Te Anuanua
In 1948 Caroline Guild released her memoir, Rainbow in Tahiti, where she chronicled her life and time spent in Tahiti. Guild was a world traveler who was inspired to pack her belongings and move to the South Seas. There she lived for 17 years with her husband and daughter. Today, she is remembered in the cocktail world for her contribution to naming the “Mai Tai” on one summer night in 1944 in Oakland California.
Guild’s naming of the drink didn’t gain much attention until the 1970s, when the Trader Vic corporation settled a lawsuit with the Vita Pakt Citrus Co who was selling a Don the Beachcomber “Mai Tai” mixer. The lawsuit was settled and Caroline Guide signed an affidavit claiming she was present on the night in 1944 and exclaimed “Mai Tai Roa Ae!” Trader Vic would share this story in a press release in 1970, his bartender’s guide in 1972, and his autobiography. However, in one of these tellings, Vic says that Carloine’s husband Eastham Guild was the one to name it.
Regardless of who officially named the drink, this Mai Tai riff is in honor of Caroline Guild and named after her home in Tahiti, Te Anuanua, which translates to “Rainbow in Tahiti.”
Te Anuanua
Ingredients
¾ oz lime juice (22.5 ml)
¼ oz orgeat (7.5 ml)
¼ oz passion fruit syrup (7.5 ml)
½ oz banana liqueur (15 ml)
2 oz Jamaican Rum (60 ml)
Directions
- Shake all ingredients with nugget or cracked ice. Open pour into Mai Tai glass and garnish with mint and half a passion fruit.
