Not the most traditional Christmas cocktail, but with the new green glaze I think the Suffering Bastard Mug is a perfect vessel. In order to prepare the cocktail we need to make some decisions about the ingredients.
The Trader Vic’s Suffering Bastard is very different from Joe Scialom’s original from the World War II era, and is basically a larger and boozier Mai Tai.
This is the recipe from Trader Vic’s 1972 Bartenders Guide Revised and from 1974’s Rum Cookery and Drinkery. Noteworthy that it specifically calls for an aged Rhum Agriole. But what’s missing? The lime, for one.
Suffering Bastard (1970s) 3 oz Trader Vic’s Mai Mix 1 oz Light Puerto Rican Rum 2 oz Rhum St. James Shake with ice and garnish with spent lime shell, mint, fruit stick, and cucumber
The same books list the Mai Tai as using 2 oz each of Mai Tai Mix and Trader Vic’s Mai Tai rum, so we must assume the lime is incorporated into the Mai Tai mix. As for the blend of Orange Curacao and Orgeat, I thought I’d try the ratio used for the 1958 Mai Tai from the Trader Vic’s in Havana, 12 parts Curacao to 7 parts Orgeat, and make 2 oz of this mix to go with the 1 oz of lime. I don’t have any Rhum St. James but substituted Clement VSOP Rhum that’s also from Martinique. Plus Trader Vic’s Light Rum from Puerto Rico.
Christmas Suffering Bastard 1 oz Lime Juice ¾ oz Orgeat (Latitude 29) 1¼ oz Orange Curacao (Ferrand) 1 oz Trader Vic’s Light Rum 2 oz Rhum St. James (sub Clement) Shake with ice and garnish with spent lime shell, mint, fruit stick, and cucumber (if you have one)
This was very satisfying. You certainly get a bit of that aged and grassy taste from the Clement, but it is balanced well by the subtle sweetness of the Mai Tai mix blend. The use of the light rum softens the edges of the Martinique rhum and keep this as the boozy cocktail it was meant to be.
This all time classic cocktail evolved over the centuries and this particular recipe is based on the one from Smuggler’s Cove. Rather just using an egg white in the cocktail, we’re using the entire egg. The result is creamy, though not as much as something like an Egg Nog that includes dairy.
The result is pretty good. I went with the traditional style and medium body of a Barbados rum, though something more flavorful would probably pair better with the rich taste of the egg.
Rum Flip 2 oz Old Brigand Barbados Rum ½ oz Demerara Syrup 1 medium egg Dry shake for 10 secs, then add 1 cup ice and shake. Double strain and top with nutmeg.
Everyone’s favorite Mai Tai inventor was born on this day in 1902. Victor Jules Bergeron had a difficult childhood, losing a leg to tuberculosis when just six year old. Early adulthood was no better until he scrapped some money together to open a small restaurant and bar at named Hinky Dinks at 65th and San Pablo avenue in Oakland in 1934.
A visit Don the Beachcomber’s convinced Bergeron to adjust the theme of his venue. The Bamboo Room at “Trader Vic at Hinky Dinks” opened as initially as an exclusive ladies’ lounge. Later, it became a co-ed destination and eventually the Trapper Lodge theme of Hinky Dinks gave way entirely to a Polynesian theme. The venue eventually got a shorter name, simply Trader Vic’s in 1938.
This photo shows Bergeron in the midst of that transition, sporting a Pith Helmet that never became his trademark and was soon forgotten. One guesses that Bergeron thought a hat would add character to his persona, as it did for Donn Beach. One also guesses that Bergeron got fed up wearing such head-ware and might have even thrown it into the trash accompanied by colorful profanity.
Bergeron’s fame soon spread as a restaurateur and cocktail developer, a celebrity chef of sorts. That fame as the Gordon Ramsay of his day was one reason he was asked to develop a cocktail menu for the Matson hotel properties in Waikiki where the Mai Tai became a viral sensation starting in 1953.
Bergeron died in 1984 at the age of 81, but today let’s remember the young man who was about to shake up the restaurant and cocktail world. Raise a glass of rum or brandy, or maybe a famous Trader Vic’s cocktail such as the Fogcutter, Eastern Sour, or a Mai Tai. Cheers and happy birthday to Trader Vic Bergeron.
Heads turned when San Francisco’s Trad’r Sam bar closed mysteriously in late summer. The legendary bamboo bar has been in operation in the Richmond district since 1937, the oldest continuously operating tiki bar in the world. The closure was due in part to a complicated and multifaceted ownership dispute among a brother and sister/niece, along with lease issues. The dust settled with John Munguia taking over operational duties for the first time in many years and the venue reopening in early November.
Aside from settling the lease and operational disputes, the downtime resulted in noticeable updates to the seating and decor inside the neighborhood hangout that in true dive bar fashion still only accepts cash. The bamboo booths named for tropical islands were long in disrepair and have been removed, replaced by new tables and chairs. The blenders and barstools are all new with the bar surface and floor refurbished as well. We noticed there was a greater emphasis on some cheap but well-placed tikis, which I think accented the many historic bamboo elements still in place inside. The previously graffiti-filled men’s restroom has been completely repainted, perhaps the first time in history where white walls were welcome in a tiki bar.
In the previous regime the hours were notoriously inconsistent, but after last week’s SF Standard article that said that bar opens early on Mondays I took advantage of a “wellness day” at work and decided to see how things are before noon in the Richmond. We saw Munguia tending bar with a few regulars who were drinking shots and beer and not the Polynesian Drinks referenced on the iconic sign outside. These regulars were already in party mode when we walked in and soon were treated to a whiskey shot bought by a customer for everyone in the bar. Another regular knew the inside of the venue better than Munguia, running behind the bar to find the remotes for the jukebox and TVs.
Which left it up to this writer to keep up the tradition of Polynesian Drinks at the Polynesian Drinks bar, ordering a Mai Tai. Trad’r Sam features a vast cocktail menu, though on a previous visit it wasn’t clear there was a substantial difference between a Mai Tai and Zombie aside from the garnish. But most the cocktails are just $9, indicating this is a place for inexpensive imbibing and not for refined reflection of craft cocktails. Indeed my island Mai Tai was prepared exactly like the one on my last trip in early 2022 and was so similar it evoked the “they’re the same picture” meme from NBC’s The Office.
But I come to praise Trad’r Sam, not to bury it. The Mai Tai wasn’t too bad, and I had even better luck when I ordered a Singapore Sling from bartender JJ who had recently arrived and really began the bar setup. The Sling contained a mix of rum, sloe gin, a couple cherry liqueurs, and a bit of juice and honestly was the best Singapore Sling I’ve had in a while. Meanwhile, a group of young men came in for some socializing and a couple rounds of tequila shots. I wandered over to the jukebox and immediately found some Gerry Rafferty and Gary Wright songs that tickled JJ and the group of young men. I kept looking and eventually found some Ventures and even a few Martin Denny tunes.
Sitting in the world’s oldest tiki bar listening to “Quiet Village” while sipping a tropical cocktail at 2:00 in the afternoon wasn’t a bad way to spend my “wellness day” after all.
Hardcore tikiphiles certainly have better options in The City, home to at least half a dozen top-tier destination tiki bars. But I think Trad’r Sam is worth visiting as well. True, one minute you might be relaxing with a drink and the next an inebriated regular will be hugging you while sliding over a whiskey shot. It’s that kind of place. It isn’t unsafe, though, and I’d have trusted those regulars to have my back in the event of any trouble. We can only hope that continued upgrades to the interior and maybe the cocktail program will follow with a resurgence of business and the ability to focus on hospitality rather than the judiciary.
Time machines do exist, if you know where to find them. That was the takeaway from Martin Cate‘s seminar and happy hour at California Gold in San Rafael on Sunday. Cate is a part owner of the saloon in downtown San Rafael, a bar with a great reputation for excellent cocktails and quite a fine selection of spirits.
We were welcomed with a formidable Planter’s Punch made with Myers’s new Single Barrel Select release, finished in Sazerac Rye casks. We then made it into the back portion of the venue for a little history lesson about punch, rum, and Fred L. Myers who founded the Myers’s rum company. Cate weaved the historical details along with his own experience as a curator of rum at Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco. More Planter’s Punches were provided as well.
The star of the show wasn’t Cate, though. It was the vintage bottle of 1960s era Myers’s Planters’ Punch rum. At 97 proof this was really different from the Myers’s of today – but also unlike anything currently on the market. The rum was designed to go into the Planter’s Punch, a Jamaican cocktail featuring rum, lime, sugar, and water/ice. And maybe a little spice to make it extra nice. The punchy flavor of the vintage Myers’s is bold with burnt caramel flavors and not a ton of the high ester funk you often find in Jamaica rum today.
I’ve tasted a 1950s version of this rum and the 1960s version tasted essentially similar. So good, if you can find a place selling it. Rums like this are time machines to different distilleries, extinct expressions, or the flavors of another generation.
We then tried a taste of Myers’s Single Barrel Select release, a more refined and slightly boozier expression than the standard Original Dark Myers’s that’s so pervasive across so many bars. Indeed this is a nice sipper with a hint of Rye Whiskey from the finish. It comes in a nice bottle and California Gold was selling it for a bit of a discount.
Many of us lingered at the bar discussing rums of all kinds (but mostly Jamaican) and enjoying the good cheer.
