The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai
Traveling the Bay Area and beyond to find the best Mai Tai in the world! Tiki, cocktails, and adventures by Kevin Crossman
Have you got a case of the Mondays? Improve your spirit on #MaiTaiMonday by making a Blue Hawai-Tai, the love child of the Mai Tai and the Blue Hawaii cocktails.
Blue Hawai-Tai by Kevin Crossman
1 oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Orgeat
½ oz Simple Syrup
½ oz Blue Curacao
1 oz White Overproof Jamaican (Rum Fire)
½ oz Aged White Rum (Probitas)
I got to taste several of the Monymusk rums recently and decided to pick up a bottle of this blended rum with a minimum age of 10 years. Only about $35, though this isn’t as widely available as Appleton or Myers’s.
But it is worth seeking out as it has a delicious rich flavor with a hint of spice and only a hint of Jamaican funk. At 40% ABV it is designed for easy sipping or as a mixer in cocktails. This is more akin to Appleton 12 than Smith & Cross, and makes a delicious Mai Tai or Planter’s Punch.
Another fabulous night of cocktails at The Kon-Tiki.
I’m still working on my DIY checklist of all the cocktails on their third published menu, and thanks to Chris Day for going off the current menu and making a Sunken Tugboat. I really enjoyed this Daiquiri style cocktail with a hint of cinnamon. Meanwhile, Mrs. Mai Tai had her favorite, the Uma Uma. I also sampled a freshly prepared Kon-Tiki Mai Tai that was quite delightful and had a rich mouthfeel that I very much enjoyed.
Admittedly, this is not based on exhaustive research. But, I did find the Mai Tai at The Cellar in Fullerton to be quite wonderful.
After we bailed on traveling from Phoenix to Vegas, we hightailed it to a location with a marine breeze. After our jaunt to the Disneyland Hotel, we met up with one of Mrs. Mai Tai’s longtime friends at The Cellar in Fullerton. This cave-like experience was wonderful and significantly more condusive to conversations than the similarly themed Undertow from the previous night. Great cement “rock work” from Disneyland Imagineers circa 1969.
The cocktails at The Cellar were pretty good. The off-menu Mai Tai was rich and flavorful, with a thick mouthfeel. I also tried the Tropic Thunder, served in a gigantic barrel mug for two, though you can ask for a single serving (and a lot more ice). That one wasn’t quite as good but hid the bourbon base quite well behind passionfruit and banana. Mrs. Mai Tai enjoyed her cocktails as did her friends.
Food was expensive and small portioned, but service was outstanding.
When Mrs. Mai Tai and I were finished with lunch at Tangaroa Terrace, it was about 3:10 pm. The way that indoor seating at Trader Sam’s is working right now is that there’s a line that forms at the check-in station in from of the Terrace and that’s the order to get in. With Sam’s opening at 4:00 pm, there were only about five people in line, so I thought hey, I can wait this out for less than an hour while Mrs Mai Tai does some shopping in Downtown Disney. At around 3:30, the hostess starting taking names and party numbers, which allowed me to browse the Disneyland Hotel gift shop and also to go inside out of the sun.
Inside, it was the same Sam’s we’ve all grown to love. Everyone was so excited to be inside the immersive environment. So many things to look at, and we enjoyed the show offered when the Krakatoa Punch and Shipwreck on the Rocks were ordered. I noticed they still have a few additional rums on the shelf, so I ordered a Mai Tai with Hamilton 86 Demerara Rum. That was a pretty good Mai Tai (and they didn’t even charge me extra). Mrs. Mai Tai had the coconut-forward Piranha Pool and that frozen drink was a hit.
I even got to take the de rigueur Trader Sam’s Bathroom Selfie. So nice to be back.
Mrs Mai Tai and we’re supposed to end our road trip in Vegas overnight yesterday but the heat in Phoenix drew us both to the same conclusion that we aren’t used to 115+ degrees – so we went to Southern California instead.
We landed in Anaheim at around 2:30 and thought we’d give the Tangaroa Terrace a shot for lunch. Thankfully there were a few tables largely in the shade so we had lunch and drinks.
My Mai Tai was made with simple syrup rather than the standard agave syrup, per request. This is a big improvement for me, and it was fantastic. Julie had the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum which is her fave there.
So relaxing out on the patio terrace. It was a beautiful day to be outside.
Had a great time at Undertow in Phoenix last night with our tour guide @thetikiboss. I always say, if you can go with a local, do it. Thanks for coming out and showing us the ropes, Ross.
Such an immersive space inside, though we found the sound effects and music to be louder than they could be. But, the decor including some neat special effects really made up for it. Nautical, obviously, but still plenty of tikis.
The cocktails prepared by @ashley.elizabitch and @r_sic were outstanding, as was the service. The Mai Tai was quite excellent with a nutty flavor and balanced set of rums. We loved the other cocktails too.
It is always nice when the hype is met. Certainly was the case at Undertow.
