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Raise Your Glass: It's National Mai Tai Day!
Photo of a Mai Tai by Sarah_Ackerman via Flickr
We don't make this stuff up, but we don't mind abiding by it. Today is National Mai Tai Day, and though it's just a fraction too early to really get into your long weekend drinking, if you opt to cap the day off with this Tahitian-inspired classic, well, we won't object.
Your pre-swilling history lesson is a reminder that Mai Tai is Tahitian for "good" and it was invented in California. However, whether it was by "Trader" Vic Bergeron in Oakland, or Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt aka "Don the Beachcomber" here in Hollywood remains a debate of the ages.
Check out the recipe for Trader Vic's Mai Tai, first made in 1944:
2 ounces of 17-year old J. Wray & Nephew Rum over shaved ice.
Add juice from one fresh lime.
1/2 ounce Holland DeKuyper Orange Curacao.
1/4 ounce Trader Vic's Rock Candy Syrup.
1/2 ounce French Garier Orgeat Syrup
Shake vigorously.
Add a sprig of fresh mint
You can definitely get your classic Mai Tai on at Trader Vic's (though not in its classic layout) at the Beverly Hilton. Other spots for Mai Tais include the Tonga Hut and Tiki No, both in North Hollywood, or Tiki Ti in Hollywood. For an award-winning variant on the classic, head into the Hollywood Roosevelt and up to the Spare Room for Aidan Demarest's "Evening Glass Off," which is one of our favorite cocktails being mixed these days.
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If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
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