Mai Tai

The Mai Tai comes with the kind of origin story cocktail historians love to argue over. Victor “Trader Vic” Bergeron usually gets the official credit, creating the drink at his Bay Area bar in the 1940s. But Donn Beach may have already planted the tropical seeds a decade earlier at Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood. So who truly invented it? The answer gets murkier with every round, which feels perfectly appropriate for a drink built on rum, legend, and a little competitive bartending. 2 oz white rum 3/4 oz Orange Blossom Tonic 3/4 oz Lime Leaf Tonic 1/2 oz Public Domain Piña Colada Mix 1/2 ounce dark rum Garnish: lime wheel & mint sprig Add everything but garnish and dark rum into a shaker with ice and shake for 3-5 seconds Pour into a double rocks glass. Float the dark rum over the top. Garnish with a lime wheel and mint sprig.