The Art of the Mai Tai

I've ordered many Mai Tai's before and received a fruity concoction that barely had any rum and ranged anywhere in color from bright red to yellow. It was until I went to Hawaii that I discovered a true Mai Tai. My husband and I were at a social event with an open bar where we figured the drinks would be watered down with cheap liquor. So as we stood at the bar surveying the selection, the bartender, obviously a local of Hawaiian descent, offered to make us his specialty, the Mai Tai. Sure, why not? We're in Hawaii afterall.

WOW! Now this was a drink I could get used to! It may not have been the best quality of rum but it wasn't the cheapest either, maybe Bacardi or Captain Morgan's but it was actually pretty decent for being free. Needless to say we were hooked and had to get more. Later in the trip we visited Duke's in Waikiki and ordered one there. Now that was quality stuff...fresh lime juice, no mixers and two types of good rum although I have to admit I don't remember which ones. The bartender said his recipe was secret and we couldn't see everything he put in it, we just knew it was good.

So fast forward several years and a few bad Mai Tai's later. I had forgotten how much I liked them since I ordered a few since then and apparently inexperienced bartenders think they can mix a bunch of juice, some rum, a splash of grenadine, add a paper umbrella and call it a Mai Tai.  

The real Mai Tai was reportedly invented at the Trader Vic's restaurant in California in 1944. Trader Vic's rival, Don the Beachcomber, claimed to have created it in 1933 at his bar named for himself in Hollywood. Don the Beachcomber's recipe is more complex than that of Vic's and tastes quite different. "Maita'i" is the Tahitian word for "good"; but the drink is spelled as two words. 

While there is still some disagreement on whose receipe came first and whose is most authentic, here is the one I like best, which is closer to Trader Vic's recipe.


2 oz Martinique rum 
(Clement is my favorite)
1 oz dark Jamaican rum 
(Appleton works well here)
1-2 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 oz orgeat syrup
1/2 oz of Cointreau
garnish with mint and a lime 
(no paper umbrella necessary)

While the drink is quite perfect on it's own, presentation is still important. To get the essence of the South Pacific, serve in a Tiki Glass and Cheers!

a transformation - healthy lifestyle or losing battle?

Can a true Parrothead live a healthy lifestyle, you might ask? Well, I am going to find out...or die trying!

Year after year I've done a pretty good job of getting in bikini shape within 6 weeks of summer. I'd eat healthy, workout every day, pop a few fat burners, and sacrifice my nightly glass (or two) of red wine and stick to only one or two margaritas on the weekends. I'd shape up in no time, then spend the rest of the summer eating fairly healthy, drinking lots of margaritas on the weekends with a beer or two mixed in and occasional splurge on some conch fritters or Crystal battered onion rings (only place to find these are at Margaritaville in New Orleans). Then I'd begin the downhill cycle...usually after Labor Day, or sometimes I could delay until Halloween...the inevitable holiday eating and drinking binges! I like to tell myself it's the body's natural desire to eat more and drink beer and red wine in the winter to put on the extra body fat to keep warm, but let's face it, I was born and raised in South Louisiana and besides a few mildly harsh winters in my lifetime, it doesn't really get that cold! If it does get in the teens occasionally, it doesn't stay that way long. Even if it did, it's still just a poor excuse for the fact that I will find every excuse to eat or drink...in fact, that's also part of being born and raised in Louisiana. After all, the four seasons here are Crawfish, Crab, Oyster and Shrimp. Then throw in Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, a cochon de lait and just about any other occasion that warrants a celebration, like a beautiful 95 degree Sunday afternoon. So needless to say, like most locals, by New Year's I've usually gained a respectable 5-8 pounds and depending on how early Mardi Gras is, will put off any resolutions until after King Cake season. To top it all off, this year we added in the New Orleans Beer Festival in March where we sampled a few thousand calories of beer. And so I'm miserable until I get back my willpower, hit the gym and melt it all off!

What's the problem with this, you might ask? Well, I'm only a few years shy of 40 and I'm only growing older...but not up...and like Jimmy says, "My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck!" So each year it gets harder and harder to whip myself back into shape! Then there's all the health and nutrition facts that I won't go into now (that's another blog altogether) and I just feel happier when I'm healthier.

I'm now 5 weeks into my fitness plan and have lost 5 pounds and my clothes are starting to fit better. You might say that's a healthy loss of about a pound a week, but I can say just by looking in the mirror, it's definitely not progressing as I had hoped.  Overall, I have stuck pretty close to my nutrition plan...lean protein, complex carbs, green vegetables, protein shakes, and no wheat, sugar or dairy and approximately 1400 calories a day. I've stuck to the fitness routine religiously, even adding in a few extras of my own. My few setbacks have been St. Patrick's Day, Easter Crawfish Boils, Cinco de Mayo, and of course, a few beautiful Sunday afternoons on the patio.  I'm definitely not writing this to say I'm giving up, but only to document my goal to stick to this "lifestyle" and not get back into the same routine making it so hard each year that I do finally just give up! I am very fortunate that my amazing husband is with me on this so at least we have each other to provide support and accountability.

So where do I go from here? I am 4 weeks away from our cruise with 3 weeks to go on my fitness "transformation," which is not to say I will reach my goal by then, but I think I will have made a lot of progress. I will definitely enjoy my cruise and the dozen or so mojitos, margaritas and beers I will sample, but when I get back, it's business as usual. I don't care for the buffet stations too much so I can usually stick to a decent diet with just a few splurges, which I could always "sprint off" on the skytrack if I really needed to. Then once I reach my goal, the new goal will be to stay in shape and stay on a healthy diet so that I can have a little fun on the weekend. The key is to do everything in moderation...so can a parrothead stick to 1 or 2 skinny margaritas without making it 5? Well of course you can...and I will! 

Stay tuned for future posts and I will share my "common sense" nutrition plan that anyone can follow, as well as a progress update and some fun stuff from the islands!

WORK HARD - PLAY HARD!