On vacation and needed some booze. Second time picking up some aged Bacardi, this time going for the 8 year aged Bacardi Ocho.
I like the aged Bacardi. Light rum with some age on it isn’t bad at all.
Hula’s Island Grill, Monterey
Mrs Mai Tai and I had a great lunch at Hula’s Island Grill in their newly expanded back patio. We have enjoyed our visits to the Hula’s locations here in Monterey but also in Santa Cruz and at the Hula’s Modern in Phoenix and Scottsdale.
The back patio has a nice tropical vibe and I enjoyed my Trader Vic’s fish sandwich while Julie loved her Tofu Jungle Bowl. Service was very friendly and super efficient.
Cocktails at Hula’s can be hit or miss but I really enjoyed my Pele’s Punch (first picture). This normally comes with Firewater Bitters and since they are VERY spicy I asked for Angostura Bitters instead. It was a delicious punch with some great Blood Orange flavors. Mrs Mai Tai had her requisite Pink Bikini Martini and loved it as always.
Hulas has two cocktail sections and it is nice to see them trying to elevate the cocktails with their Premium Cocktails menu. For our second round Julie had the POG Punch, which she liked okay and which I thought was pretty good. More tart than sweet but overall quality was right up there. I also tried the Reverend Stiggins, a Mojito riff using the Plantation Fancy Stiggins Pineapple Rum. When I was here a couple years ago I thought there was too much mint. This time it was balanced quite well. The soda adds a lightness that made this cocktail super refreshing.
We had a great time at Hula’s.
This was tiki bar number 15 for me in 2020. Compare to 2018 when tiki bar 15 was April 21, and last year when tiki bar 15 was March 21. This year has really sucked for visiting tiki bars.
Home Bartender: Blue-Hawai-Tai
Orgeat Shootout
I’m always ready to give a new Orgeat a try. I’ve been on the record recommending the Latitude 29 Orgeat for some time, and in the past I’ve also liked BG Reynolds. This time I’m comparing Latitude 29 to the craft brand Liquid Alchemist and the mainstream brand Torani. The Mai Tais were made according to the 1944 recipe with Denizen Merchants Reserve rum.
Liquid Alchemist
I really liked their Coconut Syrup, so was eager to try the Orgeat. This has a very strong Almond Milk flavor, since that’s the primary ingredient. The Orgeat also contains Sugar, Sea Salt, Santham Gum, and Sunflower Leeithin. I used this in several cocktails and it seemed fine in some cocktails, but for me I don’t love the Almond Milk-forward flavor in the Mai Tai. So this was actually my least favorite of these three, though if you love Almond Milk your milage may vary.
Torani
This is a very mainstream syrup brand, often used for a sweetening coffee. Torani’s Almond/Orgeat Syrup contains Pure Cane Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Acacia Gum, Ester Gum, and preservatives. It has a sweet almond flavor, and while it’s nice to not see Corn Syrup there’s also no real almond either. The Mai Tai had a nice sweet flavor but definitely a with an artificial aftertaste. I’ve had worse Orgeat before, and Torani is very inexpensive. But we think that spending more on a higher quality Orgeat is worth it.
Latitude 29 Formula Orgeat
Still the reigning champion. Contains Water, Pure Cane Sugar, Almonds, Orange Blossom Water, Rose Water, and Organic Almond Essence. It’s got a wonderful Almond-forward flavor that’s just the right level of sweetness, and my Mai Tai was perfect. You can order this from www.orgeatworks.com.
Congrats to Latitude 29 for their 6th year anniversary of doing business in New Orleans. Loved my visit there a couple years ago. I had a trip to NOLA scrapped this year, but I hope to return soon.
How Do You Spell Mai Tai?
Found this on the internet and it’s a pretty take off of the popular meme.
Of course the correct spelling is: Mai Tai
Seelbach Cocktail Riff
This recipe calls for Bourbon but I wanted to try to make it as blue as possible so I substituted a clear rum for the bourbon. It didn’t really turn out too blue, though. At least some other things turned blue this week.
Seelbach Cocktail
1 oz Probitas Rum
½ oz Senior Blue Curacao (sub for Cointreau)
3 Dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
Top with 2 oz Brut Champagne
Blue Hawai-Tai Celebration
Nothing complicated, except the video shoot which I may or may not use. Super refreshing cocktail for a super refreshing day.
Blue Hawai-Tai by Kevin Crossman
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz White Overproof Jamaican Rum (Rum-Bar Overproof)
½ oz Aged White Rum (Probitas)
½ oz Orgeat (Liquid Alchemist)
½ oz Simple Syrup
½ oz Blue Curacao (Giffard)
You know why this drink was selected for tonight’s TV viewing.
