Get your tickets now for a special Mai Tai seminar and cocktail tasting at Napa’s leading cocktail bar, The Fink. The event starts at 2:30 pm on Sunday, May 3 and includes a seminar about the Mai Tai plus three variations on the cocktail including the Ultimate Mai Tai.
You can look forward to an informative and humorous presentation describing the hunt for the ultimate Mai Tai. You’ll enjoy delicious variations on this classic cocktail while discovering newly uncovered historical details, best and worst Mai Tais, and how to get the perfect Mai Tai at your local watering hole. Advice and lessons for the home bartender will be provided, plus plenty of eye candy and Q&A.
Mai Tai media week continues with another new video to watch this weekend.
Those looking for a deeper dive into the Mai Tai will likely enjoy the new episode of Tiki with Ray’s “My Favorite Mai Tai” video series. We sat down with Ray and Pete from Bamboo & Bitters to discuss the Mai Tai’s ingredients, lore, and personal preferences.
The Mai Tai is very special to many people, including myself of course. But those who are paying close attention should note in this video how many times I chose not to gatekeep the drink or specific ingredients. I know what I like in a Mai Tai, and I’ll talk about things you should be thinking about when making one at home or ordering one at a bar. But I pass no judgement if you prefer it this way or that way. It’s your Tai, not my Tai.
Thanks to Ray for driving a great discussion into this cocktail and to Pete for having us over at his amazing basement bar, The Fo’c’sle.
Look who we found on the way to Zombie Village, the original Tiki Bob at the corner of Post and Taylor. He looks freshly painted and the current building occupant Honey Honey recently embraced Bob’s color scheme by changing from green to brown.
This was the original home of Tiki Bob’s, opened in 1955 when a disgruntled Trader Vic’s bartender opened his own place a block away from his former boss. This location closed in 1983. A second Tiki Bob’s location opened in the building that currently houses Pagan Idol during the 1960s.
Trader Vic’s Emeryville hosted a special showing of a deleted scene from the acclaimed The Donn of Tiki documentary, highlighting archival footage of Trader Vic plus commentary about Vic from luminaries and experts. The showing followed a screening of The Donn of Tiki film nearby, plus the Mai Tai Lounge being open on a Tuesday as part of the Hinky Dinks Speakeasy that Vic’s has been running for a couple months.
Having seen the film before, we skipped the showing of the film and spent time in the lounge (we did buy tickets for the film, though). We enjoyed our past visit to the Hinky Dinks Speakeasy, previously held in the intimate Lanyu Room. This week the Tuesday speakeasy was hosted in the larger Mai Tai Lounge space, featuring a cocktail menu of Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic’s favorites plus some small bites. Music as always was pitch perfect 1940s era music from DJ Speakeasy Ray, who even showed us some rare vintage relics in his collection.
I really enjoyed the Three Dots & a Dash that used Kuleana Hawaiian Rum Agricole in place of the Martinique rhum that is normally used and I also liked the Shark’s Tooth that was light and refreshing, though Mrs. Mai Tai wasn’t a fan. I appreciated the inclusion of the Mai Tai on this special menu (reminder to you know who about who invented it), but we went with the Scorpion instead. The Scorpion can sometimes be too tart, but it was in balance on this visit.
Scorpion
As the filmgoers returned from the movie, the bar filled with people trying to get one final cocktail and then we were ushered into the Lanyu Room to watch the ten-minute deleted scene. If you’ve seen The Donn of Tiki film, you wouldn’t be surprised that the discussion of Trader Vic featured notables such as Eve Bergeron, Marie King, and Tim Glazner. There was also some archival footage of an elderly Trader Vic reminiscing about his career. This was such a treat, informative and entertaining.
We also spoke with Donn of Tiki director Max Well about plans for the VOD home video and Blu-Ray release of this incredible documentary, to be released very soon.
The newish YouTube channel Bamboo & Bitters welcomed me to The Fo’c’sle, the home bar and lounge of Pete and Andrea who serve as the hosts and producers of the channel. The channel covers a wide variety of tiki-related topics including cocktails, events, and spirits.
For the latest episode dropping today, I was the guest and made an Ultimate Mai Tai with Pete. We discussed the background on my version of Vic’s most famous cocktail and Mai Tais in general. Pete’s interest and enthusiasm is infectious and we had a blast hanging out in their fun basement lounge.
After experiencing a blackout during our visit last year, Ray and I tempted fate by returning the McMenamins Anderson School / North Short Lagoon complex in Bothell and having dinner and drinks upstairs in Nui Nui. The restaurant sits above the indoor swimming pool and there are Polynesian touches throughout the grounds. The plethora of Polynesian artwork here is staggering, there’s so much to look at.
Seating was basically open and we were treated to some friendly waitress sass from Natasha who remembered Ray from a visit years ago. Ray went with the “kiddie colada” sans booze, but I went in a different direction with the rum-forward Fashionably Tiki that’s a really nice Rum Old Fashioned style cocktail. Our meal with the Loco Moco and the Mai Thai Steak Salad featured large portions and was well-prepared.
I haven’t loved the Mai Tai at the McMenamins tiki bars, and haven’t really explored the cocktail menu in a lot of depth, so this is my caveat for people who prioritize cocktails with their decisions about whether or not to visit a tiki bar – the drinks may not be 1000% amazing. But given the unique qualities of the placemaking, decor, food, and service, I’d encourage tiki tourists to head north of Seattle to check out Nui Nui on their next trip to the area.
Business took me up north, offering a prime opportunity to visit The Jungle Bird, Sacramento’s leading tiki bar. The mid-town venue also has a $10 cocktail special on Time Travel Tuesdays, which this week was the Last Rites by Mariano Licudine from the Mai Kai. Even better for me was the opportunity to check out the newly revamped cocktail menu.
Last Rites
The menu embraces a variety of contemporary cocktail trends, including No ABV and Low ABV offerings. Some tiki classics like the Mai Tai and Saturn are available and there’s even a flight of boozy Dole Whips to indulge in. The Jungle Bird has always done frozen cocktails and I do love a good Rum Runner so I started out with that cocktail. This delicious drink is made with a special house-made blackberry syrup and it’s really well balanced and not too sweet.
The Jungle Bird is embracing new ingredients and interesting preparation techniques, including a sesame-washed coconut rum and the inclusion of pandan and bourbon in the Spice Trader that’s really great good and is served in a cool mug.
Spice Trader
We did some bar bites during our visit, enjoying the potstickers. In the past we’ve had uneven quality at Jungle Bird, but those days seem like they’re far behind now as this is our second great experience in a row. It’s a credit to the team at Jungle Bird who’ve really ramped up their attention to detail and they provide a variety of cocktail options for tiki purists as well as the party crowd.
Thanks to Correy, Nav, and Alissa for coming out to provide a locals welcome, and to Mariella for great service and a steady hand at helping to make the Jungle Bird a destination location once again.
