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
We once again salute Ken Holewczynski for putting together another fabulous issue of Exotica Moderne magazine. Issue 24 features our article on the history of the Mai Tai complete with a great page layout that’s a pleasure to read in print.
Issues of Exotica Moderne 24 are still available for sale, but don’t delay as they won’t be forever.
What a fabulous evening in downtown Oakland last night for the first ever Mai Tai Trivia event, hosted by The Kon-Tiki. We had a packed house of people testing their knowledge of arcane Mai Tai and Tiki Bar trivia, or just to see famed YouTuber Derek from Make & Drink make a live appearance.
We did four themed rounds of trivia, starting with Mai Tai Origins, What’s in a Mai Tai, and Stretching the Definition. We dedicated one round to general Tiki Bar trivia. Questions ranged from the simple (“In what city was the Mai Tai invented”) to deeper cuts such as the longest continuously operating tiki bar in Southern California. Hint: it isn’t Tiki Ti or Tonga Hut.
Teams were formed with up to four people, including some timely and themed names such as East Bay Dunder, Our Tai, and Demure. Prizes included some great Make & Drink Mai Tai glasses and coasters, Make & Drink pins, a tiki mug, and Surfside Sips glass straw gift packs.
The winning team was Cooler than QB that included hometown “Oakhana” regulars, followed in a tie for second from Hinky Drinkers and Squeaky Tikis. Congrats to these teams and thanks to all who played. We also thank Mrs. Mai Tai for helping with passing out and collecting ballots.
We have to thank the amazing Kon-Tiki team who welcomed a large crowd and did a great job keeping up with orders. I enjoyed the Dhalia Negra cocktail from the happy hour menu and bartender Kriss made a Q.B. Cooler that was fantastic. I also made sure to enjoy a standard Mai Tai that’s not on the menu but always available, and Kon-Tiki’s Mai Tai is one of the best anywhere.
Question: when was the first Mai Tai Trivia Event?
Answer: The Kon-Tiki Oakland, August 21, 2024.
This new expression from Planteray pays homage to historical Navy Rums of the past, taking cues such as sourcing from multiple countries and delivering at a high ABV.
I’ve liked a lot of Navy Style rums including Pussers Gunpowder Proof, Wood’s, and Black Tot. I’ve also been able to taste vintage 1960s era British Royal Navy Rum on a couple of occasions.
Mister Fogg is very mild when placed against those other rums, which is good in that you can drink this neat very easily. But in a cocktail like the Mai Tai I didn’t feel it had the flavorful oomph that normally expect for a rum at 55.7% ABV.
Your mileage might vary but for me this was a bit of a disappointment.
Trader Vic’s Emeryville has a special retro menu for the summer, including vintage cocktails and food from decades past. One cult classic is the Shingle Stain which is named due to its red color. Also notable is the paper drink topper first employed by Trader Vic’s in the 1960s (see menu from the Beverly Hills location below). I’m not a roofer by trade but I’m really not sure what to think of the illustration featuring a man with his behind hanging out and a woman on the other side who’s lost her bikini top. Times have changed.
Nevertheless, you can order this juicy cocktail today in Emeryville including the topper that you can take home as a souvenir. This was the second version of the cocktail, first published in Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide Revised and significantly different from the original published in Trader Vic’s Book of Food & Drink.
Shingle Stain (1946)
Half a Lime *
1 oz Dark Jamaica Rum (Red Heart or Myers’s)
½ oz St. James Rhum
¼ oz Pimento Dram
Dash of Pomegranate Syrup (Grenadine) *
Shake with cracked ice and pour over cracked ice in a 12 oz chimney glass
* Vic said that the juice of one lime is equivalent to one ounce and “dash” of this style of ingredient equaled a quarter ounce.
The Pimento Dram and Grenadine provide a tart taste but pleasant taste not unlike Cranberry, which likely led to the second version of the cocktail.
Shingle Stain (1972)
Juice of one Lime
2 dash Angostura Bitters
¼ oz Grenadine
1½ oz Cranberry Juice
½ oz Pineapple Juice
2 oz Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum
Shake with ice cubes and pour into a ten-pin pilsner glass. Decorate with fresh mint.
Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum was likely was a bold and pungent rum blend. Its use in the Shingle Stain tells me that you need that boldness to compete with all the juices and notably the strong flavors of Cranberry Juice. In Emeryville they use Trader Vic’s Royal Amber Rum. While I do like this rum in the Mai Tai it does get a little lost in the Shingle Stain with all the other ingredients. I’d recommend using an aged Jamaica rum for this cocktail.
Coming on August 31, I’ll be presenting at the San Francisco Rum Festival and Congress alongside Matt Pietrek of RumWonk.com and CocktailWonk.com fame. Our seminar covers rums of the Mai Tai, including some historical details rarely seen or discussed.
Rums of the Mai Tai – Secrets Revealed
Few cocktails highlight rum better than the Mai Tai, the king of tiki cocktails and created by Trader Vic 80 years ago. Join Kevin Crossman and Matt Pietrek for a look at the evolution of the rums used in the Mai Tai through the decades, including deep dives into historic rum expressions.
“NOTE: These sessions are restricted to Rum Congress (Aug 31st) ticket holders and require an additional $ to attend. Very Limited seats available – ORDER HERE“
Had sort of an impromptu visit to Trader Vic’s Emeryville on Thursday night to sample some of the cocktails from their special vintage food and cocktail menu that’s been on special this summer. We’ll cover the Shingle Stain in a separate post, but we enjoyed trying two other vintage items: the Potwasher and the Bamboo Punch.
The Potwasher was the signature cocktail for the short-lived 1979 spin-off restaurant Mama Gruber’s Fishhouse, and after closing was on the Señor Pico menu. The description says this contains Dark Rum and Sloe Gin, Pineapple, Spiked with Grog Mix. I thought the mouthfeel and balance of this cocktail was pretty good, and you’re getting a lot of rich flavor from the Vic’s Grog Mix. I wasn’t able to find the recipe but we do have a photo of the original signature mug.
The Bamboo Punch dates back to at least the 1960s and also appeared in the Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide Revised. This didn’t really have a ton of depth to me, and needed a little more sugar to balance the tart and bitter elements.
Bamboo Punch (1972)
Juice of one Lime *
2 dash Peychaud’s Bitters
½ oz Passion Fruit Nectar
1 dash Trader Vic’s Rock Candy Syrup *
1 oz Trader Vic’s Puerto Rican Rum
1¼ oz Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum
* Vic said that the juice of one lime is equivalent to one ounce. Vic later said that “dash” of this style of ingredient equalled a quarter ounce.
At the time of publication, the Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum was a blend of 70% Jamaica rum, 20% Martinique, and 10% Virgin Island rum. It likely was a bold and pungent rum blend, designed for the Mai Tai. In Emeryville they’re using Trader Vic’s Royal Amber Rum. I’d recommend using an aged Jamaica rum for this cocktail to better balance against the light Puerto Rican rum.
The modern cocktails recently added to the cocktail menu at Vic’s address contemporary sensibilities for more assertive flavors, such as the smoked pineapple in Mrs. Mai Tai’s Lava Haze, and serve as a counterpart to these vintage drinks when customers liked things a little lighter.
New from craft cocktail syrup company Liquid Alchemist is their new Falernum syrup. This syrup is a blend of almond, ginger, lime, and cloves and most certainly is way more assertive than any other Falernum I’ve tried. This is a rich syrup and adds a lot more oomph to cocktails, perhaps just on the edge of being too spicy. Nonetheless I really liked the ginger and clove notes in the Liquid Alchemist Falernum.
Falernum is an interesting category because there are liqueurs such as market leader John D. Taylor Falernum, but also non-alcoholic syrups like this one. I remember Jeff “Beachbum” Berry saying that the syrups are twice as flavorful as the liqueurs, so you can use half as much for the same amount of flavor. I agree with this idea, and I recently purchased Maggie’s Farm Falernum Liqueur and didn’t find it nearly as flavorful as syrup-based Falernums.
The bottle includes a recipe for a Saturn, a notable and popular cocktail that features Falernum. The recipe included increase the ratio of Gin and completely omits Orgeat. Compared to a Saturn made with Maggie’s Farm, I definitely preferred the one made with Liquid Alchemist.
Liquid Alchemist Saturn
2 oz Gin
½ oz Liquid Alchemist Falernum
½ oz Passion Fruit Syrup
½ oz Lime Juice
I found this Saturn to be lacking the body that the Orgeat provides in the cocktail, so while I do recommend Liquid Alchemist Falernum I would suggest sticking to the classic recipe where this Falernum plays well with the bold flavors of Passion Fruit Syrup.
I also tried this Falernum in a Planter’s Punch to good effect. When I tried Liquid Alchemist Falernum in a Corn ‘n Oil it was spicy enough that you wouldn’t need to add Angostura Bitters. A little goes a long way.
The sample was provided by Liquid Alchemist, but this is not a sponsored post.