Author: Kevin Crossman

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Liquid Alchemist Falernum Syrup

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.

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Improved Mai Tai at San Diego’s Bali Hai

As we left San Diego for the airport we swung by Shelter Island to have an early dinner at Bali Hai. The place was quite full at opening on the Sunday, perhaps due to an earlier private event that kept some revelers in the bar.

Our dinner was pretty great, including the Ali’i Tasting platter that included coconut shrimp, tuna poke, spinach lumpia, beef skewers, and firecracker ribs. Everything on here was really good, including the ribs which aren’t always my thing. We also shared the Honey Cashew Shrimp that was expertly prepared and was totally savory.

We’ve discussed the Bali Hai’s infamous “no juice added” Mai Tai in the past, a rum-forward cocktail with 5 oz of rum! I had asked for a Mai Tai with Appleton 12, but was told they don’t make spirits substitutions on the Mai Tai. Instead, I tried the new to us Cutwater Spirits Mai Tai, the same recipe but using local favorites Cutwater Bali Hai Dark Rum and Cutwater Three Sheets White Rum. I haven’t tasted a lot of Cutwater rums neat, but I would say the final product is worth the up-charge as I found this Mai Tai to taste much more balanced than the standard issue. Still very booze-forward, though; warning, limit two per person.

Waterfront views

Bali Hai sold their 3 millionth Mai Tai a couple months ago and they seem to still be going strong. We love the views of the harbor and the Polynesian decor inside.

Ali’i Tasting platter
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Pau Hana Studio Open House in the Oakland Hills

We had a grand time yesterday for the first of two open house events for the new Pau Hana Studio in the Oakland Hills.

The project is the brainchild of Laura and Woody Miller and the venue serves as a production studio for Woody’s burgeoning mug and tiki art business. Pau Hana will also host arts and crafts classes on various topics including ceramics, mugs, plant hangers, and tiki lamps. The space includes warm accent touches, skylights, and a wonderfully colorful tropical pattern on the back wall. Some of Woody’s lamps and other art from the defunct Kon-Tiki Room at Palmetto are present to make the space inviting and also providing a showcase for Woody’s diverse portfolio of projects.

Pau Hana includes a great deal of storage for Woody’s various tiki mug projects. We saw mugs in various stages of production including the fabulous event mug for the Sacramento Ohana Home Bar Tour event, and another one that this author thinks is even better and set to debut at a San Francisco tiki bar in the near future. Stay tuned… There’s also storage for wood and other materials.

The registration for some upcoming classes are sold out, but look for more classes to be announced soon. Pau Hana will be hosting another open house on Saturday August 17 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm, 11144 Golf Links Rd, Oakland, CA.

Woody and Laura Miller
Mrs. Mai Tai made this with stamps
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San Diego’s Mothership is a Tiki Bar Turned Sci-Fi

We missed Mothership on our last trip to San Diego so we made sure to snag a reservation when their 30 day window opened. This immersive bar draws from Science Fiction and presents the concept of a crashed space ship on an alien planet. The concept is the space counterpart to “crashed ship” tiki bars: a little bit of metal and glass, plus a little bit of rocks and strange alien plants. All with haunting and electronic music as the background.

None of that immersion would be worth the hype without good food and drink options. Mothership has a few small bites, including some soft-serve ice cream options. Each has an interesting flavor twist, such as Ube, which we thought help reinforce the concept of exotic flavors. There’s also a nice selection of non-alcoholic cocktails.

Heliotropic and Homing Beacon Cocktails

On the cocktail menu, everything is space themed and there is a booziness scale. So, the Saturn is represented in classic form as a lighter option. The Mindkiller takes obvious nods from a Painkiller but includes Tangerine, Amaro, and a Tang cordial. The Heliotropic is the very good Mai Tai riff, including tangy Kumquat, Piloncillo Orgeat, and Mole bitters. We really liked the cocktails here, but our favorite was Star Raider with rums, Crème de Cassis, Crème de Banana, Cynar, and a raspberry grenadine. So fruity with complex flavors.

Reservations are nearly essential for Mothership, though there’s a standing room area across from the bar that might allow for last minute entry. Our service was super friendly and efficient at providing multiple rounds during our 90 minute reservation. They even offered to split the check three ways for our part of five. The outside of Mothership looks like yet another Mission Style building but inside there’s so much more.

Star Raider
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The Penultimate Mai Tai

Derek from the Make & Drink YouTube channel asked me to come up with a two-rum Mai Tai as simpler version of our four-rum Ultimate Mai Tai. This was actually harder than you’d think, and I decided that using Appleton 12 and Smith & Cross from the Ultimate Mai Tai blend was sort of a cop out (though those two rums are fabulous in a Mai Tai). I ended up going with some newer rum expressions that are among my favorites.

The Penultimate Mai Tai by Kevin Crossman
1 oz Lime Juice
½ oz Latitude 29 Orgeat
¼ oz Demerara Syrup
½ oz Quality Orange Curacao
1½ oz Worthy Park 109 Jamaica Rum
½ oz Kuleana Rum Works Hawaiian Rum Agricole
Shake with ice and garnish with lime and mint.

The Worthy Park is a boozy and flavorful dark rum, similar in style to the punch rums from the 1950s. There is a little bit of the “funk” common to many Jamaica rums but there’s also a charred backbone as well. This rum is becoming more widely available and there’s literally nothing like it on the market today. Subbing an 80 proof dark Jamaica rum like Coruba or Myers’s isn’t going to provide the same results.

There’s a tradition of using Rhum Agricole in Mai Tais, so I thought I’d include a cane juice-based rum. My favorite in this style are the cane rums from Hawaii, which aren’t as grassy as those from Martinique but also have more flavor than some of the delicate Cachacas from Brazil. If you can’t find Kuleana or KōHana, then Copalli from Belize is a good sub.

Thanks to Derek for having me back on the channel to talk about Mai Tais once again. Look for a super interesting collaboration coming soon.

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Mai Tai Trivia at The Kon-Tiki, August 21

Kick off Mai Tai anniversary weekend with the ultimate Mai Tai Trivia challenge coming to The Kon-Tiki Oakland on Wednesday August 21 at 7 pm. Mark your calendars and join us for Mai Tai and Tiki Bar trivia, plus drink specials and prizes. Work as an individual or team to win bragging rights for life as the winners of the first and maybe only Mai Tai Trivia night.

Mai Tai Trivia is hosted by Kevin Crossman from Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai and Derek from Make & Drink YouTube.