Mai Tai

Victor Bergeron, also known as Trader Vic, tells the following story about the mai tai in his book Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide. He was experimenting at the bar of his original Trader Vic’s location in Emeryville, California, with a fine sixteen-year-old Jamaican rum he had purchased. When he finished, he served the drink to his friends from Tahiti, Ham and Carrie Guild. After tasting the drink, Carrie raised her glass and said, “mai tai roa ae,” which means out of this world, the best, in Tahitian. “That’s the name of the drink,” replied Bergeron. He often said it was “one of the finest drinks I ever concocted.”