As a Tiki drink fanatic, it’s thrilling to see new individuals becoming a member of the fold. Even the mainstream press is beginning to give Tiki bars the respect they deserve. Nevertheless, as a participant in lots of on-line Tiki teams, it’s arduous to overlook a surge in arguments over sure matters. What’s a correct Mai Tai cocktail is foremost amongst them, however it goes deeper than that.
Any group that grows quickly is certain to see extra battle; it’s a easy numbers sport. However there’s one thing uncommon about Tiki group dynamics which might be typically not understood by all concerned. Thus, I wished to share my ideas on what I imagine is occurring.
Context
Tiki eating places had been as soon as thought of excessive tradition in the US, peaking across the Fifties. Diners dressed up in formal garments, as did a lot of the waitstaff. From this “Golden period” flowed many traditional recipes just like the Zombie, Navy Grog, and the Three Dots and a Sprint.
But when any recipe from this period can declare to be first amongst equals, it’s the Mai Tai. It was created by Victor Bergeron (Dealer Vic) in 1944. The recipe Vic wrote in 1970 goes:
- 2 ounces of 17-year previous J. Wray & Nephew Rum over shaved ice.
- 1/2 ounce Holland DeKuyper Orange Curacao.
- 1/4 ounce Dealer Vic’s Rock Sweet Syrup.
- 1/2 ounce French Garnier Orgeat Syrup
- Add juice from one recent lime.
Hand shake and garnish with half of the lime shell contained in the drink and float a sprig of recent mint on the fringe of the glass.
Placing apart the truth that 17-year previous Wray & Nephew Jamaican rum is now not accessible (and topic to a lot hypothesis), Vic’s recipe is simple to breed at this time. It’s primarily a daiquiri augmented by almond syrup (orgeat) and orange liqueur.
Made correctly, it’s a well-balanced drink, neither too candy nor too tart. All of its components are squarely inside the golden period’s ingredient palette. It’s additionally a gently bracing drink, partially as a result of it’s not diluted by candy juices like orange or pineapple. Additionally of be aware, it doesn’t have a “darkish rum float.”
Vic’s “1944” Mai Tai recipe turned a standard-bearer for the fashionable tiki motion for all these causes. When somebody resists a Tiki drink as a result of they assume it’s simply candy fruit juices and rum, a traditional 1944 Mai Tai is commonly the gateway to altering individuals’s perceptions about tropical cocktails.
Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai Recipe
The beloved 1944 recipe wasn’t Vic’s solely Mai Tai, nonetheless. Each Vic and Donn Seashore consistently tinkered with and developed their recipes, usually whereas retaining the unique menu names.
In 1953, Vic was contracted by Matson Steamship Strains to craft a signature set of recipes for his or her Hawaiian inns. Amongst them was what got here to be known as the Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai: [i]
- 0.5 oz Lime Juice
- 0.25 oz Lemon Juice
- 1 oz Orange Juice
- 1 oz unsweetened Pineapple Juice
- 0.25 oz Sugar Syrup
- 0.25 oz Orgeat
- 0.25 oz Orange Curacao
- 1 oz Demerara Rum
- 1 oz Darkish Jamaican Rum
- 1 oz Mild Rum
The important thing structural components of the 1944 recipe (lime juice, orgeat, orange curacao, Jamaican rum) are nonetheless in place. It’s the addition of orange and pineapple juices the place it considerably deviates. One can’t fault Vic for making use of the Island’s available citrus juices.
It’s this recipe of Vic’s that notably resonated with the consuming public and spawned numerous takes in tropical bars across the globe. So profitable had been these citrus-forward drinks that “Mai Tai” turned a generic identify for any form of juice-forward rum drink. It’s akin to how “Kleenex” turned a generic phrase for a tissue.
Whereas Vic’s model was well-balanced and solidly inside the golden period sample, untold hundreds of “Mai Tais” concocted in bars through the years had been overly candy, syrupy messes. One may say most people got here to anticipate 12 ounces of orange and pineapple juice, a touch of white rum, and a darkish rum float of their “Mai Tai.”
In brief, a disconnect fashioned between the general public’s notion of Tiki drinks (overly candy sugar bombs) and what they had been like within the golden period.
Reclaiming the Mai Tai
From a excessive level within the Fifties, Tiki fell out of public favor and entered a darkish interval from round 1970 to 2000. In a 1989 New York Instances article, “Trump to Shut a ‘Cheesy’ Dealer Vic’s,” Trump was quoted saying: ”Dealer Vic’s doesn’t slot in with the picture of the lodge that I wish to obtain.”’ [ii]
When Tiki started its sluggish climb again to respectability within the late Nineties, it was an underground motion. Forefathers of the second like Jeff Berry and Martin Cate confronted critical challenges discovering the unique components laid out in golden-era recipes. Social media was in its infancy, so data sharing was normally through native meetups and bulletin boards.
The small, close-knit Tiki group of the time —one may dare name them a pleasant tribe— confronted headwinds from the general public’s misperceptions of tiki drinks and had been usually met by eye rolls from these not within the know.
It’s solely pure that these early adopters discovered a typical trigger and id in defending tiki drinks and tradition from public disdain. The Mai Tai turned a de facto flag for Tiki fans to rally round. The unique 1944 recipe turned a reference level in defending the Mai Tai, and by extension, all Tiki drinks.
Whereas Tiki drinks carry extra respect at this time than they did 20 years in the past, fans know their hard-won floor can nonetheless slip away. How so?
Take into account spirits firms selling their merchandise by incorporating them right into a “Mai Tai” that mangles or omits most (if not all) of the 1944 components. Devoted tiki fanatics take this misrepresentation of their standard-bearer personally. It’s the same story when a bar or restaurant includes a “Mai Tai” on their menu that clearly isn’t something just like the 1944 unique or the 1954 Royal Hawaiian replace.
Gatekeeping
When these “assaults” on the Mai Tai’s good identify and fame come, Mai Tai defenders springs into motion, calling out the affront to Mr. Bergeron. The recipes are publicly shamed in fans gathering factors just like the Tiki Recipes and Dangerous Mai Tais within the Wild Fb teams.
Tiki outsiders (and even some newcomers) could view this public mocking as a tempest in a teapot; an excessive amount of power and vitriol expended on one thing of little significance. Others name it elitist or “gatekeeping.”[iii] However wouldn’t it even be gatekeeping to name out a Manhattan with orange juice? What a couple of margarita with none hint of tequila, mezcal, or every other agave spirit? The place will we draw the road?
On one aspect of the road are “purists” who hew intently to the group norms established over time. On the opposite aspect, extra laid-back individuals. Maybe they’re unaware of the Tiki fanatic norms or just don’t care.
Who’s Proper?
One of many elementary strengths of on-line fanatic teams is the huge distinction in expertise throughout its members. New Tiki fans ask questions and be taught from extremely revered skilled bartenders. However that distinction in expertise ranges additionally presents challenges.
In any long-running curiosity group, tribal information and mores develop. Those that have invested substantial effort and time within the group naturally resist what they see as challenges to the group’s core ethos. In terms of Tiki fans, it’s a longstanding custom to “defend” tiki drinks in opposition to bastardizations and misrepresentations—the Mai Tai specifically. A wittily delivered takedown of an egregious Mai Tai recipe is a bonding expertise of types.
Sadly, tribal knowledge and mores aren’t mechanically transferred to group newcomers. Thus, when a newcomer suggests these takedowns are elitist gatekeeping, tempers flare. Exchanges like this are frequent:
Newcomer: Try my Navy Grog! I didn’t have grapefruit juice, so I used pineapple juice. And I subbed cinnamon for honey syrup.
Tiki Veteran: Sounds nice, however it’s not a navy grog. The grapefruit and honey are core taste components of that recipe.
Newcomer: Don’t be elitist. I like my Navy Grog the way in which I made it.
Narrator: Off to the races we go!
It’s unhappy to see; the Tiki group is normally very laid again and accepting. The entire level of Tiki is escapism and enjoyable!
As somebody who’s written a factor or two about Tiki, right here’s how I see it:
Tiki teams ought to be enjoyable and protected locations to be taught and share new concepts. The inflow of latest members is a web optimistic. There isn’t any such factor as a dumb query. (There are questions one may simply discover solutions for through a fast web search, however that’s a distinct problem.)
On the entire, the veterans are supportive of experimentation and studying; we had been all novices as soon as. Nevertheless, issues are fast to flare when one thing challenges a practice. One such custom is respecting the given names and key components of traditional recipes.
As is commonly mentioned in numerous methods: be at liberty to riff on the Navy Grog recipe should you’d like. But when three of the 5 components are considerably modified, possibly don’t name it a Navy Grog. A standard suggestion is to name the revised recipe one thing else. Nevertheless, arising with intelligent names isn’t at all times simple, and a few of us merely don’t care sufficient to take the time.
Some assert that the veterans are overly explicit about what components are “allowed.” I don’t observe that to be the case, usually talking. Your selection of orgeat A or orgeat B is fully a private selection, and few would fault you for that.
Nevertheless, if a recipe specifies an aged rhum agricole and you employ a Jamaican overproof rum, most veterans will say you’ve considerably modified the recipes. Not like bourbon or gin, rums aren’t so simply interchanged with one another. Rum kinds are like cheese: blue cheese isn’t interchangeable with cheddar or parmesan. This realization usually takes time to develop.
To recap: the grand, golden-era custom of expertly crafted tropical libations was as soon as practically misplaced, changed by a pale, sickly imitation of what it as soon as was. For individuals who put their coronary heart and soul into restoring the craft and custom, Tiki is way from “something goes should you prefer it.” What some individuals name gatekeeping, others imagine is sustaining the excessive requirements of the previous and respectfully including to the repertoire.
I don’t suggest any lofty methods to enhance the scenario. Nevertheless, by placing this vital context into one thing extra everlasting than a Fb remark, I hope will probably be a useful resource for others.
An enormous shout-out to Brian Maxwell for the Mai Tai photograph used on the high of this text. Brian is a Tiki true-believer, and you need to try his work at Shaker of Spirits.
If you wish to be taught extra in regards to the Mai Tai and its many variations, don’t miss Kevin Crossman’s website, The Seek for the Final Mai Tai.
[i] There’s debate about whether or not it was actually Vic who specified the additions to the bottom 1944 Mai Tai. Nevertheless, on this 1970 “The Historical past of the Mai Tai”, he referenced creating drinks for Matson, and didn’t disown their model.
[ii] New York Instances, “Trump to Shut a ‘Cheesy’ Dealer Vic’s”, Jan. 25, 1989
[iii] The City Dictionary defines as “When somebody takes it upon themselves to determine who does or doesn’t have entry or rights to a group or id.”
