Category: History

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New Label Denizen Merchant’s Reserve vs. Old

Independent bottler Denizen started a rebranding process back in late 2023, changing the label design for their blended rum expressions. This process has been continuing as old stock has been replaced over time with new bottles that feature the new labels.

We previously covered the transition of Denizen Aged White rum, which also included component changes to the blend. Whereas the previous bottle was designated with a prominent number and the text that said “aged 3 years,” the new blend sneakily has a large 5 but subtly says “aged up to 5 years.” Jamaican rum seemed to be removed from the Aged White blend, a noticeable enough change where I could taste the difference and prefer the old “3” version.

Merchant’s Reserve was the first expression from Denizen, a blend of Jamaican and Martinique rums designed to emulate the Second Adjusted Mai Tai formula from Trader Vic’s, circa mid 1950s. The previous label stated “aged 8 years” but the new label says “aged up to 8 years” presumably because the Martinique Grand Arǒme isn’t aged for that long or possibly at all. Moreover, when Merchant’s Reserve was first introduced, an article about the rum from Cocktail Wonk Matt Pietrek indicated that some of the Jamaican rum was aged only four years and some not aged at all. So, I guess the new label is more precise, even as the small print “up to” still feels a little bit deceptive.

ABV remains at 43%, but there is now inclusion of “Caribbean rums” without any country of origin. This is disappointing in that it likely means a reduction in the Jamaican component.

Regardless of the age and components, Merchant Reserve’s stellar reputation as a de facto gold-standard single bottle Mai Tai rum means I needed to check to see if the taste of this blend has changed like it did for Aged White.

I made two Mai Tais with identical ingredients and a shared pool of lime juice and couldn’t taste any difference. A visual comparison indicated no differences with the rum inside a tasting glass, and blind tasting with several pours of each expression also led me to the same conclusion: I can’t taste any difference between the new and old bottle of Denizen Merchant’s Reserve.

There you go, Mai Tai fans. No FOMO about branding changes, at least for what’s most important which is the liquid inside the bottle. Denizen Merchant’s Reserve remains a stellar blended rum and a smart choice for anyone wanting to make a great Mai Tai.

“I can’t taste any difference between the new and old bottle of Denizen Merchant’s Reserve”

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Tiki Tuesday at The Cellar

We were tipped that The Cellar in Fullerton has been doing a special tiki menu on Tuesdays, with a new cocktail as a featured item each week. We’d visited The Cellar for dinner and drinks a few years back and enjoyed the old school charm and immersive experience of dining in an imagineer created faux wine cellar.

Hawaiian Room and Kingston Negroni

As we arrived right at opening and sat at the bar, we saw the featured item for our visit: the Hawaiian Room, a 1940s cocktail from the Hotel Lexington in New York City. This balanced cocktail was Mrs Mai Tai’s choice and has pineapple, lime, orange curaçao, apple brandy, and white rum. I looked at the rest of the cocktail menu and picked the Kingston Negroni, also quite great and using Smith & Cross Jamaican rum as it should.

Shortly thereafter, the bartender showed us a Tiki Tuesday menu of classics such as the Scorpion, Jet Pilot, and Navy Grog. I mentioned I was surprised there wasn’t a Mai Tai listed on this or on the main cocktail menu, but he pointed out the $45 Vintage Mai Tai that includes Foursquare 2011 rum from Barbados, along with marcona almond orgeat and Martinique rhum. He then suggested that people know they can get a good Mai Tai here anyway, at which point I suggested that it never hurts to list it explicitly because sometimes even craft cocktail bars can’t make it, when they don’t have orgeat, or sometimes they make it with pineapple or orange juice.

Mai Tai

Nonetheless, the confidence of the bartender made me think that ordering a Mai Tai would be worth it, so I asked for it with Planteray Xaymaca rum that I saw on the back bar. As I watched the prep I could see the inclusion of another spirit and I determined that they are so used to including Martinique rhum that they didn’t consider I wanted a single rum Mai Tai. I braced for a difficult conversation but after tasting the cocktail I decided that Martinique rhum did actually improve it after all, resulting in a fabulous Mai Tai that had a great orgeat and rum flavor.

A few more regulars started filtering into the bar, we decided two drinks were all we needed before going back to Disneyland for the evening. Tiki Tuesday at The Cellar was really fantastic.

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Eye Candy at Clifton’s Pacific Seas

Pacific Seas is the exotic travel and South Seas themed bar inside Clifton’s Republic in downtown Los Angeles, but since it is only open on weekends and has an up and down return from COVID it has been many years from our last visit. We made sure to visit on this trip, securing a reservation right at opening at 6 pm Saturday.

None of the speakeasy or dress code rules of years past are enforced at opening, but we still wore aloha wear and joined the line to get in. We made our way upstairs, eventually finding the secret entrance and then exploring upstairs until we found the venue. The interior here is of the same quality as a Disney queue with so many items to look at and so many tikis too. Ambient music with an electronica lean was playing, a precursor to the club music that plays later in the evening.

We were seated on the floor at a table, rather than in the more decorated booths – a disappointment. But, our server was very friendly and efficient, working solo during the first hour across the entire floor. Also working solo was a young bartender who wasn’t exactly killing himself to work through orders so our drinks took some time to arrive.

The venue asks if you’re there for drinks only or for “drinks and snacks” – yet some of the menu items included a burger and the very large chicken sandwich that I had, so “snacks” is a weird label. The food here was pretty good and was delivered before our drinks were.

It appears all the cocktails are batched, which meant that Mrs. Mai Tai got the last Jet Pilot during service even though it was only just after opening, so one wonders if they’re batched only on Fridays. The Himalayan Mai Tai includes some mango liqueur but is actually a pretty good Mai Tai since it includes overproof Jamaican rum and Copalli rum. However, the Saturn did not taste like any Saturn I’ve ever tried. So the cocktails were hit and miss, and going off menu seems very risky.

Mai Tai

Still, the eye candy in here is amazing and Clifton’s Pacific Seas is a must-visit for any tikiphile. We really enjoyed the energy and overall our food and service were pretty good. We hear the people watching can be good later when it is a nightclub vibe, if that’s your thing.

Saturn
Jet Pilot
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National Saturn Cocktail Day

Do we need another official/unofficial cocktail holiday? When it’s for the Saturn, the answer is yes!

The recognition is the brainchild of Derek from Make and Drink on YouTube, whose history of the Saturn video is incredible, insightful, and a full stop must see. Really, go watch it now.

This week Derek is following up with another video and promoting May 22 to be Saturn Day, in recognition of the day in 1967 when the cocktail’s creator J. “Popo” Galsini won the California Bartenders Guild competition and essentially introduced the Saturn to the world.

The Saturn is one of the last great cocktails from tiki’s golden area, using familiar ingredients such as orgeat, falernum, and passionfruit syrup and notably using gin as the base spirit. As Derek noted, Galsini was not a purist and said that using vodka or a light rum was perfectly reasonable. The cocktail was originally served to judges in an ungarnished coupe glass, and later to attendees in a whiskey sour glass with a cocktail cherry dropped into the bottom and garnished with an lemon wedge. Those fancy planet-style garnishes are a 21st century invention and are sort of incorrect because the cocktail was named after the Saturn rocket, not the planet.

Historically accurate Saturn cocktail garnish

Saturn
½ oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Passion Fruit Syrup
¼ oz Falernum
¼ oz Orgeat
1¼ oz Dry Gin
Shake with ice and strain. Garnish as you please.

The rich flavors from some of tiki’s stalwart syrups blend together in harmony, with subtle juniper notes from the gin. This is a gin cocktail that even gin-haters love, and I’ve served this to reluctant guests to great effect.

Cheers to Popo on his creation, and cheers to Derek for keeping the flame going for a new generation.

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Regression at Trad’r Sam

I wrote fairly glowingly about the refreshed interior at Trad’r Sam after their surprise and ultimately short-lived temporary shuttering in the fall of 2023. The world’s oldest continuously operating tiki bar was quickly back in business including a decor upgrades and graffiti-free restrooms.

After our wonderful dinner at Tommy’s Mexican we walked a couple blocks up Geary to see how the ol’ Trad’r was doing. There weren’t a lot of people in there just past six, and we settled at a table for conversation over drink. Greg and Debbie had been here before dinner so went with Cokes and Julie and I scanned the menu for some cocktails we’d like to try.

I had a great experience with a Singapore Sling on a past visit, and decided to skip the Mai Tai made with apricot brandy, sweet and sour, and pineapple juice (but at least it wasn’t blended like the Zombie and Navy Grog are). The Sling was, well it was fine – but really sweet. Meanwhile Mrs. Mai Tai went with the Toasted Almond cocktail which is a frozen drink and thanks to being frozen tasted pretty great and not so sweet. Maybe a frozen Zombie isn’t a bad choice next time.

I’m sad to report the restroom has regressed. While the walls are white they’re now covered in graffiti that was pretty raunchy, expressing to customers that Trad’r Sam is still quite divey and likely will remain so forever. Nonetheless, I do enjoy my visits here to remind myself of the history that’s been in place for almost 90 years.

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Classic Cocktail: Tommy’s Margarita at Tommy’s Mexican

The winds of fate conspired to once again land us at the birthplace of a seminal local cocktail, after Greg and Debbie suggested checking out Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant in the Richmond District of San Francisco. This is the birthplace of the Tommy’s Margarita, which uses agave syrup rather than triple sec as the sweetener in the cocktail.

Greg smartly suggested arriving before opening so we were able to sit at the bar and talk to the bartender. Enrique is third generation member of the family that founded Tommy’s in 1965, and he walked us through the cocktail while preparing drinks and constantly juicing limes. All the staff were super friendly throughout our visit, talking about the history of the venue and showing us mementos and such.

The creator of the Tommy’s Margarita is Julio Bermejo, Enrique’s uncle, and it includes 2 parts of 100% agave tequila, 1 part fresh lime juice, and 1 part of agave syrup (equal parts agave nectar and water). The ingredients are measured in a blender and then shaken with plenty of cubed ice. The cocktail comes ungarnished and if you order a pitcher it makes four cocktails and you save a little off the cost.

This my friends is easy drinking right there! The Tommy’s Margarita was so simple yet had so much flavor that is perfectly balanced. The key is great tequila, but the ice is made with San Francisco water so would be hard to replicate exactly outside the City. And that lime juice is minutes fresh, not stored overnight or juiced hours before service, adding brightness that really makes a difference.

There’s a large selection of tequila here, and the restaurant claims to be the world’s best tequila bar. Enrique walked Greg through a recommended pour, and there’s a tequila club you can join if you visit on weekdays. We also ordered some food and found the dishes to be exemplary. The vibe at Tommy’s was really great, we’re bummed it took us this long to visit. But as they say, better late than never. We will return.

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Classic Cocktail: Tequila Sunrise at The Trident

Mrs. Mai Tai and friends went to a Taylor Swift tribute show, which left the husbands with some free time and Sam suggested having lunch at The Trident in Sausalito. The venue was founded by the Kington Trio in 1966 and there are still many groovy elements inside, it really is a time capsule with the curved lines, vast wood features, and murals on the wall and the ceiling.

For cocktail fans The Trident is notable as the birthplace of the modern Tequila Sunrise cocktail, developed in 1972 by bartender Robert “Bobby” Lozoff and served to the Rolling Stones. The band was so enamored by the cocktail that they brought it with them on the road, eventually naming it the Cocaine and Tequila Sunrise Tour. Lozoff died last week, making our visit all the more poignant.

The Trident’s Tequila Sunrise features Herradura Silver Tequila, Orange Juice, Grenadine, and Creme de Cassis. It is about as easy to drink as it looks, but it worked great for us just after noon on a Sunday. I do have to say it was not bad at all, even if you have to bring your own bump if you want an authentic version.

After a short wait in the bar we were seated outside for a beautiful almost windless day on the bay, enjoying lunch with friends that included a couple hungry seagulls. The Trident lived up to the hype, and is totally worth checking out.

Paper Airplane