It’s almost National Mai Tai Day!

2J9A5155 Rae Huo photo 9/16. Buyout. Hawaiian Airlines Lie Flat, Dessert and Drink
By laurencroft


Wherever you are in the world, it’s the quintessential cocktail to conjure imaginings of Hawaii.

Say ‘Mai Tai’ and the mind wanders…Waikiki sunsets, poolside drinks, ukulele in the background, swaying palm trees, lapping waves…. no wonder the magic Mai Tai is celebrated the world over on 30 June as National Mai Tai Day.

Hawaiian Airlines is renowned among airlines for its own signature Mai Tai developed exclusively for the airline by On the Rocks Premium Cocktails. The airline and On the Rocks collaborated to create a tempting range of three pre-bottled, premium cocktails featuring distinctly Hawaiian ingredients not found on any other airline.

Customised to reflect the true taste of Hawaii, the crafted cocktails this year won the “2018 Onboard Hospitality Magazine’s Best Onboard Beverage”. **Onboard Hospitality is the leading trade magazine for the airline, rail and cruise hospitality industry worldwide.

Cane sugar-sweetened and preservative-free, they include Hawaiian Airline’s own Mai Tai (a blend of British Virgin Island, pot-stilled Jamaican, West Indies, and Barbados rums, toasted coconut and pineapple), as well as a Lychee Vodka Martini (made with orgeat and kumquat) and a Li Hing Vodka Gimlet (infused with li hing mui, a dried, sour Asian plum).

Hawaiians’ guests in Business Class on flights from Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland to Honolulu are offered the signature Mai Tai prior to take-off and the cocktail range is also included in the airline’s premium cabin beverage service.

On flights within the Hawaiian Islands and between Hawaii and US mainland destinations, the cocktails are offered complimentary in First Class and are available for $USD8 in main cabin.

The airline even shares a little insider knowledge about 10 classic cocktails and where to find them in Hawaii on its website.

Legend about the origins of the Mai Tai has it that Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, the founding father of America’s South Pacific-styled tiki restaurants, bars and nightclubs claimed to have created it in 1933 at his then-new bar named Don the Beachcomber (later a famous restaurant) in Hollywood.

However his rival, Victor Bergeron, also known as ‘Trader Vic’, claimed to have invented it in 1944 at his Oakland California restaurant. It’s said he tested his newly concocted drink on two Tahitian friends and upon tasting it, one of his guests exclaimed in Tahitian “Mai Tai-Roa Aé!” meaning ‘out of this world, it’s the best!’ and so the cocktail was named. Trader Vic is said to have charged 44 cents for a Mai Tai, in honour of the year it was invented.

To back up his claim, he had the friends for whom he invented the drink, sign affidavits swearing it to be true. Cocktail historians and theoreticians have battled ever since as to whose claim is more authentic.

Whichever you prefer to believe, the Mai Tai is probably the most well known of all Hawaii drinks, served throughout the Hawaiian Islands, and is well worth a try.

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