Rum

Tahitian Breeze

Name: Tahitian Breeze
Yield: 1 servings

Glass: Stemmed Tiki Glass

Mai-Kai descendant of Donn Beach's Tahitian Rum Punch, a banana-vanilla, passion-and-guava blender drink threaded with falernum.

rum tiki mid-century polynesian-pop blended passion-fruit tropical

Ingredients

rich honey mix (0.75 oz)
fresh lime juice (0.5 oz)
fresh passion-fruit juice (1 oz)
guava juice (0.75 oz)
falernum (0.125 oz)
fassionola (0.25 oz)
vanilla extract (4 drops)
Angostura bitters (2 dash)
crème de banana (0.25 oz)
light Virgin Islands rum (1.5 oz)
gold Jamaican rum (0.5 oz)
crushed ice (0.5 cup)
mint sprig (1)

Mariano Licudine started behind Donn Beach's Hollywood bar in 1939 and spent sixteen years at the Chicago Don the Beachcomber before opening The Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale in 1956, and the Tahitian Breeze is a direct extension of that lineage.¹ The drink reads as Licudine's amalgam of two Donn iterations of the Tahitian Rum Punch (the original c. 1934 build, and a later honey-passion variant), threaded with crème de banana, vanilla extract, and the Mai-Kai's signature fassionola for color.² The Atomic Grog's tribute spec is the most-cited public reconstruction.³

Brand recommendations. Best: Cruzan Aged Light for the light Virgin Islands rum (the canonical Mai-Kai light); Appleton Estate 8 for the gold Jamaican; Tempus Fugit or Giffard Banane du Brésil for the crème de banana; B.G. Reynolds or Small Hand Foods honey syrup; B.G. Reynolds passion-fruit syrup; John D. Taylor's Velvet Falernum; Jelly Rancher fassionola or B.G. Reynolds fassionola; pure Madagascar vanilla extract. Economical: Cruzan Aged Light is already the value pour; Appleton Estate Signature for the Jamaican; DeKuyper crème de banana; homemade 2:1 honey-mix; Liber & Co. fassionola.

Instructions

First make rich honey mix by stirring together two parts honey with one part hot water; cool. In a blender combine fresh lime juice, fresh passion-fruit juice, guava juice, rich honey mix, falernum, fassionola, vanilla extract, Angostura bitters, crème de banana, light Virgin Islands rum, gold Jamaican rum, and crushed ice.
Flash-blend on high for .
Pour unstrained into a chilled stemmed tiki glass pre-frosted with an ice shell.
Garnish with a mint sprig.

Sources

Glazner, Mai-Kai (2016), Licudine biographical chapters, documents Mariano Licudine's 1939 Hollywood Don the Beachcomber start, his sixteen years at the Chicago Don the Beachcomber, and the 1956 opening of the Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale. ↩
Berry, Sippin' Safari (2017 ed.), Donn Beach Tahitian Rum Punch entries, documents the c. 1934 original Tahitian Rum Punch and the later honey-passion variant; the Tahitian Breeze reads as Licudine's amalgam of these two Donn iterations carried into the Mai-Kai house style. ↩
Hurricane Hayward, "Tasty Tahitian Breeze." Atomic Grog, 19 May 2012. https://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2012/05/19/mai-kai-cocktail-review-tasty-tahitian-breeze-is-packed-with-tropical-flavors-history/ (accessed 2026-05-03), the canonical Atomic Grog tribute reconstruction; the actual Mai-Kai recipe is closed and this is the most-cited public spec. ↩