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Grilling the pineapple adds a delicious, slightly smoky flavor to this tropical cocktail.  Grilled Pineapple Mai Tai is slightly sweet, slightly smoky, and oh so delicious.

It’s #BBQWeek y’all!! Since Memorial Day is the unofficial first day of summer and grilling season, Family Around the Table and I gathered some bloggers together to inspire you. There’s 22 bloggers sharing over 80 recipes this week. From cocktails to desserts, we’ve got your covered for all your backyard party needs!

Last February we flew out to Maui to spend a week with Mom. We’d never been there before and a visit was past due. They moved out here YEARS ago and for work related reasons it wasn’t easy for the two of us to get a week and a half off.

Since we planned on spending a whole week there, we needed over a week a half off. The best way to go and not be completely useless is to top on the west coast. Which is what we did. We stopped in Seattle and spent the day with the hubs’ half sister and her family.

We had never met those kids before so it was super fun and exciting for all of us. Of course, I’m sure the hubs will roll his eyes when if he sees this. He became the favorite jungle gym for those rambunctious kids. For the most part they’re great kids. I think some of their issues stem from their father. At least that’s my opinion. But that’s a whole other post.

When it was finally bed time on the west coast it was well over midnight for us. And we are morning people, remember? I was DYING and passed out when we finally went to bed. We got up the next morning and spent as much time with them as we could before our flight to Maui. Which is a 6 hour flight.

Remember that okay?

We get on the plane in the early evening. Which means we didn’t land in Maui until our bodies thought it was midnight or like 4 am the next day whichever way you want to look at it. It was such a relief to finally land and be with Mom and A I may have shed a tear or 7. For it to take at least 2 days to get to her, it’s not an easy to thing to deal with. Even phone calls have to be pseudo planned.

 

Anyway.

Yes, I’m getting to the Mai Tai which by now I’m sure you know where they’re coming from. The Mai Tai seems to be the unofficial drink of Hawaii. Or maybe it’s the official drink at this point? Who knows. However, it didn’t start there. Yes, here comes the history lesson.

One theory says that Victor J Bergeron, who was famous for his Trader Vic restaurants, invented the Mai Tai. He whipped up this cocktail to highlight a Jamaican rum. He served it to some Tahitians who declared, “Maita’i roa a’e!” That means “Out of this world! The Best!” in Tahitian. From then on Trader Vic called it the Mai Tai or The Best! Rumor has it the Mai Tai was so popular it depleted rum supplies in the 40’s and 50’s.

There’s always drama with popular recipes. A man by the name of Donn “Don the Beachcomber” Beach claims Vic used his infamous punch for this Mai Tai. However, the punch, called the QB Cooler, has way more ingredients.

So, there’s that.

How did it get to Hawaii? Well, that happened in the mid 50’s. Matson Steamship Lines hired Vic to head their cocktail menus for the bars at their hotels. After playing around with the flavors, Bergeron added the pineapple and orange juices to the now popular Mai Tai recipe. He created this version for the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki.

 

This version of the Mai Tai spread like wildfire.

And no Hawaiian island vacation is complete without drinking at least one. Of course, we did more than that. I think we had Mai Tais at every place we ate for lunch and or dinner. We even had them on the boat for whale watching. You can’t have a meal out without seeing them on the menu. That’s for sure.

For us, the best was the restaurant up the street from Mom and A. They had a happy hour that started at 10 am. And they had $3 Mai Tais on their happy hour menu. Guess we found ourselves a few time on that trip? So, if you’re in Maui, you need to check out the happy hour at Ohana Seafood Bar & Grill on S Kihei Road. And try the calamari. It’s pretty good!

 

This is far from a traditional Mai Tai recipe.

The original Mai Tai recipe has rum, lime juice, orange curaçao, and orgeat. Orange curaçao being an orange flavored liquor and orgeat being a simple syrup made with almonds, sugar, and rose water. Maybe one of these days I’ll make the traditional recipe, but not today.

Today I’m sharing this grilled pineapple mai tai recipe. All those mai tais I had in Maui inspired the pineapple part of the mai tai. It was one flavor that was prevalent in most the mai tais I had there. The grilled part? I wondered what it would taste like to add a little smoky flavor to the pineapple part of the mai tai. A little touch of smoky flavor to the cocktail.

 

So, I grilled some pineapple.

You can see the flecks of the grilled parts in the puree. Those little flecks of char add a hint of smoky flavor to this mai tai. I haven’t had a cocktail come together as well as I had hoped since the Lightning Lavender Margarita. And not even then. Because, to be honest, that drink came out MUCH better than I had even hoped. This one turned out just like I had hoped. If that makes sense.

Now, some of the mai tais we had in Maui were sweeter than I like. Sometimes they can be sickeningly sweet, from what I’ve read. But this recipe is not super sweet. It has just the right amount of sweetness from the amaretto and the pineapple juice. The grenadine is more for color at the bottom of the glass and not for real sweetness.

 

Is a mai tai sweet?

Now, some of the mai tais we had in Maui were sweeter than I like. Sometimes they can be sickeningly sweet, from what I’ve read. But this recipe is not super sweet. It has just the right amount of sweetness from the amaretto and the pineapple juice. The grenadine is more for color at the bottom of the glass and not for real sweetness.

It’s the combination of those little bits of sweet combined with some fresh lime juice. That’s what makes my grilled pineapple mai tai perfect for barbecue parties. Not to mention the fact that you can easily whip up a large batch of these to take to your summer parties.

Even the pineapple puree makes PLENTY for lots of drinks this grilling season. One average size pineapple makes enough puree for probably 10 or 15 parties. Mine was about 9 inches tall and about as big around as a softball. So, not huge at all. When I cored, peeled, and sliced it up, I had 8 or so 1/2 inch thick slices. This, combined with 6 ounces of pineapple juice, made 2 to 3 cups of grilled pineapple puree.

 

What’s not to love about layers of delicious cocktail flavors?

Combine that with easy to find alcohol and you’ve got a great go to recipe for summer backyard parties.

Doesn’t that just look simply tropical? Sitting poolside with some ribs on the grill or even some Hawaiian kabobs on there. Grass skirts and a luau theme would make it even more perfect. Or not. These mai tais are perfect with any party and anything cooked on a grill.

Have you had a mai tai in Hawaii? What’s your favorite cocktail for barbecues?

   

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