Mai Tai
Mai Tai cocktails are the classic summer drink for your next pool party! Just mix two rums with amaretto, pineapple juice, and orange juice!
Classic summer cocktails like Long Island Iced Teas and Mai Tais are the best boozy drinks for a girls’ weekend or an afternoon pool party. These fruity cocktails are light and juicy with just enough rum. You’ll be planning cookouts just as an excuse to make more mai tais, they’re THAT good.
MAI TAI
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Tiki bars are back in style, and I spend every summer making my own tiki drinks! This is the best mai tai recipe — it’s light, fruity, and easy to whip together without a blender. All you need is a cocktail shaker or a spoon to make these summer drinks.
I love the addition of amaretto to these mai tai drinks. I think it really rounds out the flavor of the cocktail! This drink is super tasty and easy to make for you and your partner or a whole party of people. I make it a little differently than the original Mai Tai recipe, but I like it just the same.
Mai Tai Ingredients
RUM: You can’t make a real Mai Tai without rum! I use a combination of spiced rum and coconut rum for a super flavorful alcoholic pool drink. Any good Jamaican rum will work. If you can’t get your hands on coconut rum don’t worry, you can use a white rum or light rum instead.
AMARETTO: I like to add a shot of amaretto for some additional sweetness. It’s not typically in a mai tai, but it really gives this recipe something special.
FRUIT JUICE: The succulent summer flavor of these fruity cocktails comes from its pineapple juice, orange juice, and fresh lime juice mixers. The extra grenadine added to the cocktail combines with the fruit juices for a beautiful sunset in a glass.
You can always garnish these mai tai cocktails with maraschino cherries, orange wedges, or pineapple chunks.
How to Make a Mai Tai
- First, fill your cocktail shaker with spiced rum, coconut rum, amaretto, pineapple juice, orange juice, lime juice, and ice. Shake, shake, shake!
- When it’s all mixed together, strain the cocktail into two rocks glasses, poco glasses, or tiki glasses filled with ice.
- Then, add a float of dark rum on top for that classic Mai Tai look.
- Garnish with maraschino cherries and a pineapple wedge and enjoy!
You can also add orange slices, pineapple wedges, or any fresh fruit you want to the rim.
What is Orgeat Syrup Made Of?
The original Mai Tai recipe from the 1940s was made with lime juice, orange curaçao, simple syrup, rum, and orgeat syrup.
Orgeat syrup is an almond syrup made with rose water and orange flower water for a floral but nutty flavor. It takes hours and hours to make, but you can often find it at the grocery store, liquor store, and online.
What is Orgeat Syrup Substitute
If you want to use the original Mai Tai recipe ingredients, you’ll need orgeat syrup.
However, if you’re looking to switch it up but keep the classic flavor, try simple almond syrup! It won’t have the extra flavor notes of traditional orgeat syrup, but it brings the nuttiness to the cocktail.
I don’t use either in this recipe, but you could add it for an extra flavor profile closer to the original!
More Delicious Summer Cocktail Recipes
- Cherry Poke Cake Cocktail
- Moscato Pink Lemonade Punch
- Mexican Sunset
- Orange Strawberry Rose Sangria
- Raspberry White Claw Cocktail
- More DRINK recipes…
Tools used to make this Mai Tai recipe
Cocktail shaker: Shaken, not stirred. For the best cocktails, you want a cocktail shaker to get everything mixed together perfectly. It’s also a great workout before your pool party!
Poco glasses: I love to serve all my tiki drinks in these festive poco glasses! They’re like mini hurricane glasses. You can use a rocks glass or a tiki glass, as long as there’s fun involved.
*This post originally posted on 09/01/2015.
Mai Tai
Ingredients
- 1.5 ounces spiced rum
- 1.5 ounces coconut rum
- 1 ounce amaretto
- 6 ounces pineapple juice
- 4 ounces orange juice
- ½ ounce fresh lime juice
- 1 ounce dark rum
- Maraschino cherries for garnish
- Pineapple wedges for garnish
Instructions
- Combine the spiced rum, coconut rum, amaretto, pineapple juice, orange juice, and lime juice in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Cover and shake vigorously.
- Strain into two cocktail glasses filled with ice.
- Slowly pour dark rum over each drink so it floats on top.
- Garnish each cocktail with a maraschino cherry and a pineapple wedge. Serve immediately.
This is Aubrey’s version of a Mai Tai and I like her version much. I LOVE the Amaretto in it! The original version from Hawaii calls for an orgeat syrup. The substitutes for orgeat syrup is Amaretto or even almond extract (which I’ve used). However, this IS a Mai Tai recipe with someone’s twist & there is NOTHING wrong with that!
Thank you Aubrey for sharing your recipe!
That recipe is xompletely wrong un EVERY DETAIL. There is no amaretto, no pineapple and no orange juice in a Mai Tai. You may like it, but it is OBSCENE to call it a “mai tai”
Perfect mai tai! Now we can relive our favorite cruise drink at home!