Mango Mai Tai

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This mango mai tai is a delicious spin on the classic tiki cocktail that anyone can make at home.

Tiki cocktails aren’t only for when you’re sitting in the sand on a warm tropical island. Brink the island to your own backyard with this mango mai tai. Even though it tastes like summer in a glass, you can make this drink anytime of year!

What This Recipe Entails

The mai tai is a classic tiki drink featuring the tropical flavors of rum, citrus, and in this case, mango. Add a fun glass and some garnishes, and you’ll have yourself an island cocktail in no time.

• Prep time: 3 minutes

Equipment

To make a mango mai tai, you’ll need the following bar tools:

• Jigger or shot glass
• Shaker
• Strainer

You’ll also need a regular old spoon for floating the dark rum (more on this later). If you don’t already have the bar tools listed, this shaker set includes everything you need to make craft cocktails at home! We’ve had ours for years now and it’s still going strong.

Mango Mai Tai Ingredients

To make a mango mai tai, you’ll need all the ingredients in a classic mai tai, plus mango juice:

• White rum
• Lime juice
• Mango juice
• Triple sec
• Orgeat
• Simple syrup
• Dark rum
• Mint sprig, for garnish

We recommend using a 100% natural mango juice with no added sugars or artificial preservatives. This will provide the cleanest flavor in your cocktail.

Orgeat is the secret ingredient in many tiki cocktails! It’s an almond flavored syrup that gives a subtle nutty undertone to a classic mai tai. Definitely don’t skip this ingredient – otherwise, your mai tai will taste more like a rum punch.

There are many kinds of dark rum available – choose one you know and love for this cocktail recipe. If you need a suggestion, we like using Meyer’s Original Dark Rum in our mai tais.

Finally, don’t skip the mint sprig garnish! Garnishing a cocktail with a fresh mint sprig actually alters the flavor of the drink. Most of what we taste is actually impacted by our sense of smell. When the aroma of the mint hits your nose as you take a sip, it adds complexity to the flavor of this drink.

How To Make A Mango Mai Tai

Mai tais are a shaken drink with a dark rum float on top. Making this mango mai tai is much like making any other shaken drink – just with an extra step at the end. Here is everything you need to know:

1. Combine all ingredients except for the dark rum and mint sprig into a shaker with ice, and shake until chilled.
2. Strain into a rocks glass or tiki glass filled with ice.
3. Float the dark rum on top.
4. Garnish with a mint spring and a party umbrella and serve.

The type of glass you choose – whether it’s a low ball, a tiki glass, or maybe even a coconut shell – will help determine what garnishes you want to use. We always recommend using a fresh mint sprig as the aromas add to the taste of the drink. From there though, you can choose from party umbrellas, to citrus wheels, to just a fun straw. Let your imagination run wild here!

Tiki drinks are all about creativity and flair, after all!

How To Float Rum

Floating a liquor or other liquid on top of your drink is a fascinating “garnish” to add to your cocktails. And for a mai tai, the dark rum float is a must. Thankfully, floating the rum is easier than it may seem.

In order to do so, you’ll want to hold a spoon right above your drink, basically touching the liquid. With the spoon in place, pour the rum onto the spoon. This allows for the rum to gently enter the drink as it spills off the spoon. And thanks to the difference in density, the rum will float!

That’s it. It’s that simple. 

Once your mango mai tai has its dark rum float, add your garnishes and enjoy. This mango mai tai brings the tropics right to you with its bright citrus, refreshing mango, and sweet orgeat. So put your feet up, take a sip, and enjoy your little slice of the tropics.

Cheers!