A common misconception about tropical drinks is the notion that they’re “girly.” While they do tend to be sweet and flamboyant, many of the best Tiki cocktails – especially those at The Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale – are powerfully potent and worthy of any serious drinker, male or female, wahine or kane.
Ordered after dinner, the Wahine Delight arrives dusted with powdered sugar and presented as a desert course. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward, January 2013)
One possible exception is the Wahine Delight, an after-dinner drink most likely aimed at the fairer sex. It’s actually not too cloyingly sweet, a well-balanced and distinctive frozen daiquiri that goes light on the alcohol. Men may even appreciate it, especially as a follow-up to one of the restaurant’s spicy entrees or flaming deserts.
But it’s definitely designed as a lighter alternative to the Zombie and the Jet Pilot and the many other more masculine drinks on the menu.
This is not surprising when you consider the cocktail’s ancestry. The Wahine Delight was originally called the Missionary’s Doom and appeared on the opening day menu in 1956-57. It’s Mariano Licudine’s version of a Don the Beachcomber classic aimed at the fairer sex, the sweet and minty Missionary’s Downfall.
When you think of the Mint Julep, you immediately think of the Kentucky Derby. In 1959, when the organizers of the $100,000 Florida Derby sought a similar drink to promote their race, they turned to The Mai-Kai.
The Derby Daiquiri in a vintage glass with its signature coaster. (Photo by Tim “Swanky” Glazner)
The Derby Daiquiri, created by legendary mixologist Mariano Licudine, became the race’s official drink. The Florida Derby, which began in 1952, is still run today every spring at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale with a purse now set at $1 million. Winners usually go on to compete in the Kentucky Derby.
The Derby Daiquiri immediately gave the race and The Mai-Kai a huge publicity boost. It was championed by Rums of Puerto Rico in countless national ad campaigns and was featured as Esquire magazine’s drink of the month.
When New York’s Cue magazine printed the recipe, restaurants all over Manhattan started serving the “$100,000 drink,” Jeff “Beachbum” Berry wrote in the chapter on Licudine and The Mai-Kai in his 2007 book, Sippin’ Safari. The lounge at the Newark, N.J., airport served the drink to vacationers departing for Fort Lauderdale.
The Mai-Kai’s founding co-owner, Bob Thornton, shows off the Derby Daiquiri. (Photos courtesy of Tim Glazner, SwankPad.org)
Not to be outdone, Berry wrote, Mai-Kai owners Jack and Bob Thornton sent a portable Tiki bar to the Fort Lauderdale airport, where Licudine himself served his creation to arriving passengers. In his thatch-roofed “goodwill wagon,” Licudine also met VIP arrivals at train stations and cruise ship docks, in the process becoming something of a local hero, Berry wrote.
The drink’s first menu sightings were on the 1959 Molokai bar menu and main drink menu. A certificate issued by Rums of Puerto Rico (see below) officially registered the drink on Aug. 1, 1958.
In 1958, Mariano Licudine created the Derby Daiquiri, one of the most celebrated drinks of the mid-century tropical cocktail boom.
The 1957 menu does not include the Derby. Instead, you’ll find the Cuban Daiquiri, The Mai-Kai’s take on the classic that dates back to the town of the same name in the late 1800s. But with that island’s political troubles, it made sense to remove it. The timing of the Derby Daiquiri was perfect as a replacement.
Curiously, the only other menu changes around this time involved Daiquiris: the Special Daiquiri was renamed the Special Reserve Daiquiri and the Floridita Daiquiri was introduced. But the Derby was the clear favorite out of the gate.
