Citrus Experimentation

A little comparison testing at Ultimate Mai Tai HQ. I compared the following juices: White Grapefruit (bottled), Red Grapefruit (fresh), and Pomello (fresh).

To compare the juices I made three Brown Derby cocktails.

Brown Derby
1 oz Juice
¾ oz Honey Syrup (BG Reynolds)
1½ oz Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon
½ oz Makers Mark Bourbon
Shake with ice and then strain

The cocktail is delightful and for us a nice change of pace from the rum drinks that we normally make.


Both Mrs. Mai Tai and I preferred the Brown Derby with the Red Grapefruit, as it seemed brighter and sweeter. Which is odd because tasting the juice just by itself I felt it was more tart than the Pomello. Meanwhile the Brown Derby with Pomello did have a noticeable tartness that was not particularly balanced. The White Grapefruit version was inoffensive but not really as flavorful as with the fresh squeezed juice. The bottled juice for sure doesn’t seem as good as fresh-squeezed.

The Pomello gives less juice than its size might indicate.

Hot Buttered Rum

Closing out the Holidays with this winter favorite, a to-go cocktail from Forbidden Island.

Hot alcoholic drinks aren’t really my cup of tea 😉 so I made mine with lukewarm water rather than piping hot. The Forbidden Island rum batter and dark rum is quite delicious.

First Mai Tai of 2021

Yesterday was sort of nice, so time to relax on the lanai with a to-go Mai Tai from The Kon-Tiki in Oakland. A good Mai Tai (I added extra Orgeat and fresh mint) and plenty boozy too.

Even better is this cute plastic stadium cup (Kon-Tiki also sells an orange one). Love the way the blue pops. The merch from Kon-Tki has always been so great. I love the design of their Mai Tai and Zombie glasses.

What’s missing? Well, I’d love to see a Kon-Tiki Swizzle Stick.

RIP 2020 from the Kon-Tiki

2020 sucked in so many ways. I had to cancel trips to New Orleans, Seattle/Tacoma, Portland, Southern California, and London/Dublin/Scotland. I missed visiting a bunch of great tiki bars, even local ones. After visiting 52 different tiki bars in 2019, I only got to 15 in 2020. But, at least our family stayed safe.



The East Bay tiki bars were my life-blood. In 2020 I patronized Trader Vic’s, The Kon-Tiki, and Forbidden Island at least once a month each. But my most visited tiki bar was The Kon-Tiki (same as 2019 and 2018). So we had to end the year on a high note with to-go drinks and their amazing cheeseburger.

I can’t wait to come and hang out indoor or even outdoors soon.

Best 9 of 2020

RIP 2020

Here’s my Top 9 from 2020 on Instagram. Thanks for all the likes and comments and shares. Let’s keep the Mai Tai, rum, and tiki bar discussions going in 2021.


1: thanks to Alexis Antonio (@atomictikigal) for letting me use her photo of Maikai Santa Cruz for a Central California Tiki Bar feature on UltimateMaiTai.com. Great composition.

2: An old photo with a timeless message: Fuck Trump

3: Smuggler’s Cove mug and Pampanito cocktail

4: Cocktails and rum at Forbidden Island

5: Mai Tai with Foursquare 2007

6: Trader Vic’s Emeryville

7: New and old Appleton 12 rum

8. Custom Navy Rum blend for Black Tot Day 50th Anniversary

9. Three generations of Appleton 12 rum

363 posts in 2020, with 30.9 thousand likes (85.1 per post)

Join the fun: instagram.com/ultimatemaitai