Mai Tai (1958)

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   More Mai Tai, from the latest in ProQuest.

(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
HAM ON RYON
ART RYON. Los Angeles Times (1886-Current File). Los Angeles, Calif.: May 19, 1958. p. B5 (1 page) :
   WAIKIKI BEACH, Honolulu--...
   So into the aiport's Short Snorter Bar.  In the islands, an rum is mandatory.  I let Browny do the ordering.  The waiter brought something called a mai tai.  A mai tai, I find out later, is about 14 different shades of rum mixed together and "diluted" with a float of liqueur to smooth it out.
   In the Territory only six minutes and, already, I've made my first mistake...


(OED)
_mai tai_, n.
Prob. < Tahitian maitai good, nice, pleasant, cognate with Hawaiian maikai and Rarotongan meitaki good.
  Cf. the following claim of coinage (the drink is not mentioned in the 1947 ed. of this work):
  1972 Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide (rev. ed.) 163 In 1944..I [sc. V. J. Bergeron] felt a new drink was needed...Carrie [sc. a friend from Tahiti] took one sip and said, ‘Mai TaiRoa Aé.’ In Tahitian this means ‘Out of this worldthe best.’ Well, that was that. I named the drink ‘Mai Tai’.]Â

    A cocktail based on light rum, with added curaçao and fruit juices.
Â
  1961 Gourmet July 44/3 Here's how they make mai-tai at one hotel bar. Other barkeeps add a cherry to the garnish or float an orchid on the drink. Mai-Tai Royal Hawaiian..Pour into a glass 1 jigger each of light and dark Jamaica rum. Add the juice of 1 lime and half the shell, and a dash each of orgeat syrup, rock candy syrup, and orange Curacao. [Etc.] 1963 San Francisco Sunday Chron. 22 Dec. 22/6 You can sip a mai tai, lunch on mahi mahi..and thus take the most painless tour the islands have to offer. 1973 Newsweek 15 Oct. 22 [Richard Nixon] spent an effervescent night on the town.., dining on mai-tais, crab Rangoon, sweet-and-sour pork and almond duck at Trader Vic's. 1984 Times 19 Dec. G/2 Pubs..are serving Mai Tais and Mint Juleps. 1991 V. BUGLIOSI Sea will Tell i. 17 They stay in glitzy resort hotels, down premixed Mai Tais served by waitresses in synthetic grass skirts, and tap their toes to the canned melodies of Don Ho. 1998 New Yorker 23 Feb. 76/1 CocktailsManhattans, Greyhounds, mai taiswere imperative and drugs were easy to come by.