Month: January 2020

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Kon-Tiki Expedition Summary

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Kon-Tiki Expedition Summary 100 rums in 28 visits. 3.57 per visit* First rum December 12, 2018 Last rum December 4, 2019 (357 days) First rum: Appleton 12 Last rum: Plantation OFTD Two of my favorites! Standout Rums: Banks Five Island, Cadenhead’s Classic, Clarin Vaval, Denizen Merchant’s Reserve, Doctor Bird Jamaican, El Dorado 8, English Harbour 5 yr, Foursquare 2004 Bourbon Cask Finish, Hamilton Demerara 86, Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black, Hamilton New York Blend (West Indies 1670 Blend), Hamilton St. Lucia 7 yr, Island Distillers Okelehao, Novo Fogo Tanager Cachaca, Old Harbor Barrelflag Navy Strength, Pampero Anniversario, Plantation Jamaica 2002, Plantation Stiggins Fancy Pineapple, Pusser’s Gunpowder Strength, Real McCoy 5 year, Rhum JM XO, Richland Georgia, Rum Fire, Saint Benevolence 5 yr, Skipper, Smith & Cross. And three wildcard rums: Veller Hampden 2011, Velier Worthy Park, Cane Land/Three Rolls White Rum. This is actually a fairly wide list of rums, with an obvious lean to the English-style rum countries (Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana). I did come to appreciate the Agricole style more over the course of the Expedition, though it’s still not my favorite. Note (*): there were a few visits that coincided with rum producers offering tastings (Hamilton Rum, pictured). So, I was able to check a bunch off in one night (for free!) without having to consume the full 1.5 oz pour. For completing the Expedition, you get a custom glaze of Kon-Tiki’s fanciful and incredibly large mug, designed by Woody Miller. This brown glaze was the first choice of both myself and Mrs. Mai Tai. You also get a plaque with your name. This turned out great for this particular Mai Tai enthusiast. It’s now on display. I’d encourage anyone interested in learning more about rum to take the Kon-Tiki Expedition. A great selection and no super expensive pours on the list. The Kon-Tiki bartenders were quite helpful throughout the process as well, indicating where certain rums were best to be tasted neat vs. in a daiquiri, and helping with some wildcard picks. #tiki #tikibar #tikidrinks #tikiculture #tropicaldrinks #craftcocktails #rum #rhum #maitai #1944maitai #oakland

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More Yacht-Rock Menu Cocktails

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Fun times at Kon-Tiki

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New Site Feature: Orgeat

Orgeat is one of the cornerstone ingredients in a Mai Tai, so we’ve added a page that talks about what it is, how it’s used in a Mai Tai, how to make your own, or the best brands to purchase.

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BG Reynolds Orgeat and Latitude 29 Formula Orgeat
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Fab Drinks in San Jose

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New Site Feature: Tiki Travels – San Francisco Bay Area

We’ve added a new page to the Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai website: Tiki Travels – San Francisco Bay Area.

Home to the largest concentration of tiki bars anywhere in the world, our Tiki Travels page covers all 20 tiki bars in the San Francisco Bay Area. We have location info, touring tips, and photos. We also rate these destinations on a number of categories, so you can choose which ones to prioritize on your visits to the area.

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Tiki Travels – San Francisco Bay Area

Kevin Crossman at Trader Vic's
Having a Mai Tai at Trader Vic’s in Emeryville
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Mai Tai in Pop Culture: “Mai Tai Break” by L’Exotighost

We discovered a new exotica band from Spain called L’Exotighost who put out an EP last year called La Ola Oculta. There are a number of interesting songs here, including “Cha Cha Challoween” that includes the classic theme from the movie Halloween.

Here’s a list of the band members: Theremin & Güiro (Javier Díez Ena), Drums & congas (Ricardo Moreno), Marimba (María Arranz Fernández y Vera Garrido), Bass Ukulele (Juan Pérez Marina) Audio manipularion of birds and theremin sound (Jav Álvarez). 

The La Ola Oculta EP is available in a number of services including the music streaming services and also iTunes.

The band put together an entertaining video for their single, “Mai Tai Break.” This song has the Theremin as the lead instrument, and it’s quite effective on this track. We’ll also note that they’re being served a traditional 1944 Mai Tai made with Appleton Rum, so somebody really knows what they’re doing.

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New Site Feature: Tiki Travels – Honolulu

We’ve added a new page to the Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai website: Tiki Travels – Honolulu.

Most of our Tiki Travels pages will be exclusively focusing on Tiki Bars. However, since Hawaii is also a great Mai Tai destination, many of the places we visited weren’t tiki at all. Nonetheless we had some great Mai Tais, including our favorite on Waikiki at the Halekulani Hotel.

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Tiki Travels – Honolulu

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New Site Feature: Palm Springs Tiki Bars

We’ve added a new page to the Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai website: Tiki Travels – Palm Springs.

If you’re looking for a tiki destination, Palm Springs has a little bit of everything, and the four tiki bars are all in close proximity. Each place has their own charms and good reasons to visit, and so your preference might depend on your taste, which aspects of the venue are most important, the location, or even some small details.

Each bar is located within a four mile stretch of Palm Canyon Drive.

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Tiki Travels – Palm Springs

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Choose the Right Ingredients

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Choose the Right Ingredients Two examples from the Ultimate Mai Tai cocktail lab on Friday night. First is a Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail, a Daiquiri variant featuring rum from Barbados along with that rum’s best friend, Falernum. I made this a few months ago with the John D. Taylor Falernum and my fasting note was that it needed to be a little sweeter and a little less on the ginger/spice notes from the Falernum. Which would have meant going from 1/2 oz Falernum to 1/4 oz Falernum and 1/4 oz Simple Syrup. Or I could just use a different, sweeter Falernum. Thanks to fellow Bay Area Tikiphile @laurasmurphy I had a little bit of her delicious homemade Falernum. This is sweeter and doesn’t hit the spice notes quite as hard and boy did it make this cocktail sing. The recipe called for Mount Gay Eclipse but I only have the longer aged Mount Gay XO and it was a really nice cocktail. Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail 2 oz Barbados Rum 1 oz Lime Juice .5 oz Cointreau .5 oz Falernum Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Second, I tried the Small Hand Foods' Orgeat again. I had obtained this as a backup Orgeat for a game night we hosted and then didn’t need to use it. So, here it goes again into testing against my standard Fremont Mai Tai recipe. And once again I felt the almond flavor was lost in the cocktail compared to other Orgeats, and it has more of a floral flavor than what I prefer. It also requires constant shaking to keep the contents mixed properly. That’s too much work for me; if I’m going to buy a commercial orgeat it’s because I want things to be simple and easy. #tiki #tikibar #tikidrinks #tikiculture #cocktails #craftcocktails #rum #rhum #maitai #1944maitai #falernum @mountgayrum @cointreau

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