Mai Tai: the Origin at last! The envelope please...

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Capn Jimbo
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Mai Tai: the Origin at last! The envelope please...

Post by Capn Jimbo »

Mai Tai: the Origin at last! The envelope please...


This will be an ongoing thread, so do check back. However we are always excited when we get a chance to do original and valuable research - there is no better rum myth than this...

The origination of the Mai Tai.

Now, now I know for a fact that the world of monkeys has long held Vic Bergeron of Trader Vics as the orginator of the Mai Tai. These many monkeys will only reluctantly admit Donn Beach as a sort of jilted lover, a claimant without cause. Here's their case...

Their case is based entirely on Bergeron's claim that he invented the drink around 1944. Bergeron's own backstory was that he'd obtained a bottle of 17 year old Jamaican rum, created a new unnamed drink with it and served it to a couple patron friends from Tahiti, who exclaimed “Maita’i roa ae!” - which is alleged to mean "fantastic" or the like.

Ergo the name.

Donn Beach's claim is simple and far less romantic. A world traveller and lover of the South Pacific, Donn opened his first bar "Don's Beachcomber Cafe" around 1933, featuring Polynesian decor and complicated rum drinks. He created such famous Tiki drinks as the Zombie, Fog Cutter, Navy Grog and many others (his NY Times obit credits him with creating 84 tropical drinks). Two in particular are relevent.

His menu featured the first drink using the name Mai Tai, the "Mai Tai Swizzle" (credit to Beachbum Berry) in 1933. Another of Donn's drinks, the Q.B. Cooler, will also prove relevent, as you will see.

Ergo Donn's claim.


So where are we so far?

Both men fiercely claim the title of "originator" of the Mai Tai. History is on Beach's side - he actually used the name about 11 years earlier (1933) than Bergeron (1945). This is indisputable.

So why do most monkeys credit Vic?

This is actually pretty simple. Donn's Mai Tai disappeared around 1937, while Vic's much later version was retained, to rise to great recognition in the 1950's - the height of the Tiki craze. Thus the only "Mai Tai" that most afficiando's know is Vic's tasty version of it. His romantic backstory was equally appealing.


What's the evidence for Donn Beach?

First and foremost is history. Donn Beach was very familiar with the South Pacific (his travels) and used the name "Mai Tai" first.

Second is imitation. Bergeron's first bar, named Hinky Dink, and his first couple locations were not Polynesian at all. Bergeron took note of Beach's success and Polynesian theme, and went Polynesian much later as "Trader Vics" (1940). In later years, Bergeron openly credited Beach for his Polynesian theme.

It would be naive not to think that Bergeron failed to note his menu and drink profiles.

Bergeron was known as a wheeler dealer and trader (ergo the "Trader Vic" name) and it is not unfair to assume that he went to school on his then successful competitor, Donn Beach. It has been noted that while Vic's “Maita’i roa ae!” profile is notably different than Donn's "Mai Tai Swizzle", it is very similar to Donn's "Q.B. Cooler".

Beach was highly secretive with his recipes, so what's more important than the ingredients is the actual taste profile. It is a fact that both the name "Mai Tai" and the similar taste profile of the Q.B. Cooler were established much earlier by Beach.

Third is coincidence. As a former marketing man, I've read a lot of backstories and it should be no surprise to anyone that made up stories abound in the liquor business. Consider Panama Red, Privateer Rum, George St. Spice Rum or Ron de Jeremy. And there are plenty more. The best ones are based on a kernel of truth, but the rest is all made up.

Ask yourself this...
Is it coincidental that Bergeron just happened to establish a Polynesian theme, to have a new 17 year old Jamaican rum on hand, just happened to have Tahitian friends visiting, just happened to create a drink for them on the spot, to which they just happened to exclaim “Maita’i roa ae!”, which he just happened to misspell and separate into two words, ie Beach's "Mai Tai", and which just happened to have a very similar profile to one of Beach's tasty drinks?
Sure.

Fourth is third party correlation
. Although both fierce and successful competitors, each respected the other. It has been reported that a well known syndicated writer, a Mr. Jim Bishop met both Beach and Bergeron for drinks, circa 1970. At that meeting Bergeron conceded that he was aware of Beach's drinks, and that Beach was indeed the originator of the drink named "Mai Tai". Bishop allegedly held onto this information for some years but revealed it by letter to a Honolulu reporter only after Bergeron's death in 1984.

The meeting was acknowledged by Beach in one of his Tiki/Hawaiin drinks books.

Fifth is some miscellany:

Bergeron was also known for defending "his" Mai Tai ferociously and legally. But one lawsuit is notable. An imitator was selling a Mai Tai mix using Donn's name, which led to a convoluted lawsuit by Bergeron. Don't you find it odd that Bergeron might attack a mix based on not his, but Beach's Mai Tai?

But oddly enough, he did.

Bottom Line:

The power of time and tradition cannot be underestimated. Bergeron's claim, though flimsy, took root in this fashion. This of course falls under the theme of throw enough shit at a wall, for long enough, and some of it is bound to stick.

Such is life.

Most compelling is simple history. Donn Beach was the first to name a tropical drink the "Mai Tai". Bergeron was simply a Donny come lately...
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