Mai Tai

jamaican rum, curaçao, orgeat, lime juice, and simple syrup

The most famous exotic (“tiki”) drink, created by Victor “Trader Vic” Bergeron in 1944. Like most exotic drinks, the Mai Tai was proprietary to Trader Vic’s, and like Don the Beachcomber’s Zombie, it drew countless inaccurate imitations, with the name eventually applied to virtually any tropical punch. The distinct and nuanced original—or at least as close as we can get to it, today—has enjoyed a rebirth in recent years.