Pineapple Mai Tai is my tropical, fruity take-off from the traditional Don the Beachcomber Mai Tai Tiki cocktail.
Pineapple Mai Tai
By Sue Lau | PalatablePastime
For #NationalMaiTaiDay I wanted to do a version of a popular beach drink, one that is disputed to have been created either by Trader Vic or Don the Beachcomber. Neither is the version I have here, although the one by Don the Beachcomber is closer and is the one upon which I relied for inspiration.
Trader Vic’s recipe goes as so:
Wray & Nephew aged rum, orgeat, curacao, simple syrup, and lime.
Don the Beachcomber’s goes as so:
Gold rum, Jamaican rum, grapefruit juice, lime juice, Cointreau, falernum, Pernod, and Angostura bitters.
You can tell by checking out my recipe that since I wanted to make it a pineapple based drink, I didn’t just want to make the originals and add pineapple, but make some adjustment there. And since the Don the Beachcomber version has a bit more juice, I traded some of that out there, omitting the grapefruit in favor of pineapple, using Grand Marnier instead of Cointreau (no big deal), and passed on the lime since the falernum helps slightly there, and pineapple would sub for it.
So I guess you could say my drink is a bit more girly, although it still has a fair amount of booze in it, but not too strong. If you do find it too strong, just water it with more pineapple juice.
Mai Tais remind me of our favorite Chinese restaurant when we were first together.
This particular version is better than most I have tried, with a high contender being one they used to make at Tom Hsu’s Hunan Cafe on Hampton Avenue in St. Louis, but as I recall, theirs was heavy on sour mix (I liked their version of the Volcano much better). Hunan Cafe used to be a favorite haunt of ours in the early 1980’s and we were fond of the bar. It was one of the first restaurants I recall having to wait for a table on busy nights, but we didn’t mind if we had to pine away some time over Island-based cocktails.
As I said yesterday, I had hoped to serve these in hollowed out miniature pineapples, but I suspect they aren’t in season. But while I collect many food blogger accessories such as plates, Bill likes to collect tiki accessories for his drink blog. I borrowed the mug above which being glass, shows the drink off nicely, but of course, my favorites are some of the unusual ones he has that are pottery with interesting painted designs (you just can’t see through them).
If you don’t have any of these, you can serve this drink best in an old-fashioned glass, I think. Or whatever you have.
Have a great start to your holiday weekend if you are celebrating. I love summer celebrations the best. Don’t you? The perfect time for hot bbq, cold drinks and frozen treats. Bring it on!
~Sue
Pineapple Mai Tai
Ingredients
- 2 ounces aged Jamaican rum
- 6 ounces pineapple juice
- 1 ounce simple syrup
- 1/2 ounce Amaretto liqueur
- 1/2 ounce Grand Marnier liqueur
- 1/4 ounce Falernum liqueur or syrup
- 1 teaspoon Pernod liqueur
- dash Angostura bitters
Instructions
- Blend together and shake with crushed ice; pour into cocktail glass.
- Garnish if desired, with pineapple and a cherry.
Notes
Intended for those 21 years of age and up; please drink responsibly.
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