Mai Tai as a mocktail is part of the upper echelon among its alcohol-free peers. And among this recipe’s peers, it stands high as well. I’ve tasted many virgin Mai Tais as a beverage writer, and I wanted to provide everyone looking to get into virgin cocktail making with some senior knowledge.
What should you do? What shouldn’t you do? Does the Mai Tai mocktail even taste good? Well, I’ll answer that one right now: it does! But there’s so much more to this classic fancy drink.
Common Errors With Mai Tai Mocktails
Mai Tai’s have a distinct rum flavor in their alcoholic version. So a common mistake in mocktail-ifying the Mai Tai is leaving out all of rum’s complex flavors.
A common substitute for rum here is plain old brown sugar. But the whole point of mocktails is to keep cocktails’ complex flavor with non-alcoholic ingredients. Brown sugar is one flavor, while rum is a hundred. There’s no comparison.
Alcohol-free spirit is almost required for this particular drink. Rum is too central to its flavor. But “alcohol-free spirit” sounds like a contradiction. Isn’t the point of a spirit to be a medium of alcohol infusion?
Wait, Virgin Mai Tais Need Alcohol-Free Spirits?
The convention changed, and in came the new wave of alternative spirits. Now spirits aren’t just for alcohol. Instead, now they simply infuse complex flavors typical of most spirits. Seedlip and Lyre’s are the pioneers of the alcohol-free spirits industry––upping everyone’s mocktail game in late 2020 when they exploded in popularity.
For the Mai Tai mocktail, Lyre’s dark cane spirit is used. It replicates not only rum’s overarching caramel-leaning flavors but also complex subtle tones like light bitterness and oaky warmth. Here’s a link to Lyre’s website if you’re interested.
Mocktails Are Flexible––Here’s a Substitute
Now, I understand that not everyone has access to these fancy spirits. The best alcohol-free substitute for regular rum is a mixture of brown sugar, bitters and orange peel oil. You can muddle the brown sugar and bitters into the bottom of whatever glass you’re working with, then squeeze a lemon peel on top. Way more effective with just two more ingredients.
Ok, you probably already know what a Mai Tai tastes like, so let us know in the comments how well this non-alcoholic rendition compared! If it goes well, make sure to check out our other mocktail recipes linked here!
Ingredients
Directions
Add ice, dark cane spirit, grenadine syrup, orange juice, pineapple juice into a rocks glass and top off with Sprite Don't stir until presentation Garnish with dried orange, orange slices and black cherry, then serve
Ingredients
Directions
Add ice, dark cane spirit, grenadine syrup, orange juice, pineapple juice into a rocks glass and top off with Sprite
Don't stir until presentation
Garnish with dried orange, orange slices and black cherry, then serve
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Mocktail expert, Cocktail.com
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