Happy 7th Instagramiversary to Me

The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai was relaunched on Instagram on this day in 2017, reviving the brand started way back in 1998. 2453 posts in total and 257 just this year, chronicling experiences with cocktails, connections with people in the community, and world’s leading feed of Mai Tai minutiae.

We had some great adventures in the last 12 months. A few are chronicled in the photos including some travels with Mrs Mai Tai to far off places such as London, Eastern Europe, Las Vegas, New Orleans, and San Diego. Locally, a sprained ankle did not derail the enjoyment of the Trader Vic’s 90th anniversary weekend in Emeryville including the Black Tai dinner. We participated in a bar crawl in San Francisco’s North Beach and I hosted Mai Tai Trivia in Oakland. Made it up north for a tiki weekend in Seattle including the inaugural Tiki Palooza event, and I did presentations for the Three Rum Club at Tiki Tom’s, a huge crowd at Tiki Oasis San Diego, and at the San Francisco Rum Congress with Cocktail Wonk.

I visited 42 different tiki bars in the last year, plus 7 home bars. We said hello to some new to us in Europe, including Trader Vic’s in Munich, Rumpus in Budapest, and Matiki in Vienna. I was featured on several episodes of the Make & Drink channel on YouTube, including a blind tasting of eight different single bottle Mai Tais. The Ultimate Mai Tai was featured on Spike’s Breezeway Cocktail Hour and remains on the menu at Tiki Tom’s. Thank you to so many folks in the industry who’ve shown what true hospitality is.

So, thanks to so many fellow Mai Tai fans I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with over the last year. I appreciate your follows, likes, and comments here and in real-life, including the discussion of very important topics such as tiki bar ratings criteria and whether it is okay to put pineapple juice in a Mai Tai (hint: it is). Here’s to another year.

Cheers!

Return to Boo Loo Lounge, Orinda’s Small but Stellar Tiki Bar

Had a great visit to the small but formidable Boo Loo Lounge, located in central Orinda adjacent to the Orinda Theater. I helped organize a meetup of the Patreon community members of the Make & Drink YouTube channel and we had a nice little group there in the afternoon on Saturday. Boo Loo remains such an interesting space due to its small size. A few of us opened the place to secure some seats for the meetup but we were followed by four other couples and this place was actually pretty much full right at opening. But an hour later it was just our group inside, perhaps due to the ebbs and flows of the movie theater attendees.

Boo Loo Lounge Mai Tai

I’m pleased to report the Mai Tai is once again pretty great here, after a past dalliance with the Hamilton Petite Canne Shrubb Orange Liqueur that imparted far too much of a grassy flavor from its Rhum Agricole base. I found the Mai Tai to be plenty rummy, thanks to the Jamaican and Demerara rums, but also very approachable for the casual visitor who might have never visited a tiki bar before. We also heard great things about the Zombie, said to be the best a few had ever tasted, and we thought the Lady of Singapore was a fruity and light cocktail that was very satisfying. The Ruby Daiquiri remains a stellar entry.

One of the guys in our meetup mentioned a rum from Alabama and I inquired with Boo Loo’s manager, Maxton Kennedy. He showed me the two expressions of Rum Trails rum they have, including a Tequila Cask which I didn’t love the taste of. But the Red Wine Cask was full of flavor, so much that it reminded me of rums from Jamaica. The Daiquiri I had with this rum was fantastic.

Maxton Kennedy

The interior remains immersive and cozy, with the music still on point as well. Maxton mentioned the cocktail menu is expanding soon, along with a new bar program feature that some folks will find very… intoxicating. Look for those announcements coming soon.

Miracle Holiday Pop-Up at The Fat Pigeon Livermore

We visited downtown Livermore for a visit to the Miracle holiday cocktail pop-up at The Fat Pigeon. In the year since they opened, the Fat Pigeon has hosted themed pop ups related to the Golden Girls and a witch theme for Halloween, and now Miracle for a second time. The small venue does have a heated tent outside that’s reasonably decorated for the holidays but inside is warmer and more elaborately themed.

The cocktail list for Miracle varies a little from bar to bar, but I stuck with one the cornerstone offerings, the Christmapolitan. Made with vodka, elderflower, dry vermouth, spiced cranberry sauce, lime, and absinthe mist, with a rosemary garnish, the blend of flavors and spices elevates this cocktail and I have to get it at least once per season. I also tried the “Nice Shot” which is rye whiskey and gingerbread syrup, quite nice and thematically on point.

The Fat Pigeon does offer some appetizers and shared plates, though we didn’t partake this time. We like the vibe and service here, plus there’s plenty to do in downtown Livermore before or after if you want to make an evening out of it.