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I’ve been meaning to share this epic mai tai recipe with you for months! I found the recipe in my friend Alana Kysar’s beautiful new cookbook, Aloha Kitchen (affiliate link). Alana is effusive and thoughtful, hard working and talented, and you would know this all by glancing at her book. She sent me a copy and I’ve learned so much about Hawaiian culture and cuisine from it.

Her mai tai recipe is in the drink section at the back of the book. I’ve been wanting to learn how to make a proper tiki drink ever since we got a tiki bar in town, so here we are.

Alana says, “The mai tai is commonly associated with Hawaii, despite is California origin. Whether you believe Don the Beachcomber or Trader Vic invented the drink, its strong tie to the islands remains. If you’ve ordered them in the past, chances are you’ve had varied experiences, ranging from great to terrible and everything in between.”

This mai tai recipe is well balanced, deliciously tropical, and quite boozy, like a mai tai should be. Your average cocktail contains one-and-a-half ounces of liquor, and this one contains three ounces of rum. You have been warned.

Aloha Kitchen Cookbook

Aloha Kitchen: Recipes from Hawai’i is a gorgeous, coffee table-worthy cookbook overflowing with vibrant photos of Hawaii, Hawaiian recipes, and even history lessons. I’ve never had the chance to visit Hawaii, but I fell in love with Alana’s description of Hawaiian culture before I even got to her collection of 85 recipes.

I had a few epiphanies as I read Alana’s book. One, I’m even more eager to experience Hawaii now. Two, I realized I knew very little about Hawaii’s history and cultural influences. Alana provides a thorough rundown in the introduction, along with icons for the originating ethnic group on each recipe.

Lastly, I knew nothing about Hawaiian food—it’s so beautiful and interesting, and unfortunately for me as a vegetarian, more meaty than meatless. Pescetarians and everyone else, you will find many recipes that work for you in this cookbook. If you love Hawaii or are dying to visit like I am, you need this book!

Mai Tai Ingredients

Alana consulted with two-time “World’s Best Mai Tai” champion bartender, Justin Park, on this recipe. She says, “This is his take on a classic mai tai, where he forgoes the traditional floating of the rums to create a well-balanced cocktail that’s great from start to finish.”

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Dark molasses rum
• Light pure cane rum
• Honey simple syrup (instructions provided in recipe notes, made simply from honey and water)
• Orgeat syrup
• Fresh lime juice
• Angostura bitters

What is orgeat syrup?

I wasn’t sure myself until I bought some for this recipe. Orgeat syrup is made from an interesting blend of almonds, sugar, and rose water or orange flower water. It’s sweet and delicious, and you might recognize the flavor from other tiki drinks. It tastes like sunshine and summertime and smells like suntan lotion. Or more seriously, like marzipan.

Alana recommended Small Hand Foods brand of orgeat, which I bought on Amazon. You can make a lot of mai tais with one bottle of orgeat, plus it’s nice mixed with unflavored club soda.

Looking for more refreshing summertime cocktails? Check these out:

Be sure to check out Aloha Kitchen and let us know how your mai tais turn out in the comments!

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