The Ultimate Mai Tai - Inspired by Garret Richard

Taste

Layered on the nose, funky Jamaican rum over warm orange from the curaçao. First sip leads with the acid-adjusted pineapple juice, tart and tropical rather than sharp like lime would be, with the gold rum's caramel warmth right behind it. Orgeat rounds it out with a soft, nutty sweetness. Long, warm finish with a lingering orange note. A cleaner, simplified take on a modern Mai Tai, less fussy than the multi-liqueur originals but still properly layered.

Origin

This one takes its name and structure from Garret Richard, head bartender at Brooklyn's Sunken Harbor Club and co-author of Tropical Standard, whose own Mai Tai won PUNCH's blind tastings in both 2019 and 2025. His published recipe leans on lime juice, Latitude 29 orgeat, Denizen Merchant's Reserve rum, Clément Créole Shrubb and Grand Marnier, finished with a spent lime hull and a few drops of saline, the saline especially credited as part of what won it. This version borrows his rum blend and technique but replaces the lime juice with acid-adjusted pineapple juice, simplified down to a single curaçao (dropping his Créole Shrubb) and without his signature saline, more a tribute to his approach than a reproduction of his award-winning spec.