Summer Cocktail Recipes
Hawaiian Luau Drink Recipes

Featured Luau Recipe Book:


Trader Vic's Tiki Party!:
Cocktails & Food to Share with Friends

Recipes for 95 of the restaurant’s best-loved tropical cocktails and after-dinner drinks along with more than 35 party-friendly recipes for pupus, tidbits, finger food, entrees, and desserts all adapted from the past and present menus of Trader Vic’s. Dozens of tips and ideas for inexpensive, easy tiki decorating and entertaining at home are included, as is a guide to the basics of bartending equipment and techniques. Whether it’s a blowout tiki party for friends or a spontaneous occasion to dust off the shaker, this book brings favorite concoctions from Trader Vic’s into your home.

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Mai Tai Recipes

Coconut Cup With Straw

Pineapple Cups

Mai Tais were invented in 1944 by Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron, at the original Trader Vic's restaurant in Oakland, California, when he mixed Jamaican rum, juice from a fresh lime, a few dashes of orange curaco syrup, some french orgeat, and rock candy syrup. Trader Vic history claims it originally was served to some friends from Tahiti, who promptly proclaimed "Mai Tai, Roa Ae!", Tahitian for "Out of this world, the best!". Mai Tais have become a standard cocktail recipe and are ideal tropical drinks to serve at luaus and summer parties. I've included several Mai Tai recipes here, including the original Trader Vic's Mai Tai Recipe, a Mai Tai punch recipe, and virgin Mai Tai recipe, as well as some Mai Tais featuring different fruit juice accents, although understand that traditionally, Mai Tais are only made with lime juice, so any Mai Tai drink recipe calling for other kinds of juice is straying from that tradition, and while a delicious tropical drink recipe, is not technically, a Mai Tai as you see it in a bartender's recipe book.

Tropical Hurricane Cups

Trader Vic's Original Mai Tai

Shake ingredients and pour into an ice-packed glass. Garnish with lime and a sprig of mint.

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Minted Mai Tai

Stir lime juice, syrup, and chopped mint leaves in heavy small saucepan over medium heat just until mixture simmers. Cool.

Strain syrup into pitcher. Add pineapple juice, orange juice, and rum; stir to blend. Fill 6 tall glasses with ice. Pour juice mixture over. Garnish mai tais with fresh mint sprigs.

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Mai Tai (Pineapple variation)

Shake all but the dark rum with cracked ice.

Strain into old-fashioned glass.
Top with dark rum.

Garnish with a Maraschino Cherry

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Mai Tai Punch

18 Piece Punch Bowl Set

Combine all ingredients except ice cubes, pineapple and mint; chill well.

Just before serving, fill 12 large glasses with ice. Add punch.

Garnish each serving with a pineapple spear and a mint sprig. If making extra to serve in a punch bowl, garnish punch bowl with floating flower blossoms, and have ice handy for individual drinks (puttin in the punch will water down as the ice melts. Serve immediately.

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Virgin Mai Tai

Shake or stir all ingredients to blend and pour over crushed ice.