Author: Kevin Crossman

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Top 10 Mai Tais of 2025

Each year we celebrate the best Mai Tais that we had the pleasure of tasting in the last twelve months. The list includes commercial restaurants and bars, plus Mai Tais we had at home tiki bars and events. For this list the rating is solely about what’s in the glass and does not factor in other elements such as ambiance, food, service, or decor.

Each Mai Tai is only listed once, otherwise Dr. Funk and Smuggler’s Cove would have dominated the top 30, but variants do get listed separately.

Some of the Mai Tais involve rum substitutions from what the bar would normally serve. This presents the reader with more to consider when visiting these places, but highlights that making rum substitutions is often what changes a good Mai Tai into a great one.

Summary of the Top 10 of 2025

A January visit to Smuggler’s Cove set the bar with a great Mai Tai that somehow was bested there later that spring. After the 2023’s “Year of Appleton 17 Legend” we thought that we’d never have another Mai Tai with this rare rum, but I had not one but two including a truly excellent one at Kona Street Market where they amazingly sold this rum at cost! Trips to The Cellar and Oculto showed that ‘please and thank you’ can make for an amazing custom Mai Tai if the bartender has the talent and right ingredients.

A March trip to Tacoma started with an unexpected, amazing Mai Tai at Devil’s Reef, made by owner Jason Alexander with Rare Cane Jamaica Pot Still rum and served unprompted. This bold rum really punched through and delivered an amazing Mai Tai, a testament to Alexander’s bartending skills, and immediately shot to the top of my running list for the year.

Specialty rums are fun, but I was pleased to see that standard issue Mai Tais at a bunch of bars ranked so highly, including Inside Passage, Strong Water Anaheim, and The Fink. Dr. Funk’s Mai Tai is only $8 on Mondays and we drank a ton of these in 2025 and found the quality to be very consistent.

The “Just Missed” list grows larger each year, and the quality of Mai Tais across the globe continue to improve. You can see I really tried to find a Mai Tai to top the one from Devil’s Reef, and while many came close none could actually beat it. The drinks at Devil’s Reef tend to lean more complex than the Mai Tai, and there’s more than a little irony to salute Alexander who once cheekily called the Mai Tai “pedestrian” but there’s no doubt this was the best of the year. Cheers.

1. Rare Cane Jamaica Pot Still Mai Tai at Devil’s Reef
2. Appleton 17 Mai Tai at Kona Street Market
3. Smuggler’s Cove
4. Dr Funk MTM $8
5. Kiki’s Premier Mai Tai at Inside Passage
6. “Xaymaca Mai Tai” at The Cellar
7. Appleton 21 at Make and Drink Studio
8. OG Mai Tai at The Fink
9. Strong Water Anaheim
10. Mexican Rum Mai Tai at Oculto 477

View the Complete List of Top Mai Tais of 2025

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Top Mai Tais of 2025: Runners-Up

As with 2024 we had so many great Mai Tais that many of them would have been deep into the top 10 in past years and this year couldn’t crack the top 10. But they’re nonetheless worth noting and we thank the bartenders and bar owners for making these stellar Mai Tais.

For this list the rating is solely about what’s in the glass and does not factor in other elements such as ambiance, food, service, or decor.

Some of the Mai Tais involve rum substitutions from what the bar would normally serve. This presents the reader with more to consider when visiting these places, but highlights that making spirit substitutions is often what changes a good Mai Tai into a great one.

View the Complete List of Top Mai Tais of 2025

Rest of the Top 25

11. “Punchy Mai Tai” at Club 33
12. Appleton 17 at Wilfred’s Lounge
13. Nightcaps at Rosetta
14. Matiki
15. Frozen Mai Tai at Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar
16. Now that’s a fucking Mai Tai at Little Hill Lounge
17. Original Mai Tai at Mai Tai Day Trader Vic’s Emeryville
18. Mata Hari Bar
19. Pagan Idol
20. Okole’ Maluna Mai Tai at Da Tiki Hut
21. Bitter Mai Tai at Strong Water Anaheim
22. Menehune Juice at Trader Vic’s Munich
23. Boo Loo Lounge
24. Tai Gam at Wilfred’s Lounge
25. Mai Tai with Rhum Traditionnel from Mike Hooker

Just Missed:

Ultimate Mai Tai at Tiki Tom’s
Pusser’s Bar
Dublin Tai at Trader Vic’s Emeryville
Haole Tai at Wilfred’s Lounge
Passion Tai at Trader Vic’s Emeryville
Rumba
Rex’s Mai Tai at Pearl’s Hideaway
Frozen Mai Tai at Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Day
Trader Vic’s San Jose Airport
Trader Vic’s Munich
Tiki Tom’s Mai Tai
Trader Sam’s with Appleton 12
Mai Tai with Jamaica Rum at Alex Lounge and Bar
Ultra Chill Mai Tai at Bahama Breeze
Hula Hoops
Clarified Ultimate Mai Tai by DJ Ship Rex
China Live
Mai Tai with Kō Hana Rum at PCH
Reserve Mai Tai at False Idol
Dave’s Special Mai Tai at Lucky Tiki
Clifton’s Pacific Seas

Honorable Mentions:

District San Jose, Fog Harbor Fish House, The Tonga Room, Luau Lounge 1944 Mai Tai

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Nochebuena at Cavaña: Mission Bay Rooftop Bar

Mission Bay’s Cavaña is located on the roof of the Luma Hotel, offering great views of Oracle Park. The Latin-focused bar and restaurant features Agave and Cane spirits, meaning it was a welcome option when we arrived early for a show nearby. The venue has a lounge vibe with a large bar area plus lots of patio seating, fire pits, and 17 story views of the neighborhood. Authentic artwork fills the modern space.

Our first visit was taking place during the Nochebuena pop-up with Christmas decor and speciality drinks. The menu is very nicely laid out including details of themed specialty glassware for sale. As with most holiday menus, there’s a little something for everyone including shots and non-alcoholic options.

I went with Jingle Juice, served in a mug eerily “reminiscent” of the Sippin’ Santa mug. The balanced drink is similar to a Mai Tai including Bacardi Seville rum, orange liqueur, orgeat, and lime – with Earl Grey Mango. Trademarks aside, this was a great cocktail.

Mrs. Mai Tai went with Our Lady of Guava-Lupe, including tequila, amaro, aloe liqueur, and guava. Served in a glass that looked like a Mexican religious candle, complete with recipe on the back of the glass. This drink was another winner and so flavorful.

We were impressed by our first visit to Cavaña. Service at the bar moved pretty quick, even on a busy night, and it’s nice there’s an obvious place to order if you’re not sitting. Entry via elevator near the hotel’s entrance ran smoothly and we foresee return visits before or after events at Oracle Park or Chase Center.

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Three Miracle Pop-Ups in Three Days

The Miracle Christmas cocktail pop-up franchise has been active for more than a decade and seems to expand locations each year. Founded by Greg Boehm, there are Miracle locations across the globe and a companion pop-up focusing on tiki drinks also running under the Sippin’ Santa brand. The cocktail offerings at Miracle are a little more varied and tend to work better across the different venues hosting the pop-up.

Sunday afternoon we went to Brewster’s in Petaluma, a large beer garden style venue. I went with an old favorite, “Yippee Ki Yay Mother F****r!”, the cocktail with several rums with ube and coconut orgeat. This isn’t too sweet, thanks to acid-adjusted pineapple juice. Brewster’s does pretty good with this, and their super friendly staff really go out of their way to make things jolly. I sampled some of other cocktails at our table and found them to be well prepared.

Miracle at Brewster’s

We ventured to San Jose later that night to check out Miracle at MiniBoss, an arcade themed bar. Mrs. Mai Tai had been to the sister bar Paper Plane earlier in the week and we thought we’d give MiniBoss a try. The drinks here were really good, including the Miracle Mouse that comes in a cute mug and features bourbon, vermouth, strawberry, citrus, and pamplemousse liqueur that likely inspired the name of the cocktail. This wasn’t too sweet and I thought it was delightful. Slightly less good was the Snowball Old Fashioned that our son ordered, just not quite sweet enough, though Mrs. Mai Tai’s Koala LaLaLa was a very refreshing highball with tequila. Cheery Cherry Chocosaurus is more of a desert cocktail but if that’s your thing you’ll love it.

Miracle Mouse

On Festivus Tuesday we battled the rain to check out Pacific Cocktail Heaven in San Francisco. This place is so popular they even charge a $10 cover just to enter. But the skills of the bartenders are evident that the Yippe Ki Yay and Koala cocktails were even better than the other places we tried. Candy Cane Lane is served in a unicorn mug and was a little less sweet than at Brewster’s. PCH was even able to make a pretty reasonable off-menu Mai Tai with Kō Hana rum at my request.

Each of these Miracle locations sets the prices for the cocktails and the mugs/glassware for sale. While the cocktail prices only vary a little, we were shocked to see the mugs at PCH going for $40 which is double what Brewster’s and MiniBoss were charging. It’s a Festivus Miracle!

Miracle hours and dates vary by location but usually run up to New Year’s or a little bit past.

PCH
MiniBoss
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Pusser’s American Bar Munich

I was remiss in posting a trip report to Pusser’s American Bar, often recognized as one of the best in the world. We missed this last summer and several trusted advisors said it was great, so we made sure to check it out on our recent trip.

We loved the cozy experience, though could only stay for one drink since we’d already had several at nearby Trader Vic’s. The venue has multiple levels and we were seated downstairs, with prompt and immediate service from our server.

The menu is as large as any I’ve ever seen, offering myriad options for whatever type of cocktail you’d like and a large spirits selection as well. Mrs. Mai Tai ordered a Grasshopper that was excellent while I spotted a Mai Tai that listed the ingredients as rum, lime, lemon, sugar, almond. The rum-forward drink was absolutely delicious and a stellar example of what a great Mai Tai should taste like.

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Ron Legendario from Cuba

When I arrived home from Europe I discovered the rum fairy had placed these bottles of Cuban rum in my suitcase, lo and behold. That would be the only explanation of how they got there.

Ron Añejo 9 Años is a very nice aged rum aged for nine years. This rum has a fruitier flavor profile and I thought it was pretty good, though I didn’t like it as much as Havana Club 7 which is more oaky.

Elixir de Cuba is actually a liqueur, something I didn’t notice until I tasted it. It is 34% ABV and definitely dosed with a ton of sugar, if that’s your thing.

It was only little bottles on this trip, thankfully, as we were basically borderline overweight on our two bags.

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Winter Cocktails at Alameda’s Forbidden Island

We had a great time at the annual Tiki Mug Swap at Forbidden Island this week. You bring a wrapped tiki mug and then draw from the pile and get a new mug that someone else brought. This year I got a vintage Hawaiian mug, Mrs Mai Tai came away with a cobra mug, and our friend David got an alternative Suffering Bastard. No horse-trading afterwards this year, we were happy with what we got.

While I drank some rums from FI’s Kill Devil Club list, Mrs Mai Tai had a couple drinks from the holiday cocktail menu. I thought the Tropical Cider was really great and I loved the herbal elements in the Nog Your Socks Off. The Hot Buttered Rum is always good here too, so check these out while you can.