How to Make a Virgin Mai Tai

The alcohol-free Virgin Mai Tai is a refreshing tropical drink perfect for hot summer afternoons or pool parties. You can happily find yourself sipping it anytime of year actually!

This Virgin Mai Tai recipe is non-alcoholic. So, if you want to enjoy a refreshing cocktail without getting lightheaded or tipsy, this cocktail is for you!

Where was the Mai Tai born

If you love watching 1950’s-60’s movies like Elvis Presley classic, Blue Hawaii, you might have heard of the Mai Tai. This was the most popular mid-century cocktail! Its origin is a bit debated. That’s because two different stories are claiming to originate the drink. It is said Donn Beach invented the delicious drink in 1933. At the same time, the owner of Trader Vic’s – that famous Tiki Bar, Victor J. Bergeron claims to have invented it in 1944! Who knows? What we do know if that it is definitely one of the classic cocktails now!

What goes into a Virgin Mai Tai?

There are four simple and easy-to-find ingredients and it’s super easy to make this fruity, rum taste explosion!

• Fresh orange juice: Fresh orange juice is a must!! Do not use store-bought. It is so worth the effort. It has the perfect balance of sweet tartness with a hint of bitterness.
• Pineapple juice: Pineapple juice adds that subtly sweet and slightly tart flavor.
• Grenadine: Grenadine is a simple syrup made from sugar, pomegranate juice, and lemon juice. It has a dark red color and is sweet with a punch of pomegranate flavor. It is often used to create an effect in the drink. If you want more info on Grenadine, you can check out my Lush Guide to Grenadine! You can buy it or it’s super easy to make at home with Lynnette Marrero’s recipe!
• Orgeat syrup or Almond Syrup: This syrup is easy to find. It is made from sugar, almonds, and orange flower water or rose water. It is refreshing, sweet, and aromatic.
• Garnish: There are so many ways you can garnish with a drink. Since it is mainly made from fresh fruit juices, using pineapple wedges is a great call. You can, however, garnish it with lemon or lime slices, orange slices, mint sprig, lemongrass stalks, or a maraschino cherries like all classic Tiki drinks!

What tools you need to make the Virgin Mai Tai

Make no mistakes, and you can make Virgin Mai Tai in a minute. You’ll be needing a cocktail shaker for this one! Grab a jigger, a barspoon, strainer, and a rocks glass for this recipe. Or grab a large pitcher and make it as it’s one of the easy party punch recipes!

Although it is ideal to use a cocktail shaker, even if you don’t have it, don’t fret. You can still mix everything in your rocks glass and serve. here is what you have to do to make this drink!

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Pour in orange juice, pineapple juice, and orgeat syrup. Seal the shaker and shake for a few seconds. Pour the drink into a rock glass or a cocktail glass and drizzle grenadine syrup. Garnish with fresh fruit slices and enjoy!

• 🍸Top Tip(le): This Virgin Mai Tai recipe is non-alcoholic. It means you can enjoy it without worrying about getting tipsy. However, if you crave a little booze, you can always add rum to make the classic Mai Tai.
  • Rum: You can use either light rum, spiced rum, white rum, coconut rum, or dark rum for an alcoholic version.
  • Orange Liqueur: You can use Cointreau, Triple sec, or orange curaçao in place of or with the grenadine!
  • Hawaii – This is a great drink to have when you are somewhere hot like Hawaii, find out all about Hawaii here!

Where to find more rum recipes

Here are a few of my favorites:

• How to Make a Rum Old Fashioned
• How to Make a Daiquiri
• How to Make a Mojito
• How to Make the Pina Colada
• How to Make the Rum Sour

 Plus more Mai Tai recipes here

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Where to find ingredients for the Virgin Mai Tai cocktail

You can find all the ingredients at Spirits Kiosk (10% off the entire site by quoting this code: ALushLife10SK.) in the UK; or Saucey.com in the USA!

Here is the recipe!

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