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
For World Cocktail Day we went back to the roots for this simple cocktail featuring the very best spirit in the world: Jamaican Rum.
This one was simple recipe based on materials at hand, so perhaps not the “ultimate” version.
¾ oz Lime Juice
¾ oz Simple Syrup
2 oz Gold Jamaican Rum
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Lots of ice
Thanks to local tikiphile Monty Dunnington for selling me his used copy of Sven Kirsten’s Tiki Modern, and for offering it at a fair price. This completes my Sven collection, including the Book of Tiki, Tiki Pop, Tiki Style, and Sound of Tiki.
The book is long out of print, which is truly a shame since it is a really interesting look at the tiki art of the 1950s-1960s and it’s place amongst the larger Mid Century art movement and aesthetic. The part that reads most interesting to me, a decade after it was published, is the neutral tone of the text. It is almost like an anthropologist describing a culture on its own terms, not one made with modern sensibilities. It does not denigrate, nor celebrate, the art and architecture described in the book. It just describes it so that we can understand it.
Which isn’t to say that those current sensibilities should be ignored. Just that I appreciated the neutral tone. And there are a lot of fabulous images in the book as well.
Anyway, thanks to Sven Kirsten for the books over the years.
A Mother’s Day gift for @juliebeane is taking our sons to get their second vaccine shots. I had my second this past Monday.
Are you vaccinated? Everyone needs to do this so that we can safely return to our favorite past-times. I like supporting restaurants and bars by using their parklets and patios but indoors is where we all want to be, and to do so in mixed company. It ain’t gonna happen until everyone is vaccinated. Let’s do this everyone.
Switching up my post-chores drink with the Florida Rum Society blend from Hamilton.
Glassware: Trader Vic’s.
This is a recipe from Steve Crane’s Kon-Tiki restaurant from the Sheraton Waikiki resort circa 1960s, according to the entry in Beachbum Berry’s Taboo Table, and the Total Tiki app. I liked my first sip but it quickly turned into something else, a weird combination of flavors that did not play well on my tongue. I actually dumped it.
Molokai Mule
2 oz Orange juice
1 oz Lime Juice
1 oz Orgeat
1 oz Cognac
1 oz Light Rum
1 oz Demerara Rum
Shake with ice cubes.
Have you ever tried this? What did you think?
Glassware by Woody Miller.
I had the pleasure of contributing to the magazine again, this time writing the article/interview with cover boy Woody Miller. The article turned out great, and I hope I was able to weave a narrative beyond a list of Woody’s accomplishments and the eye candy of his art.
I’m also in there with my Mello Pomelo recipe. Note there is a typo: should have 1 oz Pomelo Juice.
There’s lots of other great stuff so be sure to get it before it is gone from www.houseoftabu.com.
What a fabulous time in San Francisco yesterday for the special event at Sessions restaurant on the Lucasfilm campus. The special “May the Fourth” event was a partnership with Smuggler’s Cove and featured some special Star Wars themed cocktails on the menu and the inclusion of Smuggler’s Cove merch, silent auction items, and rum tasting alongside the merchandise and wine tasting from Lucasfilm and Geeki Tikis.
We really enjoyed our meal at Sessions, so much that we’re planning to come back. The patio dining suited us just fine.
As for the cocktails: we need Princess Leia to give gold medals to the bartenders from Smuggler’s Cove. I started first with the “Mai Tai Fighter” which is a standard 1944 Mai Tai with a “dark side” float of OFTD. Oh, such an amazing Mai Tai. By far the best so far in 2021.
Equally impressive was the “Blue Harvest,” a riff on SC’s Captain’s Grog. Blue Harvest was the codename for the original Star Wars movie and the inclusion of Rum-Bar Silver replacing the dark Jamaican rum was a huge plus for this cocktail. I will feel no shame ordering this at the Cove, it’s just that good. The “Rebel Pilot” was a stand in for a Jet Pilot and was quite excellent, as was the Kessel Run with rum, bourbon, and coffee liqueur.
Additionally, it was so nice to see familiar faces at the event. We had a great time socializing (wearing masks) after dinner. We are now really looking forward to Smuggler’s Cove’s reopening (in June?).
