Here a strange issue arises. There are some who do in fact say that Don Beach invented the Mai Tai, and while there are good reasons to say this, in the end the fact remains that the drink that has been recognized by history as the “Mai Tai” was in fact created by Victor Bergeron.

Let me explain. In Arnold Bitner’s book “Hawai’i - Tropical Rum Drinks & Cusine by Don the Beachcomber”, Mr. Bitner claims that the “Mai Tai” was created in 1933 by Don Beach, and Mr. Bitner has told me that he has a Don the Beachcomber menu listing the Mai Tai prior to the 1944 date claimed by Victor Bergeron. However in the same book, Mr. Bitner lists the recipe for the “original” Mai Tai, and if you try it you will quickly see that it bears no resemblance to the drink celebrated today. If in fact this was the first drink to go by the name “Mai Tai”, it not only didn’t last long on Don’s menu, but neither did it last long the the memories of the general public. So I conclude that Victor Bergeron created his own drink, which was totally different from that of Don Beach, and it simply had the same name. The same problem is often seen today. There was a drink from before the 1930’s known as a “Cosmopolitan”, but the inventor of that drink (which is unknown) would not be able to claim rights to the drink as seen today.

There is however a second act to this story. One which Jeff Berry lists in his book “Sippin’ Safari”. He states that even Don says that the Mai Tai is just a rip-off of his “Q. B. Cooler”.

Victor admits to being inspired to turn his restautant “Hinky Dinks” into “Trader Vics” by a 1937 visit to one of Don’s restaurant, and it can only be assumed that he would likely have had a Q.B.Cooler, which might have provided some level of inspiration for some of his cocktails in general, and perhaps the Mai Tai in specific.

The problem however is that Don’s recipes were of course very secret, and so if Victor were to try to copy one of his recipes, it would essentially need to be simply by taste, since few, if any, of the ingredients would be known to him.

Jeff Berry was able to uncover the recipe for Don’s Q.B.Cooler, and it included orange juice, club soda, rum, lime juice, honey mix, falernum, bitters, and ginger syrup. A recipe which bears little resemblence to the T.V. Mai Tai, but when assembled properly, does in fact have a taste profile very similar to a Mai Tai.

As Jeff Berry states in his book:

“Our Verdict: While Vic might have been trying to clone the Q. B., in the process he created a new formula, one very much his own.”

And it was this “new formula” which caught the attention of the general public, and which has been attempted to be imitated for over 60 years. So in my mind, Victor Bergeron is the originator of the drink I know of as the “Mai Tai”.

None of which should be seen as a slight against Don Beach. He originated the very concept of the Polynesian inspiried “Exotic” restaurant, as well as a grand many of the classic rum-based drink of the era. My hat goes off to him.

-Robert

Aloha!
Lehua