Author: Kevin Crossman

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Hamilton Rum: Beachbum Berry’s Zombie Blend

Not just for Zombies. It makes an excellent Mai Tai too!

This new rum blend is a 118 proof delight, so aromatic and flavorful. With this kind of ABV it isn’t a sipper for most people, but inside a Mai Tai it really punches through and coats your tongue. Of course, our house Mai Tai rum blend is over 100 proof, so we’re used to boozy Mai Tais. But we think anyone will find this rum to be amazing in a Mai Tai.

The Mai Tai is best prepared with Latitude 29 Orgeat from Orgeat Works, a house favorite of the Bum himself who helped develop it. It is our favorite orgeat.

Not a bad choice Mai Tai Monday.

The Zombie blend is rolling out now and is available in many states with more to come. Bottles are going fast but Ed Hamilton says this product is here to stay and that more is in the pipeline.

And, yes, it does make an excellent Zombie.

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Cocktails at The Kon-Tiki Room

After dinner at Palmetto, we walked around over to The Kon-Tiki Room for more cocktails. It was a fun vibe and the bartenders were so helpful at working with us on our orders.

I had a fantastic Fogcutter and then asked for Mai Tai made with the aged rum Clairin from Saint Benevolence. While the spirits selection at The Kon-Tiki Room is not as vast as the original Kon-Tiki location at 14th and Webster, they do have some interesting expressions and the bartenders were accommodating to use an alternative spirit in one of their standard cocktails. A little extra orgeat and the Clairin Mai Tai was very good and a nice change of pace.

We were bummed the frozen Disco Banana wasn’t quite ready when we got there around 6:30. That was the only glitch during our Kon-Tiki Room visit. The checking of vaccination status and the requirements for masks when not drinking was not problem during our visit.

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Palmetto Dinner and Cocktails

We had a great dinner at Palmetto last night, along with some classic cocktails. The fine dining is most certainly that with some upper mid-priced dishes with some inventive ingredients. I had the pork chop with frisee, spiced carrots, refried black beans, grain mustard mojo, and shaved onions. So flavorful and a quite large cut of meat, too. Mrs. Mai Tai enjoyed her Halibut and especially liked the lavender orange ice cream.

Flight Path cocktail

We tried several of the cocktails, which include some riffs on classics and also some Palmetto originals. From the classic side, I had a delightful Manhattan with Rum (Real McCoy 5) that was served up. Julie had the Brandy Old Fashioned that was also a great twist on an old favorite.  From the House side, I had the Flight Path with Rye, Falernum, Honey, Lemon, and Absinthe. Also served up, the Flight Path was truly excellent.

Manhattan with Rum

Service at Palmetto was outstanding and all the patrons were adjusting no problem to showing vaccination cards and masking when not eating/drinking. If you’re in Uptown (Oakland) and looking for something a little Upscale, be sure to seek out Palmetto.

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Pro tip: save old corks

We almost had a big problem when I couldn’t open my bottle of beloved Saint Benevolence Rum Clairin, and then broke the cork!

Thankfully, I was able to extract the remaining cork using a wine corkscrew. And then I used a cork from an old empty bottle.

The Saint Benevolence Rum Clairin is a delicious and savory rum that is different than the pot still rums from Jamaica or Barbados, but also not the same as rhums from Martinique. It is heavy, but not grassy. Super flavorful even in a Mai Tai. Seek it out.

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Lilikoi Mai Tai at Pacific Catch

For the second summer in a row we have to give credit where it is due, with another fabulous seasonal menu for summer at Pacific Catch. Last year it was tiki and this year it is “Endless Summer” but in both cases the cocktail options are pretty good.

Regular readers know that Island Mai Tais are not exactly my thing, but the Pacific Catch Lilikoi Mai Tai is fabulous. I truly loved it and ordered a second that was just as good. The cocktail features Flor de Cana Silver, Wray & Nephew Overproof, passionfruit, “house mai tai mix,” and a Lahaina dark rum float. This certainly leaned more to the sweet side rather than the tart side, but it wasn’t overpowering with fruit like most Island Mai Tais are. I liked the flavor of the dark rum float, too. This Mai Tai is very likely going to end up on my top 10 list. Seriously.

And big extra credit to the Pacific Catch team who came up with the fabulous Mai Tai glass design, inspired by the classic Trader Vic’s tapa glass design. Apparently these aren’t for sale, but I’d love to have one.

We really enjoyed our meal, and the service from Marissa at the Dublin location was outstanding. Mrs. Mai Tai thought the Strawberry Mule was just okay, but found the Carmelized Pina Colada to be quite good (I thought so too). We will return before summer is over.

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Old Appleton 12

Got to try some of this 1980s vintage Appleton 12 recently. Thanks so much to local tikiphile Kyle Graham for sharing a little pour.

You know what it tastes like? It tastes like Appleton 12.

I don’t say that to sound flippant, but to say that the taste of Appleton 12 hasn’t changed a whole lot for a long, long time. This old one tasted a little richer, and had a little bit of a longer finish. But honestly it was very close to what you get today and the last three vintages that I have in stock at home. So easy to drink but still very flavorful. It’s my favorite rum.