Author: Kevin Crossman

Posted on

504 Silver Rum from New Orleans

I was so happy to receive this 504 Silver Rum from Happy Raptor Distilling from a friend who brought it back from New Orleans, until I learned the distillery shut down earlier this year. It’s too bad, this is a really nice rum distilled from sugar cane juice. Very similar to some Brazilian Cachacas I’ve tried and Copalli from Belize, also distilled from sugar cane juice, but cool that it was a domestic product.

The savory notes from this cane juice rum are really fantastic in a Mai Tai.

I don’t know if there are still bottles for sale anywhere but if you can find it, do yourself a favor and give it a try.

Posted on

Mount Gay Eclipse Navy Strength

Mount Gay Eclipse Navy Strength is a new limited edition expression of the longstanding intro level Barbados rum, now available in a full flavor 57% ABV format. Eclipse is a blend of pot and column still rums and is light in body with a few years in the bottle, so while it is approachable in cocktails there isn’t always the flavor I want from cocktails like a Mai Tai, and it is sort of too much for lighter rum drinks like a Daiquiri. In the past I shied away from Eclipse in lieu of either true lighter rums from Puerto Rico or more flavorful lightly aged rums such as Appleton Signature or El Dorado 5.

But this new Navy Strength expression is much more what I want from a rum, a lot of flavor that comes through in a cocktail and is even pretty approachable when served neat in a glass. The term Navy Strength isn’t a true measurement but conveys the much higher ABV in this expression. Some of the Foursquare products from Barbados can have an overly oaky flavor, including Real McCoy 5 and Old Brigand, but this Mount Gay leans a little more floral.

I made a Mai Tai and found this expression cuts right though and you can really taste the rum, and a great alternative if you’re looking for something that’s a little mellower than the funky Jamaican rums or grassy Martinique rhums.

Posted on

$1 Applebee’s Zombie

Some of you remember the $1 Mai Tai that Applebee’s issued during Mai Tai month in 2019. That featured black cherry and passionfruit and bunch of other ingredients and in no way resembled a Mai Tai, but had enough rum to be considered reasonable for a dollar.

To celebrate Halloween, Applebee’s is now offering a bright blue Zombie for a dollar. Cocktail fans know that a Zombie should never be blue, but Applebee’s isn’t really craft cocktails anyway so the criteria is a little different. Is it reasonable, especially for the price?

The cocktail is batched and is garnished with a brain gummy, but doesn’t have a predominant flavor besides “sweet”. I don’t expect a traditional Zombie level of booze (“limit two per customer”) but even for a dollar I wasn’t getting much alcohol. Kind of a bust.

My local Applebee’s was hopping and there were a bunch of regulars hooting it up with the bartender who’s been there forever (I remember her from the $1 Mai Tai days). Not that different than Ohana night at your favorite tiki bar, except the decor and drinks are different, and my tall draft Modelo was only five bucks. Not so terrible in the neighborhood, if you want my honest opinion.

Posted on

$10 Mai Tai with 10 Rums on 10/10

Our friends at the Kon-Tiki continue to surprise and delight, offering a low-key but still noteworthy drink special last night to celebrate the Mai Tai being named the official cocktail of the city. The October 10th Mai Tai was the brainchild of GM and bartender Carlos Jimenez, who used 10 rums for this special Mai Tai. Even better, priced at just $10.

The Mai Tai leaned on sugar-cane juice rums as the predominant note, but had layers of flavor that worked great in this format. I compared this to the Kon-Tiki’s standard issue Mai Tai that uses heavier and longer aged rums and found that while I prefer the standard this one-off Mai Tai was still really great and of course was a killer value as well.

Plenty of people got the memo as the room was quite busy for most of the evening.

Standard Mai Tai
Carlos showing off fire skills
Posted on

Beetlejuice Theme at Dr. Funk San Jose

We had a great time at Dr. Funk which is totally themed to the movie Beetlejuice for Halloween. There’s a ton of great looking themed decor but a spooky leaning soundtrack that plays whenever there isn’t a DJ.

There’s a special cocktail menu too. I tried two and thought they were good but not mind-blowing. I had a better experience with Dr. Funk’s still-awesome Mai Tai which remains on $8 on Mai Tai Mondays and $12 for happy hour and on Tuesdays.

@ultimatemaitai

Lots of fun at Dr Funk in downtown San Jose with some elaborate Beetlejuice theming and music, plus drink specials #tikibar #sanjose

♬ Banana Boat (Day-O) – Harry Belafonte
Posted on

Copalli Single Barrel Select Rum at Smuggler’s Cove

Picked up this really amazing bottle at Smuggler’s Cove, an aged cask strength bottle of Copalli cane juice rum from Belize.

Aged far longer than Copalli’s 18 month “barrel aged” expression, the spice notes from the barrel blend very well with Copalli’s well regarded cane juice rum. There’s no official age statement but it compares well to four or five year rums I’ve tried and that age means this tastes really different from the unaged standard issue bottle. It is very approachable for a 65% ABV rum.

This is a Smuggler’s Cove exclusive pick, so head over to SF to pick one up before they’re gone. It may be a long time before we see an aged expression of this class from Copalli.