Author: Kevin Crossman

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Welcome Back, Indoor Dining

Two weeks out from my second jab, Mrs. Mai Tai and I had a relaxing dinner at Trader Vic’s Emeryville inside a tiki bar for a relaxing meal (we were indoors a couple times in Palm Springs in April but we were totally watching the clock). The tables are spaced out and we had a great video of the Emeryville marina and for a time had the entire second dining room to ourselves.

The cocktail menu is somewhat limited, though of course there is still something for everyone. I started with the San Francisco Mai Tai and Julie had the Chi-Chi, our usual orders. We followed with the Banana Batida for me (which ended up being my desert) and she had the Tututupo Tiki. Fantastic cocktails tonight, and a relaxing evening with exotica and Hawaiian music playing.

For dinner it was a little bit of Trader Vic’s greatest hits, starting with the Peanut Butter crackers, the Huli Huli chicken for me and a Trader Vic’s salad and Tofu Aloha Bowl for Julie. But the best thing tonight was the Crab Rangoon, so much better when it is freshly served in the restaurant. It was all great, including the service as expected.

  • Mai Tai
  • Tututupo Tiki
  • Banana Batide
  • Crab Rangoon
  • Huli Huli Chicken
  • Tofu Aloha Bowl
  • Peanut Butter Crackers
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New Label Coruba Dark Jamaican Rum

Supplies of Corbuba Dark rum have been constrained over the past months, leading some to worry if the product would be discontinued. Instead, it has been a process of clearing the inventory of bottles with an older style label.

Behold the new Coruba labels! Interesting, this style basically matches an older label design. A few years ago, Campari made a whole line of Coruba rums; in addition to the classic Dark, there was Coconut and Mango and Pineapple etc. A few of these flavored rums are still available on dusty shelves in independent liquor stores, but why bother with flavored rums. Meanwhile, the workhorse Dark Jamaican rum that most people favor over brand leader Myers’s has dropped the “Dark” moniker and is now simply Coruba Jamaican Rum. Sure would be nice if Campari pushed this product a little harder, like they do with the Appleton and Wray & Nephew brands.

I love this rum (though I do slightly prefer Blackwell Gold, a sister brand also under the Appleton/Wray & Nephew umbrella), and it’s quite coveted by fans of tropical cocktails. At Hale Pele in Portland the Mai Tai rum is 3 parts Coruba and 1 part Wray & Nephew Overproof and that is a fabulous Mai Tai.

Looking at the new Coruba next to a pour of the previous edition, it seems like the rum is a hint or two darker and there is a slightly different taste that maybe be related to slightly more caramel coloring. That said, the differences are very small, so if you’ve liked Coruba rest assured this is still the rum you want to obtain.

I got my bottles at K&L Wines in the SF Bay Area. Look for these new labels coming to a fine liquor store near you.

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Donnie’s Element

This is a Chris Day original now being served as a frozen drink at The Kon-Tiki in Oakland . It is lovely in that format and serves as a wonderful counterpart to The Kon-Tiki’s Pina Colada style cocktail The Uma Uma also being served frozen.

Coffee drinks haven’t always been my friend, apart of the Black Magic I had at The Mai-Kai a couple years ago. But after trying this cocktail I knew I had to try and make it at home. So glad I did – it is even better in the original shaken format. I used Tempus Fugit Creme of Banana and I would say that I’m not tasting the banana too much, so you might consider increasing it a bit (or, pulling back on the coffee liqueur). The Spiced Rum I used was a combo of Sailor Jerry and Captain Morgan that I made by combining two half bottles of each.

Donnie’s Element by Chris Day
½ oz Coffee Liqueur (Mr. Black)
½ oz Banana Liqueur (Tempus Fugit)
1½ oz Coconut Creme
1½ oz Spiced Rum
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Whip shake and pour over crushed or pebble ice.
Garnish with Grated Cinnamon

Be sure to check out the embedded video from the Educated Barfly where they made this cocktail. I won’t spoil the surprise but if you’re a fan of the drink or of Chris Day’s cocktails (or just Chris as a human being) you should definitely watch the video.

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Don’s Special Daiquiri

I first tried this amazing cocktail at Longitude, the Oakland adventure-themed bar that sadly closed but lives on today as The Kon-Tiki.

Every time I try this I think I should have it more often, featuring Jamaican rum, Passion Fruit Syrup, and Honey mix. So delicious. Thanks to Jeff Berry for publishing the recipe in Beachbum Berry Remixed and in the Total Tiki app.

It’s Friday so I made myself a double version of this. Thankfully I have these cool tiki style coupe glasses that are extra large.

Don’s Special Daiquiri
½ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Honey Mix
½ oz Passion Fruit Syrup
½ oz Light Rum
1 oz Gold Jamaican Rum

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Planter’s Punch

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

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Tiki Modern

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. 

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Everyone Jabbed

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.