Red Lobster Mai Tai Copycat Recipe

This Red Lobster Mai Tai is the tropical rum cocktail from the restaurant’s bar menu, and it’s surprisingly easy to put together at home with a handful of ingredients you can find at any liquor store. If you’ve had it at the restaurant and wanted to recreate that sweet, citrusy, slightly boozy glass, this is the one.

It comes together in about 5 minutes, and the layered look is easier to pull off than it seems.

Why I Love This Recipe

The balance here is what keeps me coming back to it. The orange curaçao adds a faintly bitter citrus note that keeps the drink from tipping into candy-sweet territory.

The float of dark rum on top isn’t just for looks. Because it sits above the lighter layers, you get a hit of deep, almost molasses-y rum with every first sip before it blends into the rest of the glass.

Recipe Ingredients

• 2 oz light rum – The base of the drink; a silver or white rum works well here, nothing aged
• 1 oz dark rum – Floated on top for color and a deeper flavor; Myers’s or Gosling’s are both good
• 1 oz orange curaçao – Adds bitter orange flavor; triple sec is the closest swap
• 1 oz orgeat syrup – Almond-flavored sweetener that gives mai tais their signature nuttiness; available at most grocery stores or online
• 2 oz fresh lime juice – Freshly squeezed makes a real difference; bottled lime juice is flatter
• 1 cup crushed ice – Crushed cools and dilutes more evenly than cubed; a blender pulse works if you don’t have a crusher
• 1 slice orange – For garnish
• 1 maraschino cherry – For garnish
• 1 sprig fresh mint – For garnish

Variations / Substitutions

• Triple sec instead of orange curaçao – Works well; the flavor is a little cleaner and slightly sweeter, so taste before adding more orgeat.
• Honey syrup instead of orgeat – Loses the almond note but keeps the sweetness and adds a mild floral quality; use the same 1 oz measure.
• Coconut rum instead of light rum – The drink gets sweeter and more tropical-leaning; cut the orgeat back to ¾ oz to compensate.
• Pineapple juice in place of half the lime juice – Use 1 oz pineapple juice and 1 oz lime juice for a milder, fruitier version that is less tart.
• Non-alcoholic version – Replace the light rum with coconut water, skip the dark rum float, and use 1 oz grenadine in place of the curaçao for a similar color and sweetness.

If you like tropical rum drinks, you might also enjoy making a Bahama Mama Recipe at home.

How To Make Mai Tai

Step 1: Shake the Base

Fill a cocktail shaker with 1 cup crushed ice, then add the 2 oz light rum, 1 oz orange curaçao, 1 oz orgeat syrup, and 2 oz fresh lime juice. Secure the lid and shake hard for about 15 seconds.

You want the outside of the shaker to feel very cold and slightly frosty. That tells you the drink is properly chilled and diluted.

Step 2: Pour Into the Glass

Fill a rocks glass or a double old-fashioned glass with more crushed ice, then strain the shaken mixture over it. Pour slowly so the ice stays packed and you have room at the top for the dark rum float.

The drink should look pale gold at this stage, almost like a cloudy lemonade with an orange tint from the curaçao.

Step 3: Float the Dark Rum

Pour the 1 oz dark rum slowly over the back of a spoon held just above the surface of the drink. This lets the rum spread across the top rather than sinking straight through. It should sit as a visible dark layer for at least a minute before you stir or sip.

The float works because dark rum is slightly denser and more syrupy than the lighter mixture below. If yours sinks immediately, your dark rum may be too thin; try pouring it even more slowly, or chill the bottle first.

Step 4: Garnish and Serve

Tuck the 1 slice of orange and 1 maraschino cherry onto the rim of the glass, then press the 1 sprig of fresh mint into the ice near the straw so it sits upright. Serve immediately while the dark rum layer is still visible on top.

Recipe Tips

• Use fresh lime juice. The bottled stuff has a cooked, slightly metallic flavor that flattens out the whole drink. Half a lime gives you roughly 1 oz of juice, so squeeze 4 halves for a batch of 2.
• Crushed ice matters more than you’d think. It chills faster, the drink dilutes at the right rate, and the float sits better on a tightly packed surface. A blender pulsed 3 or 4 times on a handful of cubes gets you close enough.
• Taste the orgeat before you use it. Brands vary a lot in sweetness. If yours is very sweet, start with ¾ oz and add more after shaking.
• Make a batch for a group. Multiply everything by the number of servings, shake in two batches (don’t overfill the shaker), and float the dark rum individually per glass just before serving.

Scale it to how many drinks you’re making:

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this ahead of time for a party?

Yes, with one exception. Mix the base (light rum, curaçao, orgeat, lime juice) up to 4 hours ahead and keep it refrigerated, but always float the dark rum per glass right before serving so the layers stay visible.

What if I can’t find orgeat syrup?

Check the cocktail mixer section of a grocery store or a large liquor store before ordering online. Torani and Monin both make widely available versions. It is the one ingredient worth tracking down, since it defines the flavor of a mai tai more than anything else.

Is this drink very strong?

Each serving has 3 oz of rum total, which is on the stronger side for a single cocktail. Sipping through a straw that reaches the bottom of the glass blends the layers and spreads the alcohol more evenly, which makes it feel a little smoother.

Can I use a blender instead of shaking?

You can, but the texture changes. A blended version becomes slushy rather than chilled-and-poured. Use the same quantities, blend for about 20 seconds on medium, and skip the dark rum float (blend it in instead, or drizzle it on top at the end).

Red Lobster Mai Tai Recipe

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 5 minutes mins

Servings: 1 servings

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 2 oz light rum
• 1 oz dark rum
• 1 oz orange curaçao
• 1 oz orgeat syrup
• 2 oz fresh lime juice
• 1 cup crushed ice (for shaking and glass)
• 1 slice orange
• 1 maraschino cherry
• 1 sprig fresh mint

Method

 

1. Add 1 cup crushed ice to a cocktail shaker along with the 2 oz light rum, 1 oz orange curaçao, 1 oz orgeat syrup, and 2 oz fresh lime juice. Shake hard for 15 seconds until the shaker feels very cold.
2. Fill a rocks glass with crushed ice and strain the shaken mixture over it, leaving a little room at the top.
3. Pour the 1 oz dark rum slowly over the back of a spoon held just above the surface so it floats as a visible layer on top.
4. Garnish with the 1 orange slice and 1 maraschino cherry on the rim and tuck the 1 sprig of fresh mint into the ice, then serve immediately.

Notes

If you’re making this for guests, squeeze all the lime juice and mix the base ingredients up to a few hours ahead, then shake over ice and add the dark rum float per glass right before serving. Don’t skip the fresh lime juice if you can help it; the bottled version noticeably dulls the flavor of the whole drink.