"Two rival tiki bar pioneers each claim to have invented the Mai Tai, but the popular legend is that this daiquiri variation was created by Victor Bergeron at the original Trader Vic’s in Oakland, circa 1944. Here, that’s substituted for the Emeryville location, as Oakland’s Trader Vic’s is no longer. The Mai Tai is a combination of two different rums, lime juice, orange curacao, and orgeat — and the man with the competing claim of inventing the drink, Los Angeles’s Don the Beachcomber, made his version with grapefruit juice and lime juice, falernum, and a few drops of Herbsaint. As tiki drinks grew in popularity, the Mai Tai morphed into a syrupy concoction sold in Chinese restaurants. But to taste something like Bergeron’s original, you’ll want to do so at a reputable, craft-focused tiki bar where they make their own orgeat. Smuggler’s Cove will do nicely." - Jay C. Barmann
