Hair of the Dog is Cookthink’s Monday morning cocktail column by Rob Chirico, the author of the Field Guide to Cocktails. Read more about Rob here.

Election Day is behind us, and the promise of a new country is ahead. But if there is one vote I would still like to cast, it is a vote to keep winter at bay. And what better candidate for the job than the king of all tiki drinks, the Mai Tai?

Like Chablis and Merlot, the Mai Tai has garnered a solidly negative approval rating over the years. Sadly, in most cases, it deserves it. So-called Mai Tais from the Waikiki Hula Hut to the Golden China Palace restaurant contain diesel-quality rum, bottled mixes and juices that may have been canned the year Dewey was defeated.

They are often viscous and ooze with contempt for the serious cocktail aficionado. The textured plastic glasses spiked little swords of chunks of pineapple and maraschino cherries only aid and abet in the crime.

However, made with fresh ingredients and top-shelf liquors, the 51-year-old Mai Tai is a thing of beauty.

Don the Beachcomber (Earnest Raymond Beaumont-Gant—really!) has been credited with its creation, but the polls show that “Trader Vic” Bergeron, mixed the first Mai Tai in 1944. Naysayers need only heed his words in Trader Vic’s bartenders’ guide of 1947: “Anybody who says I didn’t create this drink is a dirty stinker.” Them’s fightin’ words!

Although Trader Vic had had visited the South Seas, returning with all of the venerable accoutrements now standard in a tiki lounge, he mixed the first Mai Tai at his Hinky Dink bar in Emeryville, California, just outside of San Francisco. He created the drink for two friends, Eastham and Carrie Guild, who were visiting from Tahiti and requested something special from the bar. As the story goes, after taking a sip, Carrie said “Mai tai—ro aé,” which translates from Tahitian as “Out of this world—the best.” (You tell me; my Tahitian is rusty.)

Just like the “Polynesian” food he served in his restaurant, the drink was completely ersatz as a South Seas libation. But it caught on and apart from being out of this world, the proper Mai Tai is one of the world’s classic drinks.

Trader Vic’s and its affiliates have nearly two dozen restaurants worldwide, and countless imitations are everywhere. When you find yourself amid giant conch shells, carved masks, tiki gods and thatched roofing, a Mai Tai is surely nearby. If you can’t make it to the shore, put South Pacific or Les Baxter’s music on and toast the crimson setting sun and mix one for yourself.

The original Mai tai was made with 17-year-old Jamaican amber rum. According to Trader Vic, “I took a fresh lime, added some orange curacao from Holland, a dash of Rock Candy Syrup, and a dollop of French Orgeat, for its subtle almond flavor. A generous amount of shaved ice and vigorous shaking by hand produced the marriage I was after. Half the lime shell went in for color.” And he ought to know.

Food Affinities: Regarding food, Trader Vic said, “You can’t eat real Polynesian food. It’s the most horrible stuff I’ve ever tasted.” As with certain people who hate broccoli, we disagree. For fun’s sake, pile the tables with fresh pineapples and bananas, dim sum, and maybe that pupu platter you always wanted to order.

Recipe: Mai Tai (Hair of the Dog)

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