The Pineapple Mai Tai adds pineapple juice to the classic — the version most travellers actually meet, poured by the pool at Hawaiian resorts. It is softer, sweeter, and fruitier than the spare original, and unapologetic about it.
The Mai Tai most people have actually had.
The Resort Mai Tai
Trader Vic's 1944 original is a lean, almost austere drink — rum, lime, curaçao, orgeat, nothing more. The Mai Tai that conquered Hawaii is fruitier: pineapple juice, sometimes orange, often a float of dark rum. Purists wince; holidaymakers do not.
Pineapple's Effect
Pineapple juice rounds the drink off — it softens the lime's sharpness, adds body, and pushes the Mai Tai firmly into tropical, easy-drinking territory. It is less a cocktail for study than one for a deck chair, and it knows it.
A Float of Dark Rum
The classic finishing touch — on the resort version as much as the original — is a float of dark rum poured over the top. It gives the first sip a deep, molasses richness before the drink mixes together.
The Mai Tai Family
The tiki landmark — aged rum, lime, orange curaçao, and orgeat, shaken over crushed ice.
- 2 ozAged rum
- 3/4 ozLime juice
- 1/2 ozOrgeat
The Mai Tai with a smoky heart — mezcal split into the rum.
- 1 ozAged rum
- 1 ozMezcal
- 1/2 ozOrgeat