Tai I give you a hybrid of classic and nouveau

Mai Tai

1 1/2 oz Appleton Rum
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Pierre Ferrand Orange Curacao
Shake all ingredients and then strain into a collins glass
drizzle a 1/2 oz Tempus Fugit Creme de Noyaux and then float 1/2 oz of Meyers Dark Rum
Garnish with a pineapple wedge and Tiki Umbrella!