Author: Kevin Crossman

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The Devil’s Reef Remains SEATAC’s Stellar Tiki Experience

The main draw for Mrs. Mai Tai’s inclusion on our Tacoma weekend was to finally visit Devil’s Reef, which she’d missed through a series of circumstances in the past. The tiki bar and restaurant remains a stellar representative of the genre, featuring a dark theme, superb music, and amazing cocktails.

Over the course of two evenings, we opened the bar and got to experience some amazing drinks. The cocktail program is the brainchild of co-owner Jason Alexander who was on hand overseeing the shift both nights. We were honored to receive a special Mai Tai prepared by Alexander himself featuring Rare Cane Jamaican Rum and perfectly balanced with some funky 68% ABV rum, shooting straight to the top of our running Best Mai Tai of the Year list.

The cocktails at Devil’s Reef have a bit of variety but are mostly rum-based and served on crushed ice. We really loved the Gilman House Special, featuring berries and pineapple rum, and the delightful grog variant called Red Right Returning with passionfruit, cinnamon, and Mister Fogg Navy Rum. Julie tried some that I’d loved before including Captain Obed’s Grog that includes spices and maple syrup, plus the coffee-forward Eldritch Cartographer. We also loved the Serannian Sling, a gin cocktail with spices and Cassis.

We must salute the bartenders who work so fast but deliver consistent quality. Generally, you have got to bar to order drinks that will be delivered to your table, and we found the turnaround to be unexpectedly quick even after it started to get busy. We enjoyed sitting at the bar for a portion of our visit, though the booths are more conducive to conversation with locals who we met up with. Be sure to check out the drink mixer for a little memento of our visit, place there by the staff.

Like we always say, the best tiki bar in Seattle is in Tacoma.

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Tiki Bar and Mai Tais at Da Tiki Hut

There’s a small tiki bar in the back of Da Tiki Hut in Tacoma that opens a little after the restaurant does. After our lunch we went over to Gig Harbor for more beachcombing and then swung by Da Tiki Hut to sample some cocktails on our way back to the hotel. The bar opens around 1:00 on Saturdays and features three booths and a few stools.

The menu at Da Tiki Hut features many classics, including two Mai Tais. There’s also a smaller classic cocktail menu that’s only available if you’re drinking in the bar itself, such as the Zombie and Shrunken Skull. There’s a pretty nice selection of rums and other spirits on the back bar and the staff were super friendly and accommodating.

There are two Mai Tais on the menu, starting with the Classic featuring Smith & Cross Jamaica rum and Rhum Clement from Martinique. Mrs. Mai Tai found this cocktail to be too dry and the rums to be too assertive, so keep in mind if you aren’t a fan of funky and grassy rums. We also want to highlight the creative presentation of the traditional “island and palm tree” garnish that was unlike any other Mai Tai I’ve seen.

The Okole’ Maluna Mai Tai is a version that was developed by Jason Alexander and served at the now-shuttered Tacoma Cabana bar years ago. This features both lemon and lime, plus light rums and Jamaican rums and is overall better balanced and more palatable than the classic.

Nonetheless, both Mai Tais were pretty good considering the venue’s scope and we do think Da Tiki Hut is a worthy destination for tiki tourists.

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Return to Tacoma’s Da Tiki Hut

Mrs Mai Tai and I spent Saturday morning beachcombing at various beaches in Tacoma, thanks to a respite from the rain. We saw marine animals, ferry boats, and all sort of finds along the beach. After a few hours it was time for lunch so we drove over to Da Tiki Hut for a Hawaiian lunch.



I enjoyed my visit here last year and this year’s lunch was similar with focus on plate lunch options and a pretty nice Loco Moco (I ordered gravy on the side). Julie thought the Chicken Katsu was just okay but I really liked it.

The interior of Da Tiki Hut remains a surprising gem, far more elaborate than you’d expect from a smallish local restaurant. The decor is so relaxing, as was the Hawaiian music that was playing.

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Double Tais at Trader Vic’s SJC

Mrs. Mai Tai is joining me in Tacoma for the weekend and we got things started over dinner and drinks at Trader Vic’s San Jose Airport. In our case we went with the standard Original Mai Tai for me and the Guava Tai for Mrs. Mai Tai, both wonderful.

I was intrigued by the Angry Bastard cocktail which is described as being “A spiced concoction with coconut, orange and pineapple” which sounds like a Painkiller. Our server Maria said it wasn’t a Painkiller and indeed it was anything but with some very pleasant and sweet fruity flavors (guava, likely) to go along with that coconut. Really great, nicely served in the classic Suffering Bastard mug.

Trader Vic’s was really busy at dinner, so the extra seating they added last year really came in handy. The Spam Musubi and the Vic’s Chicken Salad were prepared very well and we enjoyed some exotica music playing in the bar too. I looked at the back bar and spotted a Mount Gay 1703 but sadly SJC is unable to make an alternate rum Mai Tai.

TV SJC remains the greatest airport bar in this writer’s opinion, and we are so looking forward to the Vic’s location at the Oakland Airport supposedly coming later this year.

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Sunset Passion Tai at Trader Vic’s

We had a great dinner at sunset over at Trader Vic’s Emeryville on Saturday, including a great view of the harbor. I enjoyed my all-time favorite Crab Rangoon plus a Trader Vic’s Salad with salmon so tasty. There were at least four tables with people celebrating birthdays, and the staff led the venue in multiple “Happy Birthday” rounds and a bowl of ice cream.

Mrs. Mai Tai got the seating going in style, ordering a Smoke Show that provided a wonderful unveiling experience and a smoky flavor to the clarified cocktail.

Meanwhile, I went a little off script by choosing one of the Tropical Tais from the menu, choosing the passionfruit version. That little extra passionfruit is nice in that it does not overpower the cocktail but provides a different flavor from a traditional Mai Tai. I’ve also enjoyed the guava and Mango versions in the past.

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Dublin Tai

Had a fantastic cocktail at Trader Vic’s Emeryville, where I’ve often called a different top-shelf rum for a Mai Tai to great result. This time, I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day two days early by having a “Dublin Tai,” a Mai Tai with Jameson Irish Whiskey replacing the rum.

Irish Whiskeys tend to be lighter in overall character than Scotch or Bourbon, and in this case the cocktail was not unlike the light rum variant of the Mai Tai called Menehune Juice where the less assertive rum turns the cocktail into brighter and fruitier variant. Such was the case of the Dublin Tai where you could taste the whiskey but it was an accent flavor and not up front.

The lounge in Trader Vic’s was hopping on Saturday but our friends were lucky to snag a hi-top just in time so we could have a drink before our dinner reservation. Always nice to see things busy at Trader Vic’s and to still have a fabulous cocktail.

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The Evolution of the House without a Key Mai Tai at the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki

The House without a Key restaurant’s reputation for having a great Mai Tai goes back to at least the 1990s when I first started researching Mai Tais in Hawai’i, at the time notably being a Mai Tai known to omit the pineapple juice commonly used.

During my 1999 visit I thought the drink included a touch too much lime, though others who provided reviews to our site during that period raved consistently. The look and overall makeup of this cocktail hasn’t changed at all since that time, still one of the better Mai Tais in Waikiki and made in the style of the early Hawaiian Mai Tais with equal parts of the sweeteners and the use of light and dark rums.

Note that Bacardi Select is the older name for today’s Bacardi Black rum.

Mai Tai from June 2022

2002

This recipe was included in an August 2002 article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, where bartender Curtis Wong described the rums as being a high-quality blend and that they make at least 100 Mai Tais per night often making 40 at a time in an assembly line-like process. This is substantially similar to the current recipe, though the use of lemon juice is a curious choice.

2002 Halekulani Mai Tai
1¼ oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Orgeat
½ oz Rock Candy Syrup
½ oz Orange Curacao (Cointreau)
¾ oz Bacardi Select
¾ oz Bacardi Gold Rum
Combine ingredients over crushed ice
Float ½ oz Lemon Hart 151 Rum
Garnish with lime wheel, sugar cane stick, and vanda orchid

Mid-2000s Era

This recipe was recently included in Beachbum Berry’s Total Tiki app, attributing the date to 2006. We found references to this recipe on the Halekulani’s website throughout the 2010s. The use of the now-discontinued Bacardi 151 means you can’t truly replicate this at home, and the swap was likely due to supply constraints of Lemon Hart during that period.

Mid-2000s Halekulani Mai Tai
1¼ oz Lime Juice
⅓ oz Orgeat
⅓ oz Rock Candy Syrup
⅓ oz Orange Curacao
¾ oz Bacardi 151 Rum
¾ oz Bacardi Gold Rum
Combine ingredients over crushed ice
Float ¾ oz Bacardi Select
Garnish with lime wedge, lime wheel, sugar-cane stick, mint leaf, and vanda orchid

Mai Tai from June 2019

2020s / Current Era

First included on the Halekulani website in 2020, this version still relies on a base Bacardi rums but once again features Lemon Hart 151 for a float that provides just enough additional rummy flavor. On occasion we’ve seen that Myers’s is used when supplies of Lemon Hart are unavailable, much to the detriment to the overall character of the cocktail, but if you can get this with Lemon Hart it is really a fantastic Mai Tai.

Halekulani Mai Tai – Current
1¼ oz Lime Juice
⅓ oz Orgeat
⅓ oz Rock Candy Syrup
⅓ oz Orange Curacao (Cointreau)
¾ oz Bacardi Select/Black Rum
¾ oz Bacardi Gold Rum
Combine ingredients over crushed ice
Float ½ oz Lemon Hart 151 Rum
Garnish with lime wheel, sugar cane stick, and vanda orchid

Mai Tai from August 2023