Tahitian for “Out of this World”, a Mai Tai is the perfect escape from the work week. No other drink seems to say “I ‘m on vacation” the way this fruity beauty does.  Victor Bergron, one of the founders of the Tiki Bar, invented this tropical concoction in Oakland’s Trader Vic’s in 1944. The drink has remained extremely popular, and has become synonymous with South Sea Islands and exotic travel.

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Original Bergron’s Mai Tai

Tahitian for “Out of this World”, a Mai Tai is the perfect escape. No other drink seems to say “I ‘m on vacation” the way this fruity beauty does.

Course Cocktails

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Ingredients

Original Bergron’s Mai Tai

• 1 oz light rum
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz orange curacao
• 1/2 oz orgeat syrup almond flavored
• 1 oz dark rum
• maraschino cherry for garnish

Pineapple juice Mai Tai

• 1 ounce light rum
• 1/2 ounce triple sec
• 1/4 ounce lime juice
• 1 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
• 1 1/2 ounces orange juice
• 1 dash of grenadine
• 1/2 ounce dark rum

Instructions

Original Mai Tai

• Pour all the ingredients except the dark rum into a shaker with ice cubes. Shake well.
• Strain into an old-fashioned glass half filled with ice.
• Top with the dark rum.
• Garnish with the cherry and pineapple.

Pineapple juice Mai Tai

• Prepare in the same manner as above, adding dark rum after mixing.

So enjoy a Mai Tai and have a tropical vacation this weekend, well as least feel like maybe you did.

Have a Great Weekend everyone! Life is short, take some time to relax!

Sex on the beach combines the smooth silky flavor of peach with the sweetness of Florida orange juice. The cocktail and its name date back to 1987 and Ft. Lauderdale where National Distribution launched a new product, peach schnapps, to the market. In efforts to promote sales, National devised a contest among local establishments to see who could sell the most of the newly promoted liquor. The winning business was to receive $1000, and the bartender who was responsible for the highest sales would receive $100. Ted Pizio who worked at a club named Confetti’s came up with this fruity concoction. When asked what it was called, Pizio announced “Sex on the Beach”, reasoning that the thousands of people who visit Ft. Lauderdale for spring break only come for two reasons. The beach, and sex.

This scene from the 1953 movie From Here To Eternity starring Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr was considered very risqué.  Tame by today’s standards, this “sex on the beach” scene was quite controversial. My how times have changed.

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Sex on the Beach

A seemingly innocent cocktail, fruity and refreshing with a powerful punch.

Course Cocktails

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Ingredients

• 1 ounce vodka
• 1 ounce peach schnapps
• 2 ounces orange juice
• 2 ounces cranberry juice

Instructions

• Pour all of the ingredients into a highball glass filled with ice cubes.
• Stir well.
• Garnish with orange, kiwi, and a cherry.

Notes

Since the popularity and the recipe for this drink was spread primarily by college students returning home from Ft Lauderdale, there seem to be as many versions of this drink as drunken memories of spring break itself. This one claims to be Pizio’s original recipe from Confetti’s.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Strong and delicate, this cocktail is a mix of beauty, charm and glamor. Different from traditional drinks like the Bellini, Manhattan, or Dry Martini, the cosmopolitan’s light and fruity flavor is widely appreciated for its contemporary flair.

Credited to having been invented in Providence Rhode Island during the 1970’s, it seems that this drink has at least four others laying claim to the recipe and all at about the same time. There does not appear to be any conclusive evidence as to who actually developed this drink, so all parties are currently listed as having done so.

During the 1990’s the drink became extremely popular when the television series Sex in the City frequently featured Sarah Jessica Parker and her friends out on the town drinking the pink concoctions.

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Cosmopolitan

Strong and delicate, this cocktail is a mix of beauty, charm and glamor. Different from traditional drinks like the Bellini, Manhattan, or Dry Martini, the cosmopolitan’s light and fruity flavor is widely appreciated for its contemporary flair.

Course Cocktails

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Ingredients

• 2 oz ABSOLUT CITRON
• 1 oz cranberry juice
• 1/4 oz Cointreau
• splash of fresh lime juice
• orange twist

Instructions

• Place the first four ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. 
• Shake well and stain into a martini glass. 
• Garnish with an orange twist.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

An exotic mix of flavors, the Singapore Sling is a drink like no other. Originally invented around 1915 at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore by a Hainanese-Chinese bartender by the name of Ngiam Tong Boon, in response to a British Colonial’s challenge for a tropical drink that was not only delectable, but befitting of the lovely women who frequented the establishment. The drinks popularity surged and before long, it became known as the “Commander’s” drink. In Hainanese dialect, the word “Commander” is known as “司令” (si ling) and its abbreviated pronunciation became ‘Sling’.

For some unknown reason the drink fell out of favor to the point that the recipe was nearly forgotten. In 1977  the nephew of Ngiam (who was following a family tradition of bartending at the Long Bar) revived the pineapple punch based on the recipe that his Uncle had taught him, and some notes that were written on a cocktail napkin and hidden away behind the bar for years.

Today the drink is more popular than ever, and has even been declared the National Drink of Singapore. No visit to Singapore would be complete without a trip to the Long Bar for a Sling and a wooden box of peanuts. I have myself have had the good fortune of enjoying several evenings relaxing under the fans in the Raffles, sipping on a Singapore Sling, smoking a Cuban cigar, and listening to a jazz trio.

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Singapore Sling

A refreshing tropical cocktail that will transport you to another world.

Course Cocktails

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Ingredients

• 1 ½ oz gin
• 4 oz pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz cherry herring
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1/4 oz Benedictine
• 1/4 oz Cointreau orange liqueur
• 1/3 oz grenadine syrup
• 1 dash Angostura bitters

Instructions

• Place all ingredients in a shaker and mix.
• Pour into a Collins glass filled with ice.
• Garnish with a cherry and slice of lemon.

Tall, cool, and refreshing, the Long Island Iced Tea is the impostor of drinks. Appearing as innocent as a Ladies’ Auxiliary beverage, this cocktail packs a punch.

The Long Island Tea arrived on the scene in the late 1970’s, and has thought to have been invented at the Oak Beach Inn on New York’s Long Island, however recent rumors place the drink to a much different place and time. There is discussion that the cocktail was actually created in the 1920’s during prohibition, a time when many drinks were disguised as non-alcoholic beverages. The new information claims that a community name Long Island in Kingsport, Tennessee to be the actual place of birth, and the name sake. I guess both stories make sense, and perhaps we will never be sure. One thing you can be certain about, is that this drink is a great way to end the week.

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Long Island Iced Tea

Tall, cool, and refreshing, the Long Island Iced Tea is the impostor of drinks. Appearing as innocent as a Ladies’ Auxiliary beverage, this cocktail packs a punch.

Course Cocktails

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Ingredients

• 1 part vodka
• 1 part tequila
• 1 part rum
• 1 part gin
• 1 part triple sec
• 1 1/2 parts sweet and sour mix
• 1 splash Coca-Cola®

Instructions

• Pour all ingredients in to a cocktail shaker.
• Stir to mix.
• Pour over ice and garnish with a wedge of lemon or lime, and enjoy!

Notes

Use this recipe to make a pitcher or a single glass.