- 50 ml Jamaican golden rum
- 25 ml Cointreau or DeKuyper Triple Sec
- 25 fresh lime juice
- 15 ml orgeat or Monin’s Almond Syrup
- 20 ml Jamaican dark rum
Fill a shaker with ice, and pour in the white rum, Cointreau, juice and syrup. Shake vigorously for 20-30 seconds. Strain into a double rocks glass full of crushed ice. Pour the dark rum on top. This is the one time you can go to town with the garnish. Pineapple slices, maraschino cherries, all belong here or keep it simple with just a wedge of lime and a sprig of mint.
The classic Tiki cocktail, Mai Tai is all about rum. Bartenders have their favourite bespoke blends, up to 4 different rums, but whatever you use it has to be the good stuff and it should be Jamaican. Made famous by Victor ‘Trader Vic’ Bergero in 1944, the original recipe calls for J. Wray & Nephew 17, long since gone. However in 2023 Appleton released a run of ‘Appleton Estate 17 Legend’, a supposedly faithful reproduction limited to 1,500 bottles at about £500 each. Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Rare Casks rum is a far more affordable substitute at 50 quid.