Worthy Park Mai Tai Recipe
Mai Tai Recipe
Victor Bergeron's 1944 original — the one without pineapple juice or grenadine. Worthy Park's Single Estate Reserve brings the high-ester Jamaican funk this drink was built around.
Ingredients
- Worthy Park Single Estate Reserve rum (or 50/50 with a Martinique rhum agricole)60 ml
- Fresh lime juice30 ml
- Giffard Orgeat syrup15 ml
- Giffard Orange Curaçao15 ml
- Sugar syrup (1:1)5 ml
- Garnish: spent lime shell and a sprig of mint—
Method
- Add Worthy Park rum, fresh lime juice, Giffard Orgeat, Giffard Orange Curaçao and sugar syrup to a shaker.
- Fill with crushed ice and shake for 6 to 8 seconds — short and hard. Crushed ice dilutes fast.
- Pour the entire contents, ice and all, into a Double Old Fashioned glass.
- Top up with more crushed ice to form a small dome.
- Insert the spent lime shell upturned in the centre and tuck a generous mint sprig into it.
Garnish: Spent lime shell with mint sprig
Why this works
Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron created the Mai Tai in 1944 at his Oakland restaurant, using 17-year-old Wray & Nephew Jamaican rum. The story he liked to tell: he served the drink to two friends visiting from Tahiti, one of whom exclaimed "Maita'i roa ae!" — Tahitian for "out of this world, the best." The drink that emerged from California became the defining tiki cocktail of the 20th century. Then it got murdered. By the 1970s most bars were serving a sweet pink mess of pineapple juice and grenadine that bears no relation to the original.
This is the original spec. The key ingredient is the rum: a properly funky Jamaican pot-still rum that can carry the orgeat, lime and curaçao without disappearing. Worthy Park Single Estate Reserve is exactly that — 45% ABV, fully aged in ex-bourbon casks at the estate, with the high-ester banana and overripe-pineapple character that defines Jamaican rum. The traditional split was a 50/50 of aged Jamaican and aged Martinique agricole; if you have both, use both.
Bartender tips
Crushed ice, not cubed. The texture of the finished drink depends on it. Always express the lime by squeezing into the shaker, then drop the spent shell on top of the finished glass — there's a tiny amount of oil left in the shell that lifts the aroma. Make your own orgeat if you can, but Giffard Orgeat is one of the few commercial orgeats that's actually correct (real almond, no synthetic flavour). The 5 ml of sugar syrup is what Trader Vic called "rock candy syrup" — it tightens the balance.
Featured products
Worthy Park Single Estate Reserve
45% Jamaican rum, fully aged on the estate. High-ester pot-still funk built for tiki.
Shop the bottleGiffard Orgeat Syrup
The benchmark commercial orgeat — real almond, orange flower water, no synthetic flavouring.
Shop the bottleGiffard Orange Curaçao
Classic-range orange curaçao at 40% ABV. The right modifier for the Mai Tai's orange backbone.
Shop the bottleFAQ
Can I use a different rum?
It has to be a funky aged Jamaican to be correct. Rum-Bar Overproof works for a hot, fierce version (drop to 30 ml). For a softer build, split Worthy Park 50/50 with an aged Cuban-style rum.
Is it sweet?
Less sweet than the version most bars serve. The original 1944 Mai Tai is a sour, not a tiki dessert.
Why no pineapple juice?
Because Trader Vic didn't put any in. The pineapple version is a 1960s adulteration. If you want pineapple in your rum drink, you want a Painkiller or a Piña Colada — both great drinks, but not the Mai Tai.
Can I make orgeat myself?
Yes — soak blanched almonds overnight, blend with water, strain through cheesecloth, add equal-weight sugar and a teaspoon of orange flower water. It keeps two weeks refrigerated. The Giffard version is the time-saver, not the compromise.