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Rhum Tavern: London’s Best Rum Selection

Staying in Soho, we got to try a bunch of new cocktail bars that we hadn’t visited before in London. One of these was Rhum Tavern, located just off Oxford and Regent Streets. Rum/Rhum/Ron is a focus with many rare and interesting bottles on display throughout the venue (do not steal!) and the decor decidedly nautical with pirate touches.

The cocktail menu is varied and does include non-rum cocktails including a few classics such as a Paloma and Espresso Martini. Seeing that this is a rum bar, I asked the server if they could make the world’s best rum cocktail, but they told me that they don’t have orgeat and the owner specifically doesn’t want to do tiki drinks.

So, I ended up doing the rum old fashioned with Worthy Park Estate rum from Jamaica, super tasty. I also killed the last little bit of a bottle of Port Mourant 10 year from Guyana, and had we not been drinking already that day I likely would have explored more of the variety of rums that Rhum Tavern offers. Mrs Mai Tai’s drink came in a little glass held by an octopus. There are limited food options here, but we had a pretty good charcuterie and cheese tray.

I understand the desire for some venues to not be associated with “tiki”, though a pirate bar doesn’t seem like a substantially more sophisticated genre if you’re asking me. Nonetheless, we did enjoy our visit and the ambiance of Rhum Tavern and would return again for the good cocktails and great rum selection of over 300 rums.

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New Menu at Dr. Funk Features Fan-Favorite Cloud Over Kona

You’d expect a World Cup hangover at San Pedro Square, but the crew at Dr. Funk aren’t waiting to launch an updated cocktail menu for the first time in a just over a year. The new menu contains a number of new original cocktails that build on the foundation of exotic classics and are embracing newer cocktail trends. The food menu has not changed, for now.

We visited twice this week to check out the new items and found them to all be well worth checking out the next time you’re in downtown San Jose, with one that’s a clear frontrunner for fan-favorite. The Funky Grog, Mai Tai, Dr. Funk, Espresso Oasis, Shipwreck, and Lychee Luau are heavy-hitters that remain from the previous menu.

Clockwise: Scarlet Macaw, Chartreuse Swizzle, Cloud Over Kona, East Meets Funk

I was interested to try the Chartreuse Swizzle, a modern classic that previously graced Dr. Funk menus in the past. The team has been stockpiling the rare Green Chartreuse and apparently have enough to put this amazing tropical cocktail back on the menu. It’s great! Dr. Funk is also adding another classic with their floral Pearl Diver that I thought was rich and sweet in the best way.

The standout new entry is Cloud Over Kona, a milk-washed blend of coffee and chocolate flavors with a rum-spiked macadamia foam. This drink was basically everyone’s favorite, so smooth, velvety, and rich with Hawaiian flavors.

Scarlet Macaw is a fruity tropical drink with plenty of nice tasting grenadine working with spices and Jamaican rum in the background. It’s not as sweet as you’d expect and isn’t too funky for those who don’t always like Jamaican rum.

Speaking of Jamaican rum, East Meets Funk is an elevated Eastern Sour with Rye and falernum, topped with a Worthy Park 109 Jamaican rum float. The balance of flavors is spot on, though you have to get past that rum float first. I’d suggest asking for a straw to use to drink from the bottom or to gently incorporate the smoky and funky rum into the blend.

There’s also a new Mai Tai glass that’s moderately priced when you purchase it with Dr. Funk’s still world-class Mai Tai

Pearl Diver and Dr. Funk Mai Tai
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Best York Cocktails at Life on Mars

While walking the city of York we stumbled upon the charming Life on Mars, a bar that serves dumplings, coffee, and cocktails. The interesting part is that this business is located in one of the bridge lodges on the Lendal Bridge. The venue has a main seating area, plus a semi-private room adjacent to the staircase, and a small outdoor seating area nearer to the river. We were so intrigued we stopped in and are so glad because the cocktails here are amazing thanks to jumpsuit-clad owner Ross Woodford who had opened a previous Life on Mars concept when he lived in China.

These Hips Don’t Lie

We sat at the bar where Woodford and crew were preparing drinks and totally enjoyed the David Bowie touches in the decor, plus eclectic music playing. The cocktails lean on Chinese flavors such as the plum wine that’s paired with scotch in the outstanding highball Big in Japan. Woodford previously participated in Ti’ Punch cocktail competitions, so the Quiet Moment that includes Rhum Agricole was an interest of me. This outstanding drink includes Clement Blanc Rhum, rhubarb liqueur, caramel and vanilla syrup, plus lime.

Mrs. Mai Tai ordered These Hips Don’t Lie, a complex cocktail with Sichuan-inspired Peddlers Salted Plum Gin, amaro, lemon, and rosehip syrup – appropriate given that the symbol of Yorkshire is the white rose. This cocktail was amazing and encapsulates what Life on Mars is doing in the city of York: local focus combined with flavors from across the world.

Quiet Moment

York was a special highlight of our trip to the British Isles and we’re so glad we found Life on Mars which offers such an amazing and unique experience, with the highest quality cocktails in the city as well.

These Hips Don’t Lie / Big in Japan
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Black Tot Day

We would be remiss without wishing everyone a wonderful Black Tot Day, celebrating the date in 1970 when the Royal Navy ended the daily rum ration.

The lore of Black Tot Day is really a great way to celebrate great rum still made today in the style of the British Navy, thanks to great brands including Pusser’s, Wood’s, and Planteray that are producing rums that pay homage to vintage rum. We’ll be having a dram of Black Tot Rum to celebrate.

This also offers the opportunity to thank Black Tot Rum’s Mitch Wilson for his amazing work as a brand ambassador for the last six years. That’s a photo of Mitch and me from SF Rum Fest a couple years ago, and I was fortunate to be paired with Mitch for a presentation at last year’s Rum Congress. Mitch’s knowledge and enthusiasm for the rum category is truly outstanding and he is so good with large crowds or even just 1:1 at an event table.

Mitch is leaving Black Tot as of today and taking on a new role in the industry, so we salute Mitch and wish him the best in the new role. I’m sure Mitch will be doing great things, so stay tuned.

At the end of his presentations Mitch would lead the attendees in this toast that remains very meaningful to me to this day.

There are tall ships,
And there are small ships,
And there are ships that sail the sea
But the best ships
Are friendships,
So here’s to you and me!

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Whitebox Mai Tai: Amazing Canned Cocktail in the U.K.

We ran across this Whitebox canned Mai Tai in York, England – and it interestingly bills itself as a “1944 Mai Tai” with rum, lime, orange curacao, and orgeat. The 100 ml can comes in at 23% ABV, putting it right where you want it to be for a nice single-serving Mai Tai.

And how’s the taste? Well, it’s actually really great – a very nice rummy body and orange and almond flavors you can taste. It actually came in handy when we’d been walking around all morning but the local tiki bar hadn’t opened yet, so we decided to have a Mai Tai in the hotel to cool off and take a break.

Whitebox is based in Edinburgh, Scotland, so it seems that distribution is just in the U.K. where single cans cost around £5.50. Check it out if you’re local or the next time you’re traveling and want to have a hotel Mai Tai like we did.

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Frankenstein Bar Edinburgh

As fans of gimmick bars, we gave the Frankenstein Bar and Bier Keller a shot during our recent trip to Edinburgh, arriving at around 9 pm on a Friday. The venue is located on George IV Bridge in a former Elim Pentecostal church, so there are plenty of authentic gothic vibes. The main bar features two levels and the first floor was fairly crowded but we found a nice booth upstairs overlooking the main floor, a screen playing the original 1931 Frankenstein movie, and a great view of where the monster would appear and come to life.

The menu is appropriately themed and leans toward the party crowd, but we choose The Monster cocktail made with Captain Morgan, dark rum, Crème de Banana, pineapple, grenadine, and Wray & Nephew shot/float. Mrs. Mai Tai didn’t really like this but I thought it was okay especially after incorporating the overproof Jamaican rum into the glass.

Soon the dance music stopped and the lights dimmed in anticipation of the arrival of the monster. Fog and lighting effects are accompanied by cinematic music as the monster is wheeled out and then lowered from the ceiling before rising to look at the crowd. It’s a pretty good bit of fun, though as the monster lays back down the dance music started back up before he was properly stowed away for the next show, which broke the mood.

Frankenstein Bar was about what we expected, a nice fun diversion that could be fun with friends or just to try something different.

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The Tiki Bar Glasgow

Upon arriving in town we made a beeline for The Tiki Bar Glasgow for some drinks and treats. The space occupies the basement level including a well-appointed beer garden featuring numerous Moai (and TVs for sports). Inside there are a variety of tikis and artwork, tons of bamboo and matting, plus a nice set of floats on the ceiling. There are just two seats at the bar and all orders are taken at the bar, so it can get a little crowded there. Upstairs in a tropically themed augmented reality Darts Den.

Darts Den upstairs

Our drinks were generally good here, including a very nice Mai Tai floated with dark rum and came with a lime wedge garnish. The drinks here leaned sweet, though the nice thing about a lime wedge compared to a wheel is that if you want it less sweet you can squeeze some lime juice into your drink – which worked out really well in this Mai Tai. The 1950s-style Zombie includes pineapple juice and was just okay.

Mrs. Mai Tai did better with here two drinks including the Beach Bum that was topped with candy floss (cotton candy), leaning light with vodka and pomegranate. Even better was her half frozen Cherry Cuba Libre that was really great in this format and using a spiced rum to great effect.

We’d heard that Glasgow is famous for fried Mars bars and we can confirm they are amazing, served with vanilla ice cream, but this was the only food we ordered. A variety of locally made mugs are also available, plus drink specials Sunday-Thursday. The back bar featuring a nice set of sipping rums if that’s your thing.

Hardcore tiki fans will find faults with Tiki Bar, but we thought that they are doing a lot of things right in a market where pubs are king. The service was friendly and the drinks and decor were perfectly good for scratching the tiki itch and getting the locals acquainted to the genre.

Mai Tai, Zombie, Beach Bum, Cherry Cuba Libre