- ←
- Home
- New Recipes
- P.F. Chang's Mai Tai

Menu Description: "It's our signature recipe."
Bring the tropical spirit of this drink home with my P.F. Chang's Mai Tai recipe, a clone of the potent cocktail from the growing Chinese bistro chain. Mai tai is Tahitian for "out of this world," and P.F. Chang's recipe is one of the best and most authentic. The secret to a true mai tai is found in the original recipe developed by Trader Vic in 1944: almond-flavored syrup, called "orgeat." (Try my recipe here).
You can find the sweet stuff in stores that sell coffee flavorings (Torani is one very popular brand), or from bar supply outlets. If you can't find orgeat, there's a clone recipe included in the Tidbits below.
Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.
Get This
_main
- 1 1/2 ounces Bacardi light rum
- 3/4 ounce triple sec
- 3/4 ounce orgeat syrup
- 3 ounces orange juice
- 3 ounces pineapple juice
- Splash Bacardi 151 rum
- Splash dark rum
Garnish
- Pineapple wedge
- Maraschino cherry
1. Fill a 16-ounce glass with ice.
2. Add the light rum, triple sec, orgeat, orange juice, and pineapple juice; then give the drink a quick stir.
3. Splash the 151 and dark rum on top. Do not stir.
4. Make a small cut in the pineapple wedge, then stick a toothpick into the pineapple wedge on the opposite edge. Pierce a maraschino cherry onto the toothpick. Slip the pineapple slice onto the rim of the glass (into the cut that you made). Add a straw, and serve.
Makes 1 drink.
Tidbits: You can make a pretty close version of orgeat syrup from scratch by dissolving 1/2 cup granulated sugar in 1/2 cup boiling water. Add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract and 1/4 teaspoon coconut extract. Cool before using, then measure as you would the real thing.

For over 30 years I've been deconstructing America's most iconic brand-name foods to make the best original clone recipes for you to use at home. Welcome to my lab.