Mai Tai

Aged rum, lime, orgeat, and curaçao — Trader Vic's 1944 Oakland creation, Tahitian guests exclaiming maita'i roa ae (out of this world), IBA Contemporary Classic.

The Mai Tai was created by Victor Jules Bergeron Jr. — Trader Vic — at his restaurant in Oakland, California in 1944 using a bottle of 17-year-old J. Wray and Nephew rum from Jamaica that Bergeron had been given. Bergeron's account holds that he combined the aged rum with fresh lime juice, French Orgeat, orange curaçao, and rock candy syrup and served it to Ham and Carrie Guild, friends visiting from Tahiti, who on tasting it exclaimed Maita'i roa ae — meaning out of this world, the best in the Tahitian language (maita'i: good; roa: very; ae: an affirmative particle). The 17-year-old J. Wray and Nephew rum was eventually exhausted, and Bergeron replaced it with a blend of Jamaican and Martinique rums, establishing the two-rum combination that became standard. Don the Beachcomber's supporters have argued that an earlier, similar preparation existed at his Hollywood establishment, though the specific formulas are different enough that most cocktail historians treat them as distinct drinks. The Mai Tai spread from Trader Vic's Oakland to Trader Vic's locations worldwide as the chain expanded through the 1950s and 1960s, and it became the defining tiki cocktail globally. The IBA recognizes the Mai Tai as a Contemporary Classic.