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I don't have experience with any of the Trader Sam's Mai Tais but the original 1944 Trader Vic's recipe is detailed in one of my earlier posts.

The consensus seems to be to use Small Hand Foods orgeat if you can get your hands on it and Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao. I used what I had on hand when I made it in the post above. For the rum, Denizen's Merchant Reserve 8 Year was formulated especially for the Mai Tai, being a blend of Jamaican and Agricole rum. You can also do a 50/50 split between an Agricole Vieux and an aged Jamaican rum. I have Clement VSOP on hand for my Agricole Vieux which is a good option but others can chime in with their favorites. The world of aged Jamaican rums is vast and it's fun to substitute different ones in the Mai Tai and see how it changes. Appleton Reserve might be a good rum to start with as the Jamaican component and you can experiment from there.

For juices, always used fresh squeezed and preferably juice within a few hours of using them.

For crushed ice, you can take a lewis bag and ice mallet and smash ice cubes (while releasing some stress). If you don't want to buy those, feel free to use a rolled up clean dish towel and a rolling pin or something like that.

For bigger parties, I know people recommend the ice from Sonic Drive-In or Chick-fil-A. They'll both sell you a bag for cheap.

I've been looking to get a hand crank ice crusher but haven't yet. I've seen this one recommended a lot as well as some of the vintage ones on eBay like the Oster Snowflake.

• Waikiki Tiki - I'll be honest in saying that I haven't read it. I'll also say that I know the author somewhat and unless you want a lot of boring history about Waikiki, I wouldn't bother. It's not really about the Tiki movement as we mainlanders know it.
  
  
• Tiki Pop: Yes! Get this! It is everything that Waikiki Tiki isn't.
  
  
• Mai-Kai - I know the author of this one very well and know he has spent many many years doing the research and talking to the people who lived the history of the Mai Kai. It is a great book. However, it is very specific to the Mai kai.
  
  
• Tiki Style - This book isn't on your list, but should be. The bible of tiki is Sven Kirsten's Book of Tiki but that's out of print and impossible to find at a decent price now. Tiki Style is the pared version of it and has most of the same information. Mostly they just took out the pictures of topless natives to make it family friendly. This should be the book where you start to get the real history of the mainland tiki culture.
  
  
• Potions of the Caribbean - is a really great book about Caribbean drinks, but you'll find more recipes in the other Beachbum Berry books.
  
  
• Rums of the Eastern Caribbean - is 20 years old and it's likely that a large percentage of the rums listed in it no longer exist. Everyone wants Ed Hamilton to write a new book, but he's a little busy making amazing rum right now. You might try Dave Broom's Rum: The Manual if you want tasting notes on currently available rums. He has a really cool flavor map in the book and it was just released a couple months ago, so everything in it is available. It's worth it just to read his tasting notes of Ron de Jeremy rum.

I'll tackle some of the resources. As a Writer, I'm sure you'll appreciate some of these.

• Best book for tiki cocktails & rum, and a bit of history: Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki
  
• Best book for tiki history: Tiki Pop
  
• Best website to peruse tiki mugs: Ooga Mooga
  
• Best bulletin board for general tiki culture: Tiki Central
  
• Best website for locating tiki bars and shops: Critiki
  
• Largest U.S. tiki convention: Tiki Oasis
  
• Web list of other tiki conventions: Tiki Festivals

X-posted to r/cocktails as well

It's been hot in northeast Georgia, hot and humid!! To me, that means Mai Tais!

I've been drinking quite a few lately, because I'm also putting together a side-by-side overview of four different orange liqueurs to be posted on r/cocktails soon. This is a fantastic way to experiment a bit.

I start with the Mai Tai recipe from Smugglers Cove and tweak just a little...

• 1 oz Doorly's 8-year old Barbados Rum
  
• 2/3 oz Denizen 3-year old Aged White Rum
  
• 1/3 oz Smith & Cross Navy Strength Rum
  
• 3/4 oz Lime Juice
  
• 1/2 oz Clement Creole Shrubb
  
• 1/4 oz homemade Mai Tai syrup
  
• 1/4 oz homemade Orgeat
  
  Combine in a shaker tin with 12oz crushed ice plus a couple large cubes and shake until the tin frosts up. Dump everything into a double Old Fashioned glass and garnish with a spent lime shell and a sprig of spanked mint.
  
  Notes on my Mai Tai:
  The book, Smugglers Cove, is simply brilliant in how it handles rum. I've been a whisky guy for many years, and just in the past 6 months or so have begun exploring rum. The Smugglers Cove book, and the subreddits, r/rum, and r/tiki have all been fantastic resources.
  
  As outlined in Smugglers Cove, the original rum Trader Vic had access to when he created the Mai Tai (J. Wray and Nephew, 17-year old Jamaican) is not available today. Fortunately, the tiki gods are generous and gave us Martin and Rebecca Cate, who go on to describe the history of the Mai Tai in fantastic detail. If you are a fan of rum, or tiki, or just general booze-lore, I cannot recommend the book Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki highly enough.
  
  With that being said, the book describes mixing various rums to achieve a profile similar to Vic's original. I do not claim to have recreated the original with my mix of Doorly's, Denizen, and Smith & Cross, but based on some trial and error (is it really an error, when the result is still a damn good Mai Tai?!) I did find a flavor combination I absolutely love!
  
  My "tweak" is to use 1/2 oz of Clement Creole Shrubb in place of Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao. Nothing at all wrong with the Ferrand, it's just that, to me, the extra little bit of spicy funk from the rhum agricole base adds a perfect note to a Mai Tai.
  
  The Mai Tai syrup and Orgeat are both recipes from Smugglers Cove as well. The syrup is a 2:1 Demerara with a bit of vanilla extract added. The Orgeat is pretty standard stuff, almonds, water, sugar, orange blossom water and rose water. Both are well worth making and keeping around in the refrigerator.
  
  ~Cheers!

What do you think about stirring instead of shaking? Unless you're manning a stick at a Tiki bar, make your drinks the way you like. If you're happy simply stirring, than have at it. That being said, I would never think of not shaking/blending Tiki cocktails. Aeration is an actual component of the cocktail. Besides, syrups, liqueurs and fruit juices/purees don't combine all that easily, especially when cold/iced. Shaking/blending speeds the process greatly.

So you haven't found a shaker you like. OK. I Assume you haven't sprung $40 for a spindle blender. (Hamilton Beach 730C Classic DrinkMaster - Amazon) Fine. How about $12.19 for a hand/immersion blender? Proctor-Silex 59738 Hand Blender - Amazon Tiki cocktails take more thought, effort, tools and ingredients than your typical cocktails. That's why TGIChillibees don't do Tiki. It's also why those who do good Tiki are greatly respected.

~Cheers

Thanks for posting this it's really cool to see these relics first hand!

I'd be interested to see how the official 80's bar recipes compare to the publicly released versions in the 1946 "Trader Vic's Book of Food and Drink" hardcover shown there and the 2005 Trader Vic's Tiki Party! book.

Here are the only books you need:

1. Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki
   
   
2. Beachbum Berry's Potions of the Caribbean
   
   
3. Beachbum Berry Remixed
   
   
4. Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari
   
   They're all fantastic. But if you only buy one, start with Smuggler's Cove. It's just an incredible wealth of information and it's a lot more current than the others. It's also very useful if you're looking to expand your tiki repertoire since it has a lot of information on bar equipment, rums, syrups, etc. that the other books lack.

From amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00W5W7M6Q/ref=pd_aw_fbt_79_img_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CJ5N4WWEJGPM9JBWY51D Fair warning, they’re paper straws, so they get soggy and don’t work well pretty quickly. They do look great in photos, though!

Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails - Shannon Mustipher, is what you're looking for. Her book involves many more sophisticated techniques, advanced preparations, and unusual ingredients than these others - a worthy challenge when you've "Mastered the Masters".

1. Go to a bar with a good selection of rums
   
2. Taste some rums that you and the bartender agree are dark
   
3. Have your mind blown at the variety of what you experience
   
   Others have recommended Martin Cate's book from Smuggler's Cove. Get it. :)

I agree. Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari, is an endlessly fascinating read.

Latitude 29 orgeat is really fantastic! You can buy it on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Orgeat-Works-Ltd-Latitude-Blanched/dp/B012Y5IO4M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439755529&sr=8-1&keywords=latitude+29+orgeat+syrup

There’s a copy of the old Waring Pro electric ice crusher on amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074L29WHD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_CPpZBbMFXA505

But those things are just as loud as using a mallet. I think a handcrank ice crusher would be the “quietest” solution. Definitely go vintage too because modern day replicas are mostly made of plastic.

Here is something a litte different than the other suggestions, but it might be a fun read. The Parrot Talks in Chocolate: The Life and Times of a Hawaiian TIKI Bar, Book 1 it's not long, 162 page paperback. and there are 4 in the series.

I use this one and it works perfect, only $30! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004X134/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_7GX9BbGVKTV09

At the bar we have this ice crusher. Pretty fast and the ice is still comparable to the Lewis bag in terms of dryness.

I fully subscribe to James Teitelbaum's (author of Tiki Road Trip) idea of rating tiki bars on their "TiPSY" factor. That is, "Tikis Per Square Yard". The more tikis the better, and those who call themselves tiki without any actual tikis in sight don't get my money.

I use the cheapest one. Helps that I prefer white appliances! Carpe Drink'um!

Hamilton Beach 727B Classic DrinkMaster Drink Mixer, White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004X134/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_XOyyxbVMJWZN4

Ha, not a bunch more. I was looking at books on amazon and this came up in a recommendation or something. It's currently on pre-order.

Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Smugglers-Cove-Exotic-Cocktails-Cult/dp/1607747324?ie=UTF8&colid=2RWGZCCTUJPKG&coliid=I3RVGB3429Y92Z&ref_=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl

Right, he's mentioning an electric mixer. In a later part of the book he recommends 3 different makes/models. I picked up the cheaper option: https://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-730C-Classic-DrinkMaster/dp/B00004X135

This is the one we got off of Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Florida-Crystals-Demerara-Sugar-Ounce/dp/B00D96JUUI/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1517520626&sr=8-4&keywords=demerara+sugar

Here is the mobile version of your link

You can get some from Amazon. Three Dots and a Dash in Chicago uses them too, and will often throw in a few if you buy a mug (or maybe even if you ask).

Here's the link.

You mean these?

In case someone wants a US source:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CE5DI44/?coliid=I368E7USDSLNG6&colid=38N8MCBQKNAOJ&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Nah. I just don’t need quite so many. Amazon .

Doh! Rookie mistake.
Here you go. Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails https://www.amazon.com/dp/0789335549/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_gAyPCb32N03MN