Hi Max, my Mom has the recipe for Trader Vic’s Teriyaki Spare Ribs. If you are interested I will share. My Grandma (Dad’s mom)was a cute divorcee’ back in the 40’s and 50’s. While she was living up in Alameda, she really enjoyed going to Trader Vic’s regularly., and Vic gave her the recipe at the Oakland restaurant when she just smiled, batted her eyes and asked. Grandma gave it to my Mom when she was up in Alameda for wedding plans in 1954. Mom made it for me on my birthday every time I asked! (edited from earlier: Mom corrected me on who flirted the recipe out of Vic.)
Off the top of my head, the ribs ,after being marinated, are cut into doubles, parboiled and then roasted. The marinade is equal parts chinese soy sauce, brown sugar and pineapple juice. Ginger to taste.
The final time I saw my Grandad, our last conversation was when asked if he needed anything, him asking for a Mai Tai. It took a few minutes to realize what he was saying, but when we did, we all died laughing. It's my last memory of him, and I'm glad it is. Any time I hear about the drink now, I think of him. If I ever have one, I'll be sure to toast his honour. Thanks, Max, for bringing back that delightful memory of that delightful man! ❤
I’ve never had a Mai Tai before:) but your post makes me want to try one! I mean if it’s “ask for on your deathbed” good, that’s a solid recommendation 😉 I’m so glad your family got some laughs in a hard time:) your grandfather sounded like quite the character and I am so sorry for your loss ❤
Rhum agricole in a Mai Tai is actually another Trader Vic marketing spin; he said he was using Martinique rum, suggesting the fancy agricole, but his notes say it's "the color of coffee," which could only be molasses-based rhum traditionnel. Martin Cate has some great detail on this Smuggler's Cove.
Thank you! Came here to say this as well. This video is spreading more misinformation about the Mai Tai. There is no Agricole in a Mai Tai. If you’re going to make a video about the history of the Mai Tai, you shouldn’t get a major thing wrong like this.
Couldn't a Rhum agricole be aged in barrels to the point of being black like coffee? It's not like molasses based rum is coming out the still with any colour.
@@dennman37 No, it couldn't. You'd have to age it for 20 years or something and maybe it still woudln't be that dark. What he was probably using (according to Martin Cate in his Smuggler's Cove book), was "black rhum traditional"/ Rhum Negrita, also a Martinique rhum. Just not agricole (which wasn't redily available in the US at that time) Vic only had one listed on his menu list of Rhums and he probably wasn't going to use it in such a popular drink due to expense.
@@joelowery999 Yes, but at least it's closer than 98% of Mai Tai recipes out there. I'll accept agricole (though probably not use it personally in mine) over a float of "dark rum" or something with pineapple and orange juice.
Just tried your recipe. All I can say is 'where has this been hiding all my life?' When I think of the vile concoctions forced on me when visiting Hawaii, disguised with umbrellas, orange slices and guarantees it was a genuine Mai Tai...Well, I won't fall for that again. These are nectar. I suppose these are what buttressed the warning that "a real Mai Tai goes down smooth as silk, and rips the soles off your shoes from the inside. Thank you Max.
My family has long had an affinity for tiki bars and vintage Hawaii, and conveniently, one of my aunts has lived just off the beach on Oahu for the last 40-odd years. Due to this, any time somebody in the family dies we rent a boat, chuck the cremated remains in the ocean then head back in for a few rounds of tiki drinks, usually mai tais and chi chis. Consequently, they taste like funerals to me. However, because we have ridiculously fun funerals that involve very little actual mourning and truly are a celebration, this is a delightful thing!
seeing this on my home page made me INDESCRIBABLY giddy. I thank you on behalf of all cocktail nerds for helping us bring this classic recipe to the masses 💛💛
This is the style of mai tai we make at home. My dad went out of his way to find one as similar to the original as he could for our cocktail collection, but we use a combination of light and medium rums instead of the agricole, which I only learned about at a tasting a few days ago! I found it a little harsh for my tastes so I’ll stick to the regular but I definitely hope to try that version too!
Clemente VSOP is a really nice and smooth Agricole rum, do an ounce of that and an ounce of Appleton Estate 8/12 years and you get a really nice Mai Tai.
it's a running joke now for my husband and I to find the mai tai recipes on menus and see how off they are from the original (we love the '44!). it's such a refreshing drink, and now that our mint patch is taking off we've been able to enjoy them w/fresh mint from our garden - a real treat!! (not to mention making several missionary's downfalls). thanks for the great episode!!
@@Shrike58 when your husband mows over the mint patch thinking he's dispersing the mint further into the yard but that only works if it is flowering so it is decimated ;) we'd have a yard of mint if it would just spread more - I feel like our grass is particularly invested in sticking around even when we'd rather just have herbs for a backyard. what has been growing like a weed for us is lemon balm, my gosh. need to figure out what cocktails to make from THAT... 🤔
All the trivia about Trader Vic's is really interesting. Y'know, the other day I saw a werewolf drinking a Pina Colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was *perfect.*
To be fair to Vic, I don't think he ever claimed to have got the drink or the idea _from_ Tahiti, only that his tahitian friend loved it and gave it the name. Also, the Beachcomber connection is pretty plausible. Despite the difference in ingredients, the overall taste of the Q.B.Cooler is supposedly in the same general vicinity as the Mai Tai. So what likely happened is that Vic had one, liked it, then played around with what he had on hand to approximate the taste and got his recipe.
Maybe Vic started with a daiquiri and decided to make it more complex. The Mai Tai is one of many cocktails, including the daiquiri, with disputed origins.
While the connection to the Cooler is absolutely plausible, at the same time it'd be like saying a Painkiller is just a stolen Pina Colada, it probably does have a connection, but it's more likely that someone just wanted to approach the same idea in a different way.
I went to one of the two remaining Trader Vic's in the U.S. just this last month and had the "original" Mai Tai! It was a surprise when it came to the table because it wasn't as colorful as I had always seen Mai Tai's be in past (probably because, as you mention, moat places now make it with loads of fruit juices), but it tasted much better than it appeared. Happy to see you do a video on this pop culture drinking phenomenon of yesteryear!
Yeah, most people these days have their presentation expectations set by those bright orange and yellow "Hawaiian" Mai Tais with the dark rum float. They are tasty, but the Trader Vic's original is sheer perfection.
We used to go the the Trader Vic's in SF when I was a kid -- my father liked nice restaurants. He died in 1969. Anyway, the salad dressing was sold in bottles and it was a staple in our house.
I can't speak for Mai Tai cocktails in Hawai'i, but the Mai Tais sold in the 1970s and 1980s from Marin County south to at least the Mexican border were more or less what Max describes here: moscato-colored confections of one or two types of rum (on a grad student's budget, not nearly as elevated rums as the ones in Vic's recipe), ice, orgeat syrup, and no more fruit juice than the lime for which Vic called. Knockoff recipes abounded, and for years I made a point of keeping a bottle of orgeat syrup on hand, Just In Case.
Max is one of those UA-camrs who you always want to hear him speak about his sponsors. He has such great style, and you KNOW whatever product he advertises is tried by the man himself. And this episode had me wanting to get some bottles of Hawaian rum and to make websites.
Trader Vic’s recipes are awesome. My Husband and I went to the original Trader Vic’s bar on our honeymoon in 1973. I still have the bartenders guide I bought there. Love what you do.🖤🇨🇦
Hello! I was waiting in line for the meet and greet and there were so many people… probably should have gotten there a little earlier!! Wish I could have met you! it’s amazing that 300 people were waiting in line for that sign. Please do another meet and greet in NYC soon! I would love to see you!! You’re awesome!
I'm so glad you covered the "OG" version of the Mai Tai. I knew you'd love the story of the acrimony between Vic and Donn. FWIW, there's a great story of Donn and one of his proteges (in Donn's later years) being in California and calling in to Trader Vics and making the reservation under Donn's name. Almost as a joke. The person on the other end of the line was no less than Vic's nephew, who first asked if they were kidding as to who they were (they obviously weren't) and then wouldn't take no for an answer and called his Uncle Vic to the restaurant to act as their host. Reportedly Vic and Donn had a rather jolly evening trading good-natured softball barbs at each other. 😅😅😅
You forgot the umbrella! Just kidding of course. As someone who grew up in Hawaii and had the joy of hitting the bars during my college years in Honolulu I found the best Mai Tai at the Hilton Hawaiian village. It’s still my favorite drink. I live in San Diego now and the best Mai Tai is at the Bali Hai. Unfortunately it’s not even close to the original recipe but it’s good enough. Very nice video.
Thanks to Greg and the How to Drink crew, the discovery of quality rum was one of my lockdown hobbies, and the original Mai Tai has become one of my favorite drinks to make for us and/or our friends. I also use the Liber orgeat. Playing with the rum blend has been a never-ending source of fun, but lately I've stuck with making half of the blend the Plantation OFTD and experimenting with the other rum.
Max, I went to Barnes's and Nobel yesterday, and guess whose book was prominently displayed? I wanted to shout, I know that guy! He is a great person. Congratulations Max!
Mai tais are a perfect way to show off different rums, any amount that adds up to 2 oz. I usually do 1 oz Smith & Cross, 0.5 oz Barbary Coast 100 proof rhum agricole, and 0.5 oz Cruzan black rum, all shaken together with the usual specs. The cruzan is made with blackstrap molasses and really brings that heavy dark flavor, mellows the whole thing out and adds a nice extra note in the flavor profile. Also a drink that works really well with substitutions. The Tia Maria is a delicious tequila version, also a big fan of the Tennessee Mai Tai that uses whiskey. I’ve done it with dry sherry for a lower proof drink and that was also fantastic.
as a bartender, tiki nerd, and craft cocktail freak, i love the mai tai and you for making this episode. one note: plz work on your jigger skills; they set my teeth on edge. also, denizen merchant reserve 8 year rum was created specifically as a blend for mai tais. you can also just set the lime on top of your glass, and use a straw...
Anders Erickson has a really cool video on how he makes a Mai Tai. In it, he did use the lime shell as a garnish; he inverted it, filled it with a high-proof rum and then lit that rum on fire!
It was quite a hit to see the bottle of Trader Vic's Mai Tai mix. My Dad was the plant chemist for a specialty food packing company in Oakland that made and bottled that mix in the 60s for Trader Vic. Since he needed to take regular samples and test them for consistency with the recipe, he'd pull a random bottle off the line, take it into the lab, pour out a few milliliters to test, and put the cap back on. When he was done with testing, he'd put the bottles out in the lunchroom for the employees to take, if they wanted. Most of those ended up coming home (which we didn't mind), as people were very nervous about taking anything that had "been in the lab." I mean, who knows what bizarre rituals might have been done to them? Worked out for us. We got Vic's Hot Buttered Rum and Tom & Jerry batter before Xmas. Sometimes we'd even get most of a #10 can of Trader Vic's Javanese Dressing. I think that wasn't for sale--it was packed for the restaurant. It was wonderful! Fresh green onions and ginger, soy sauce, red wine (I think). I had a "refresher" on the Mai Tai when I first went to Hawai'i about 2003. Aloha Airlines (RIP) served complimentary (!!) Mai Tais, starting pretty much as soon as you got off the ground. Maybe that's why they went bust? Truly the "spirit of Aloha!"
Love the video. The end reminds me of Favell Lee Mortimer, who was a bestselling author for books describing other countries, their people and culture ("The Countries of Europe Described"). The twist of the story is that she only left England twice in her whole life but still made a pretty penny from writing outrageous stereotypes of other nations as though they were facts. I would love to see an episode dedicated to "The world's most horrible food" or something along those lines based on food mentioned in the books.
Karl May wrote a whole bunch of American Old West books (Cowboy and Indian type) back in the 1800s that are still popular today, and he not only had never been to the US, but he acted liked he was his "Old Shatterhand" character (after pulling off a Talented Mr Ripley's worth of impersonation of all sorts of other folks to commit fraud when he was younger-- basically he turned to writing after being in charge of the prison library). People are always willing to believe what matches what they already think of a place.
YES!!! Love it! Thank you, Mr. Miller. I just never know what you will come up with next! Thank you from Ukraine. I have been here for over a year and your videos keep my spirits up!
@@TastingHistory you’re welcome my friend. I am not kidding when I say that your videos keep my spirits up. I am so proud of you for what you have done over your UA-cam career and the success of your book which I am not able to receive due to shipping issues into a war zone lol. I will keep watching! Bless you my brother and thank you for everything you do. You have a huge heart for all to see.
I have seen several other people do videos on the History of Tiki drinks, Mai Tais, Don, and Vic. I have also done quite a lot of research myself. While focused on just the Mai Tai, this has to be one of the most accurate videos I have seen on the subject. Well done!
Years ago, about 40 now, my brother in law was a manager at Appleton Estates. We had the whole family and friends tour where I discovered the process of making good rum and the joy of AE dark rum. Oh, my. Have used AE rums for everything since then. It was a grand awakening for someone who had previously only had Bacardi.
I have to say Tahiti was a great place to visit. I highly recommend the Bali Hai Hotel on the island of Moorea (you get a t-shirt if you finish a boom boom drink) also the Bloody Mary pub is just down the road where some of the deserters from the Bounty founded a pub and the drink by the same name was invented.
A friend of mine made the first Mai Tai I ever had, perhaps using this traditional recipe. It was delicious. It easily out classes every other Mai Tai I've I tried since. Thank you for posting!
I just made Mai Tais yesterday! I like to make my own orgeat based on the one in Liquid Intelligence, but with a few additions. And I don't worry much about the rum - any aged Jamaican rum or even a blend like Appleton Estates Signature is delicious. It's my favorite summer cocktail!
Having watched this video, I so want to make this cocktail exactly as is in the video. Thank you so much for doing the research and showing us the exact products, Max!
I stumbled upon this channel by accident can’t remember what I fell asleep watching but I woke up to ur titanic video and have binged watched ever since. I love history and food and more importantly I love how u make ur videos bro. If I have a bad or good day I’m watching ur vids even if I already watched them. Something about them calms me, thank you.
I am so happy you made the decision some years back to do this full time. I watched when you didn’t know which way to go. Aren’t you glad you did? Woowooop👍🏻
New viewer/subscriber here but a lifelong rum fan and the best amateur bartender I know. Thanks for the history and thanks for the great production values of your channel.
There’s a Trader Vic’s in my city, one of the last designed by Vic and has some of his artwork on the walls. It’s like walking into a time capsule. The Mai Tai is delicious but strong!
I always love watching Max's viewpoints and deep dives into the history of the foods and drinks he makes. It's really just so pleasant to get good insights on the truths or iffyness of these things!
Got your book today. Excited about trying the recipes. As a former History and English composition instructor at a local community college, I appreciate the historic references. Thank you for producing this wonderful work.
This makes me happy because I cocktail bar I loved at uni for special occasions (The Adamson in St Andrews) would make their mai tai like the true mai tai, rather than the mai tai people know today.
My own version of the Mai Tai is using the Smugglers Cove recipe, but my rum is a Kraken Dark Rum, I substitute the Curacao with Cointreau and my Orgeat is home made. I will add a Jamaican rum to this but somehow my country was a little dry on the Appleton Estate, can not find it anywhere.
I LOVE the capirinha. The version I had probably wasn't even that genuine (it was made in Canada, but it at least used cachaça), and it was still one of the best drinks I've had!
I grew up with big family events taking place at the SF Trader Vic’s. Always a good time. If you haven’t read his original bartending guide, you owe it to yourself. A ton of classic tiki recipes, hilarious stories, and oddly sage advice for drink slingers.
I went to the Trader Vic's in Emeryville, it was pretty nice! I also found out that there's going to be a Trader Vic's opening in West Hollywood in a few years. Great that there's a place like Vic's that's been around mostly unchanged for decades.
Please do a Tasting History about literally any of the food in Alaska. My wife and I honeymooned there for nine days from Fairbanks to Denali to Anchorage and it was nine full days and nights of having your breath taken away.
This would have been an excellent opportunity to collab with Greg from 'How to Drink'. The Mai Tai is his favorite drink and he's extolled upon it several times on his channel.
We try to go to the Kona side of Big Island every two years or so and I have no idea how we missed that distillery. Thank you so much, I am definitely dragging DH there next time (he won’t resist lol). Yom and thank you for your fantastic show. And your recipe book, it just arrived at my house!
@@TastingHistoryMe Too! I would like to place my preorder now please! Including a few variants of some drinks (geographical, cultural, time period) would be appreciated.
Ooooohh, it would be the only cocktail book that I would try. For me the best cocktail is cinnamon flavoured whisky with apple juice. So it would be nice to maybe grow up and discover more ambitious tastes 😂
I worked on making Mai Tais for a while. I was combining Appleton Estates 12 year and Clement Rhum Agricole, and I also use a float of Lemon Hart 151. Sometimes I’ll also add a tiny bit of Wray & Nephew White Overproof rum, which is my favorite rum - it overpowers most ingredients, but a little splash of it can add a lot of complexity to other rums.
Hawaii is a dream destination and I will visit, and now have something else to try and another place to visit while there. Thanks for another great episode.
Really like that you moved the history segment after the first taste! That was my main complaint with Drink History back in the original run. The format feels much smoother now, no one would wait 10 minutes after making a drink!
Great stuff Max! My favorite variant is the Bitter Mai Tai that’s made with the addition of Campari. The bitterness it imparts really helps offset the sweetness of the Orgeat and curaçao.
I don't drink a lot of hard liquor anymore. When I bought the orgeat syrup years back for my Mai Tai found it was also really nice with club soda and lime.
Vic reminds me of a cross between Milton Berle and Rodney Dangerfield. My favorite weather is rain, so I'd totally be up for Tahiti! Mai Tais have been one of my two favorite drinks for at least 30 years (the other is Lawn Guyland iced tea 😉 ), but it looks like I've never had the original recipe. Look forward to trying it!
Thumbing through an old cookbook of my mothers. Better Homes and Garden Holiday Cookbook 1969 edition. Had a Luau theme party section 😅 saw recipe for Trader Vic's Susu curry sauce-my mind immediately went to your video!
I grew up in Southern California in the 60's/70's. Trader Vic's was my family's favorite restaurant for special occasions. I remember the "Pupu platter". My mom always drank Mai Tais. She loved them so much she named her Yorkshire Terrier "Mai Tai".
I'm NGL the more Americana, classico restaurant lore eps like this or the Caesar Salad history really do something for me, really refreshing change of pace from the more archaic recipes
I always wondered what a Mai Tai tasted like. Thank you for making this Max, along with the history of the drink as well 😊 I look forward to the history portion of your videos.. it’s always so detailed and fascinating! 😊❤
It sounds delicious, you had me at 'liquid marzipan' 😂 I think it would be nice to hear more about cocktails like this, or maybe, if known, how it happened that first cocktail was made? In my country they are popular when you go to the club or bar, but at home no one I know bothers (but in my friends group only mead, whisky and moonshine are popular, we don't bother with small alcohol percentages if we drink at all), so I think it would be interesting to see how other cultures invented them.
I was hoping for a kava/'awa drinking history episode, but I can't fault you for going with the Mai Tai. Kava can be most charitably described as an acquired taste, and I say that as a person who loves the stuff.
That final quote from Vic is allegedly still true, some friends of mine went to Tahiti in 2015 and they returned vowing never to go back and urging others never to go there at all.
I beg to differ. I found Tahiti sunny, the people were delightful and the food was good. Vic sounds like an Ugly American to me. We didn’t go to big tourist spots but rather rented a car and explored on our own or a week.
People are so surprised that it rains a lot in areas that have lush tropical forests. If it doesn't rain a lot, you get California where the hills turn brown by the end of spring. (Not counting the "State of Jefferson" counties that are really the southern end of the Pacific Northwest.)
I went golfing on the big island. It was New Year's eve so we went to a sports bar for the evening. I had 7 double mai tais since I was very thirsty and each had both light and dark rum layered at the bottom. The fruit juice etc was all above that. Luckily we were staying at a condo across the street. Our food bill was about 70$ for 4 of us, the drink bill was around $240. (This was in the early 80's) When we wobbled back into our condo, I drank a full quart of water. Then went to sleep and felt fine in the morning. My friends who had had a variety of drinks were too overhung to get out of bed.
I think I'd really like to see some videos on Soviet cuisine, if that's possible. Perhaps some more recipes from that Soviet cookbook you mentioned in the borshtch episode?
I absolutely loved this video, Max. Tiki drinks are such a fascinating thing to study between the cultural appropriation and the overall insane storytelling lifestyle that was Vic Bergeron. Thank you for making this video, and for being an incredible historian.
But, is it cultural appropriation if the drinks are of entirely new recipe? Just because it uses flavors or inspiration from a culture doesn't mean they were appropriated. Otherwise you would have to say anything that uses potatoes, corn, or tomatoes in their recipes is culturally appropriated from the Americas. Or anything showcasing the complexity of ginger or the versatility of rice being culturally appropriated from Asia.
@@DH-xw6jp I was referring less to the drink itself and more to the overall falsehoods of what Tiki bars represented - and in particular the fantasy lands Donn Beach and Trader Vic passed off as Polynesian culture. :)
@@SquarePegs but that's just it. I was responding to what you _actually said,_ not what you "meant" to say. It was you that decided to move the goal posts.
I love this channel not only for the content, but also for the pronunciation of words. I've read about orgeat in many a historical romance but was pronouncing it all wrong. Thanks Max, I know you put in a lot of work to get words pronounced correctly and many thanks to Jose for the great closed captioning. Wish he worked for whoever the cc for UTube, especially the British, they ones are awful.
I guess when asking why all the rum is gone, we can ask Vic 😂
And Max, if he keeps this up.^^
Alas Arne, my heartburn won’t let me
@@TastingHistory 😂😂
@@TastingHistory Aww. 🙁
Headed to Hawaii on Thursday! Never had a Mai-tai before, but I might have to try one :)
Been a while since we had a Drinking History episode it feels like, really glad to see it continue.
Yessss it’s been a busy period with the book and other upcoming fun projects to be announced
@@TastingHistory I think you ought to do a collaborative episode with the folks at How To Drink, I bet it'd be a real hoot.
@@vectorwolfi was just thinking this.. max and Greg together would be so entertaining
@@TastingHistory Oooooo I can't wait to see what those other upcoming projects are!
I think because they get less views for some reason
Hi Max, my Mom has the recipe for Trader Vic’s Teriyaki Spare Ribs. If you are interested I will share. My Grandma (Dad’s mom)was a cute divorcee’ back in the 40’s and 50’s. While she was living up in Alameda, she really enjoyed going to Trader Vic’s regularly., and Vic gave her the recipe at the Oakland restaurant when she just smiled, batted her eyes and asked. Grandma gave it to my Mom when she was up in Alameda for wedding plans in 1954. Mom made it for me on my birthday every time I asked! (edited from earlier: Mom corrected me on who flirted the recipe out of Vic.)
OK, now that is a story worth telling.
@@carloshenriquezimmer7543 Never pay for the story.
How about sharing it with everyone who is now craving those ribs!
Off the top of my head, the ribs ,after being marinated, are cut into doubles, parboiled and then roasted. The marinade is equal parts chinese soy sauce, brown sugar and pineapple juice. Ginger to taste.
@Tasting History with Max Miller hope you see this, Vics Ribs Recipe!
The final time I saw my Grandad, our last conversation was when asked if he needed anything, him asking for a Mai Tai. It took a few minutes to realize what he was saying, but when we did, we all died laughing. It's my last memory of him, and I'm glad it is. Any time I hear about the drink now, I think of him. If I ever have one, I'll be sure to toast his honour. Thanks, Max, for bringing back that delightful memory of that delightful man! ❤
Tell me you made him one
@Terminal Lumbago He couldn't have alcohol that near the end, unfortunately. It would've interfered with the medication.
I’ve never had a Mai Tai before:) but your post makes me want to try one!
I mean if it’s “ask for on your deathbed” good, that’s a solid recommendation 😉
I’m so glad your family got some laughs in a hard time:) your grandfather sounded like quite the character and I am so sorry for your loss ❤
I just made this one, cheers to your gramps 🍻
That's how I feel about Long Island Iced Teas. My grandpa almost only drank Long Island's if he was drinking.
Rhum agricole in a Mai Tai is actually another Trader Vic marketing spin; he said he was using Martinique rum, suggesting the fancy agricole, but his notes say it's "the color of coffee," which could only be molasses-based rhum traditionnel. Martin Cate has some great detail on this Smuggler's Cove.
Ha I came here to say this!
Thank you! Came here to say this as well. This video is spreading more misinformation about the Mai Tai. There is no Agricole in a Mai Tai. If you’re going to make a video about the history of the Mai Tai, you shouldn’t get a major thing wrong like this.
Couldn't a Rhum agricole be aged in barrels to the point of being black like coffee? It's not like molasses based rum is coming out the still with any colour.
@@dennman37 No, it couldn't. You'd have to age it for 20 years or something and maybe it still woudln't be that dark. What he was probably using (according to Martin Cate in his Smuggler's Cove book), was "black rhum traditional"/ Rhum Negrita, also a Martinique rhum. Just not agricole (which wasn't redily available in the US at that time) Vic only had one listed on his menu list of Rhums and he probably wasn't going to use it in such a popular drink due to expense.
@@joelowery999 Yes, but at least it's closer than 98% of Mai Tai recipes out there. I'll accept agricole (though probably not use it personally in mine) over a float of "dark rum" or something with pineapple and orange juice.
Just tried your recipe. All I can say is 'where has this been hiding all my life?' When I think of the vile concoctions forced on me when visiting Hawaii, disguised with umbrellas, orange slices and guarantees it was a genuine Mai Tai...Well, I won't fall for that again. These are nectar. I suppose these are what buttressed the warning that "a real Mai Tai goes down smooth as silk, and rips the soles off your shoes from the inside. Thank you Max.
My family has long had an affinity for tiki bars and vintage Hawaii, and conveniently, one of my aunts has lived just off the beach on Oahu for the last 40-odd years. Due to this, any time somebody in the family dies we rent a boat, chuck the cremated remains in the ocean then head back in for a few rounds of tiki drinks, usually mai tais and chi chis. Consequently, they taste like funerals to me. However, because we have ridiculously fun funerals that involve very little actual mourning and truly are a celebration, this is a delightful thing!
seeing this on my home page made me INDESCRIBABLY giddy. I thank you on behalf of all cocktail nerds for helping us bring this classic recipe to the masses 💛💛
This is the style of mai tai we make at home. My dad went out of his way to find one as similar to the original as he could for our cocktail collection, but we use a combination of light and medium rums instead of the agricole, which I only learned about at a tasting a few days ago! I found it a little harsh for my tastes so I’ll stick to the regular but I definitely hope to try that version too!
Clemente VSOP is a really nice and smooth Agricole rum, do an ounce of that and an ounce of Appleton Estate 8/12 years and you get a really nice Mai Tai.
it's a running joke now for my husband and I to find the mai tai recipes on menus and see how off they are from the original (we love the '44!). it's such a refreshing drink, and now that our mint patch is taking off we've been able to enjoy them w/fresh mint from our garden - a real treat!! (not to mention making several missionary's downfalls). thanks for the great episode!!
How could your mint patch not take off...that stuff grows like weeds! Which reminds me, with summer coming I need to steep some mint in vodka.
@@Shrike58 when your husband mows over the mint patch thinking he's dispersing the mint further into the yard but that only works if it is flowering so it is decimated ;) we'd have a yard of mint if it would just spread more - I feel like our grass is particularly invested in sticking around even when we'd rather just have herbs for a backyard. what has been growing like a weed for us is lemon balm, my gosh. need to figure out what cocktails to make from THAT... 🤔
All the trivia about Trader Vic's is really interesting. Y'know, the other day I saw a werewolf drinking a Pina Colada at Trader Vic's.
His hair was *perfect.*
To be fair to Vic, I don't think he ever claimed to have got the drink or the idea _from_ Tahiti, only that his tahitian friend loved it and gave it the name.
Also, the Beachcomber connection is pretty plausible. Despite the difference in ingredients, the overall taste of the Q.B.Cooler is supposedly in the same general vicinity as the Mai Tai. So what likely happened is that Vic had one, liked it, then played around with what he had on hand to approximate the taste and got his recipe.
Maybe Vic started with a daiquiri and decided to make it more complex. The Mai Tai is one of many cocktails, including the daiquiri, with disputed origins.
While the connection to the Cooler is absolutely plausible, at the same time it'd be like saying a Painkiller is just a stolen Pina Colada, it probably does have a connection, but it's more likely that someone just wanted to approach the same idea in a different way.
If you get a chance, compare the QB Cooler to a "traditional" mai tia. They taste nothing alike.
I went to one of the two remaining Trader Vic's in the U.S. just this last month and had the "original" Mai Tai! It was a surprise when it came to the table because it wasn't as colorful as I had always seen Mai Tai's be in past (probably because, as you mention, moat places now make it with loads of fruit juices), but it tasted much better than it appeared. Happy to see you do a video on this pop culture drinking phenomenon of yesteryear!
Yeah, most people these days have their presentation expectations set by those bright orange and yellow "Hawaiian" Mai Tais with the dark rum float. They are tasty, but the Trader Vic's original is sheer perfection.
We used to go the the Trader Vic's in SF when I was a kid -- my father liked nice restaurants. He died in 1969. Anyway, the salad dressing was sold in bottles and it was a staple in our house.
I can't speak for Mai Tai cocktails in Hawai'i, but the Mai Tais sold in the 1970s and 1980s from Marin County south to at least the Mexican border were more or less what Max describes here: moscato-colored confections of one or two types of rum (on a grad student's budget, not nearly as elevated rums as the ones in Vic's recipe), ice, orgeat syrup, and no more fruit juice than the lime for which Vic called. Knockoff recipes abounded, and for years I made a point of keeping a bottle of orgeat syrup on hand, Just In Case.
Max is one of those UA-camrs who you always want to hear him speak about his sponsors. He has such great style, and you KNOW whatever product he advertises is tried by the man himself.
And this episode had me wanting to get some bottles of Hawaian rum and to make websites.
Trader Vic’s recipes are awesome. My Husband and I went to the original Trader Vic’s bar on our honeymoon in 1973. I still have the bartenders guide I bought there. Love what you do.🖤🇨🇦
Hello! I was waiting in line for the meet and greet and there were so many people… probably should have gotten there a little earlier!! Wish I could have met you! it’s amazing that 300 people were waiting in line for that sign. Please do another meet and greet in NYC soon! I would love to see you!! You’re awesome!
I'm so glad you covered the "OG" version of the Mai Tai. I knew you'd love the story of the acrimony between Vic and Donn.
FWIW, there's a great story of Donn and one of his proteges (in Donn's later years) being in California and calling in to Trader Vics and making the reservation under Donn's name. Almost as a joke.
The person on the other end of the line was no less than Vic's nephew, who first asked if they were kidding as to who they were (they obviously weren't) and then wouldn't take no for an answer and called his Uncle Vic to the restaurant to act as their host.
Reportedly Vic and Donn had a rather jolly evening trading good-natured softball barbs at each other. 😅😅😅
He didn't use the correct rum in it.
You forgot the umbrella!
Just kidding of course. As someone who grew up in Hawaii and had the joy of hitting the bars during my college years in Honolulu I found the best Mai Tai at the Hilton Hawaiian village. It’s still my favorite drink. I live in San Diego now and the best Mai Tai is at the Bali Hai. Unfortunately it’s not even close to the original recipe but it’s good enough. Very nice video.
Thanks to Greg and the How to Drink crew, the discovery of quality rum was one of my lockdown hobbies, and the original Mai Tai has become one of my favorite drinks to make for us and/or our friends. I also use the Liber orgeat. Playing with the rum blend has been a never-ending source of fun, but lately I've stuck with making half of the blend the Plantation OFTD and experimenting with the other rum.
Max, I went to Barnes's and Nobel yesterday, and guess whose book was prominently displayed? I wanted to shout, I know that guy! He is a great person. Congratulations Max!
I've lived on Oahu my whole life, and I've never heard this story before. I'm glad to learn more. Thank you
Max we appreciate that you are making the website yourself and not your 'brand team'. We are fans because your are still a real humans.
Mai tais are a perfect way to show off different rums, any amount that adds up to 2 oz. I usually do 1 oz Smith & Cross, 0.5 oz Barbary Coast 100 proof rhum agricole, and 0.5 oz Cruzan black rum, all shaken together with the usual specs. The cruzan is made with blackstrap molasses and really brings that heavy dark flavor, mellows the whole thing out and adds a nice extra note in the flavor profile.
Also a drink that works really well with substitutions. The Tia Maria is a delicious tequila version, also a big fan of the Tennessee Mai Tai that uses whiskey. I’ve done it with dry sherry for a lower proof drink and that was also fantastic.
as a bartender, tiki nerd, and craft cocktail freak, i love the mai tai and you for making this episode. one note: plz work on your jigger skills; they set my teeth on edge. also, denizen merchant reserve 8 year rum was created specifically as a blend for mai tais.
you can also just set the lime on top of your glass, and use a straw...
Anders Erickson has a really cool video on how he makes a Mai Tai. In it, he did use the lime shell as a garnish; he inverted it, filled it with a high-proof rum and then lit that rum on fire!
Yep lime shell boat. Scrape the pulp out if you can, I use key limes from my tree they're tiny
Old school actually.
It was quite a hit to see the bottle of Trader Vic's Mai Tai mix. My Dad was the plant chemist for a specialty food packing company in Oakland that made and bottled that mix in the 60s for Trader Vic. Since he needed to take regular samples and test them for consistency with the recipe, he'd pull a random bottle off the line, take it into the lab, pour out a few milliliters to test, and put the cap back on. When he was done with testing, he'd put the bottles out in the lunchroom for the employees to take, if they wanted. Most of those ended up coming home (which we didn't mind), as people were very nervous about taking anything that had "been in the lab." I mean, who knows what bizarre rituals might have been done to them? Worked out for us. We got Vic's Hot Buttered Rum and Tom & Jerry batter before Xmas. Sometimes we'd even get most of a #10 can of Trader Vic's Javanese Dressing. I think that wasn't for sale--it was packed for the restaurant. It was wonderful! Fresh green onions and ginger, soy sauce, red wine (I think).
I had a "refresher" on the Mai Tai when I first went to Hawai'i about 2003. Aloha Airlines (RIP) served complimentary (!!) Mai Tais, starting pretty much as soon as you got off the ground. Maybe that's why they went bust? Truly the "spirit of Aloha!"
In the words of CPT Jack Sparrow, "The rum, why is it always the rum?!"
Love the video. The end reminds me of Favell Lee Mortimer, who was a bestselling author for books describing other countries, their people and culture ("The Countries of Europe Described"). The twist of the story is that she only left England twice in her whole life but still made a pretty penny from writing outrageous stereotypes of other nations as though they were facts. I would love to see an episode dedicated to "The world's most horrible food" or something along those lines based on food mentioned in the books.
Karl May wrote a whole bunch of American Old West books (Cowboy and Indian type) back in the 1800s that are still popular today, and he not only had never been to the US, but he acted liked he was his "Old Shatterhand" character (after pulling off a Talented Mr Ripley's worth of impersonation of all sorts of other folks to commit fraud when he was younger-- basically he turned to writing after being in charge of the prison library). People are always willing to believe what matches what they already think of a place.
YES!!! Love it! Thank you, Mr. Miller. I just never know what you will come up with next!
Thank you from Ukraine.
I have been here for over a year and your videos keep my spirits up!
Thank you David 🍹
My heart is with you and yours.
@@TastingHistory you’re welcome my friend. I am not kidding when I say that your videos keep my spirits up. I am so proud of you for what you have done over your UA-cam career and the success of your book which I am not able to receive due to shipping issues into a war zone lol.
I will keep watching! Bless you my brother and thank you for everything you do. You have a huge heart for all to see.
Wishing you the best!!
My heart hurts for what you are all going through.
Slava Ukraini!
I've donated to the drone fund a few times already, and I'll do it again soon.
I have seen several other people do videos on the History of Tiki drinks, Mai Tais, Don, and Vic. I have also done quite a lot of research myself. While focused on just the Mai Tai, this has to be one of the most accurate videos I have seen on the subject. Well done!
And yet he used the wrong rum in his mai tai.
Well done again Max! A great follow-up to your epic Luau from Hawaii!! Old Trader Vic would be proud!!
Years ago, about 40 now, my brother in law was a manager at Appleton Estates. We had the whole family and friends tour where I discovered the process of making good rum and the joy of AE dark rum. Oh, my. Have used AE rums for everything since then. It was a grand awakening for someone who had previously only had Bacardi.
I have to say Tahiti was a great place to visit. I highly recommend the Bali Hai Hotel on the island of Moorea (you get a t-shirt if you finish a boom boom drink) also the Bloody Mary pub is just down the road where some of the deserters from the Bounty founded a pub and the drink by the same name was invented.
A friend of mine made the first Mai Tai I ever had, perhaps using this traditional recipe. It was delicious. It easily out classes every other Mai Tai I've I tried since. Thank you for posting!
As a mixologist I absolutely love this series! Please do more 🙏
“As a mixologist”
@@socialswine3656 disciple of Sir Mix A lot
I just made Mai Tais yesterday! I like to make my own orgeat based on the one in Liquid Intelligence, but with a few additions. And I don't worry much about the rum - any aged Jamaican rum or even a blend like Appleton Estates Signature is delicious. It's my favorite summer cocktail!
Having watched this video, I so want to make this cocktail exactly as is in the video. Thank you so much for doing the research and showing us the exact products, Max!
He didn't make it correctly.
I stumbled upon this channel by accident can’t remember what I fell asleep watching but I woke up to ur titanic video and have binged watched ever since. I love history and food and more importantly I love how u make ur videos bro. If I have a bad or good day I’m watching ur vids even if I already watched them. Something about them calms me, thank you.
Best flavored rum I ever had was "Pusser's" rum. Especially the dark rum. It was the rum used by the Royal Navy and has it's own interesting history.
Pussers is the southern comfort of rum. If you want a really good rum, get appleton estate or smith & cross
Nah nah Galleon. Makes you feel like a stallion. (Jamaican. m)
Pusser's is fantastic
Amen, that’s my favorite.🥰💕❤️👍👍
If youre open to trying something different, I'd highly recommend Old Monk rum. It's got an amazing history and arguably one of our best exports.
I am so happy you made the decision some years back to do this full time. I watched when you didn’t know which way to go. Aren’t you glad you did? Woowooop👍🏻
"...the burn is almost an afterthought, an AFTERBURN if you will..."
Fucking nailed it.
I don't drink but I love listening to you + the history parts
This is crazy, had just gotten into Mai Tais and their history! Perfect timing!
New viewer/subscriber here but a lifelong rum fan and the best amateur bartender I know. Thanks for the history and thanks for the great production values of your channel.
MY FAVORITE DRINK!
So happy someone doing a legit background on it. Many make it the contemporize way
Cocktails and their history are so interesting. I enjoyed this history lesson very much!
There’s a Trader Vic’s in my city, one of the last designed by Vic and has some of his artwork on the walls. It’s like walking into a time capsule. The Mai Tai is delicious but strong!
I always love watching Max's viewpoints and deep dives into the history of the foods and drinks he makes. It's really just so pleasant to get good insights on the truths or iffyness of these things!
Drinking history is such a refreshing series! You always go above and beyond with your work Max! Wish you best of happiness of Hawaii!❤❤❤❤
Thank you Daniel 🍹
@@TastingHistory My pleasure man! 😃😃😃
"Refreshing", huh... bet you didn't even realize the pun you made
I absolutely love you, and your channel. Education and fun at its finest.
I looked up at the right time to see two people walk across Max's poster like floating stock images. LOL
Got your book today. Excited about trying the recipes. As a former History and English composition instructor at a local community college, I appreciate the historic references. Thank you for producing this wonderful work.
This makes me happy because I cocktail bar I loved at uni for special occasions (The Adamson in St Andrews) would make their mai tai like the true mai tai, rather than the mai tai people know today.
My Dude! This is an absolutely fantastic channel in every way! Thank you for making it.
My own version of the Mai Tai is using the Smugglers Cove recipe, but my rum is a Kraken Dark Rum, I substitute the Curacao with Cointreau and my Orgeat is home made.
I will add a Jamaican rum to this but somehow my country was a little dry on the Appleton Estate, can not find it anywhere.
I love it when you do cocktails! Thanks Max!
Max you should make an episode about the caipirinha. Nothing like having a caipirinha on the beach with friends.
National Cocktails Series! Let's go Max!
Yup.
I have also requested a Pisco sour using the Pisco with the Easter Island Moai cap!! That Max has/had a bottle of in his old bar.
I LOVE the capirinha. The version I had probably wasn't even that genuine (it was made in Canada, but it at least used cachaça), and it was still one of the best drinks I've had!
That sounds vaguely rude (in the titillating sense). But I have no idea what a c.........a is, anyway.
@@Franny95639 A caipirinha is a Brazilian drink that is made with cachaça. Cachaça is a distilled liquor made from sugar cane.
I grew up with big family events taking place at the SF Trader Vic’s. Always a good time.
If you haven’t read his original bartending guide, you owe it to yourself. A ton of classic tiki recipes, hilarious stories, and oddly sage advice for drink slingers.
Max should do an April Fool's episode on "Food of the 1970's" and just have a giant pile of white powder on a mirror. 😁
Things in aspic. Whole fish with olive slices over the eyes. Spicy dishes containing an entire quarter teaspoon of Tabasco sauce.
@@roecocoa Or three drops Tabasco.🤣
@@gwennorthcutt421 Now _that's_ authentic.
I thought that was the 80s.
Snorting History with Max Miller
I went to the Trader Vic's in Emeryville, it was pretty nice! I also found out that there's going to be a Trader Vic's opening in West Hollywood in a few years. Great that there's a place like Vic's that's been around mostly unchanged for decades.
there's nothing better than hearing Hawaiian names; except to hear Max pronounce them so prettily
I fell asleep listening to you talking it was the most relaxing sleep ive had in a long time 😊, i absolutely love your videos
Speaking of beachy tropical recipes I’d love to see a ceviche episode 😮
You've done it again... had me recommending another one of your videos to several of my friends and friends of friends
Would you be willing to look into Latvian food like piragi and kaposti??? My husband’s family would love it!
Please do a Tasting History about literally any of the food in Alaska. My wife and I honeymooned there for nine days from Fairbanks to Denali to Anchorage and it was nine full days and nights of having your breath taken away.
This would have been an excellent opportunity to collab with Greg from 'How to Drink'. The Mai Tai is his favorite drink and he's extolled upon it several times on his channel.
We try to go to the Kona side of Big Island every two years or so and I have no idea how we missed that distillery. Thank you so much, I am definitely dragging DH there next time (he won’t resist lol). Yom and thank you for your fantastic show. And your recipe book, it just arrived at my house!
I'm soooooo hoping for a Drinking History Cocktail book 😱
Ooh
@@TastingHistoryMe Too! I would like to place my preorder now please! Including a few variants of some drinks (geographical, cultural, time period) would be appreciated.
Ooooohh, it would be the only cocktail book that I would try. For me the best cocktail is cinnamon flavoured whisky with apple juice. So it would be nice to maybe grow up and discover more ambitious tastes 😂
@@Noel.Chmielowiec Jamie, start up a pre order queue! He's still TH's intern right?
@@dmckim3174 I have no clue, but can I be on the list, please? 😂 I'm still waiting for payday to order Max's cookbook, so I can wait 😂
I worked on making Mai Tais for a while. I was combining Appleton Estates 12 year and Clement Rhum Agricole, and I also use a float of Lemon Hart 151. Sometimes I’ll also add a tiny bit of Wray & Nephew White Overproof rum, which is my favorite rum - it overpowers most ingredients, but a little splash of it can add a lot of complexity to other rums.
You should use Koloa dark rum for the floater. Smells like vanilla.
My grandfather made Mai Tais at home in the early 1970s. Don't know what was in them, but they look more like the originals than the modern ones.
What a birthday present, a new video from Max!
Had been waiting for a drinking history episode!
Been a busy period, more soonish 🍹
Hawaii is a dream destination and I will visit, and now have something else to try and another place to visit while there. Thanks for another great episode.
I feel like this is foreshadowing a collab with HTD Greg
Really like that you moved the history segment after the first taste! That was my main complaint with Drink History back in the original run. The format feels much smoother now, no one would wait 10 minutes after making a drink!
Didn't even realize this came out less than a minute ago
Great stuff Max! My favorite variant is the Bitter Mai Tai that’s made with the addition of Campari. The bitterness it imparts really helps offset the sweetness of the Orgeat and curaçao.
Drinking history!
I don't drink a lot of hard liquor anymore. When I bought the orgeat syrup years back for my Mai Tai found it was also really nice with club soda and lime.
Perfect for summer! I love Island drinks in the early evening after working outside all day.
Always keep it classy max! Cheers up!🎉🎉🎉🎉 Love ya!❤❤❤
Love your series! thanks for your efforts
BTW~ To wear an Aloha Shirt, it should NEVER FIT! It should be up to two sizes too large.........
Absolutely true 👍
😂😂😂👍
Vic reminds me of a cross between Milton Berle and Rodney Dangerfield. My favorite weather is rain, so I'd totally be up for Tahiti! Mai Tais have been one of my two favorite drinks for at least 30 years (the other is Lawn Guyland iced tea 😉 ), but it looks like I've never had the original recipe. Look forward to trying it!
Loving the drinking history!😊
Thumbing through an old cookbook of my mothers. Better Homes and Garden Holiday Cookbook 1969 edition. Had a Luau theme party section 😅 saw recipe for Trader Vic's Susu curry sauce-my mind immediately went to your video!
I particularly appreciated your Film Noir impersonation. 😂
I grew up in Southern California in the 60's/70's. Trader Vic's was my family's favorite restaurant for special occasions. I remember the "Pupu platter". My mom always drank Mai Tais. She loved them so much she named her Yorkshire Terrier "Mai Tai".
I'm NGL the more Americana, classico restaurant lore eps like this or the Caesar Salad history really do something for me, really refreshing change of pace from the more archaic recipes
I always wondered what a Mai Tai tasted like. Thank you for making this Max, along with the history of the drink as well 😊 I look forward to the history portion of your videos.. it’s always so detailed and fascinating! 😊❤
It sounds delicious, you had me at 'liquid marzipan' 😂 I think it would be nice to hear more about cocktails like this, or maybe, if known, how it happened that first cocktail was made? In my country they are popular when you go to the club or bar, but at home no one I know bothers (but in my friends group only mead, whisky and moonshine are popular, we don't bother with small alcohol percentages if we drink at all), so I think it would be interesting to see how other cultures invented them.
I was hoping for a kava/'awa drinking history episode, but I can't fault you for going with the Mai Tai. Kava can be most charitably described as an acquired taste, and I say that as a person who loves the stuff.
That final quote from Vic is allegedly still true, some friends of mine went to Tahiti in 2015 and they returned vowing never to go back and urging others never to go there at all.
I beg to differ. I found Tahiti sunny, the people were delightful and the food was good. Vic sounds like an Ugly American to me. We didn’t go to big tourist spots but rather rented a car and explored on our own or a week.
People are so surprised that it rains a lot in areas that have lush tropical forests. If it doesn't rain a lot, you get California where the hills turn brown by the end of spring. (Not counting the "State of Jefferson" counties that are really the southern end of the Pacific Northwest.)
I went golfing on the big island. It was New Year's eve so we went to a sports bar for the evening. I had 7 double mai tais since I was very thirsty and each had both light and dark rum layered at the bottom. The fruit juice etc was all above that. Luckily we were staying at a condo across the street. Our food bill was about 70$ for 4 of us, the drink bill was around $240. (This was in the early 80's) When we wobbled back into our condo, I drank a full quart of water. Then went to sleep and felt fine in the morning. My friends who had had a variety of drinks were too overhung to get out of bed.
I think I'd really like to see some videos on Soviet cuisine, if that's possible. Perhaps some more recipes from that Soviet cookbook you mentioned in the borshtch episode?
I imagine a lot of Soviets would've liked to see some at the time, too. Starvation being bad, and all....😁
Awesome another video to watch while I work out at the gym
1:00 I knew Max was an immortal time traveller; he brought the Hawaiians rum in the 1790s!
Oh wow, love this ep! Lmao my fam is from oakland and this is a favorite bit of local party trivia, great to have more proof on our side of things ;D
I absolutely loved this video, Max. Tiki drinks are such a fascinating thing to study between the cultural appropriation and the overall insane storytelling lifestyle that was Vic Bergeron.
Thank you for making this video, and for being an incredible historian.
But, is it cultural appropriation if the drinks are of entirely new recipe?
Just because it uses flavors or inspiration from a culture doesn't mean they were appropriated.
Otherwise you would have to say anything that uses potatoes, corn, or tomatoes in their recipes is culturally appropriated from the Americas.
Or anything showcasing the complexity of ginger or the versatility of rice being culturally appropriated from Asia.
@@DH-xw6jp I was referring less to the drink itself and more to the overall falsehoods of what Tiki bars represented - and in particular the fantasy lands Donn Beach and Trader Vic passed off as Polynesian culture. :)
@@SquarePegs but you specifically said "tiki _drinks"_ was fascinating to study, not tiki bars.
@@DH-xw6jp Yes, let's get hung up in the semantics of it after I explained what I meant to say.
@@SquarePegs but that's just it.
I was responding to what you _actually said,_ not what you "meant" to say.
It was you that decided to move the goal posts.
I love this channel not only for the content, but also for the pronunciation of words. I've read about orgeat in many a historical romance but was pronouncing it all wrong. Thanks Max, I know you put in a lot of work to get words pronounced correctly and many thanks to Jose for the great closed captioning. Wish he worked for whoever the cc for UTube, especially the British, they ones are awful.