Appleton 17 Legend Tasting

We were fortunate snag the last spots to attend a ticketed tasting event for the Appleton 17 Legend release at Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge. The £50 event included a welcome Mai Tai with Appleton 8 plus tastings of Appleton 8, 12, and 21 – and the latest Appleton Hearts releases: 1993 and 2002. We also had some truffles made with Appleton rums and a lemon sorbet palette cleanser.

Appleton’s Master Blender Dr. Joy Spence led us through tastings of these rums and was joined Campari ambassador Chris Dennis to discuss Appleton’s rum line, J. Wray & Nephew heritage, and the production and release of Appleton 17 Legend – made to replicate the historical Wray 17 used in the original Trader Vic’s Mai Tai.

The approach leading us to Legend made sense, though it was a lot of rum building up (I didn’t finish my samples to keep a clearer head). The inclusion of Hearts, a single marque pot still release was quite useful. I found the 2002 to be a flavor bomb similar to the 1995, 1999, and 2003 releases I’ve tried. But the 1993 had an unusual finish best described as “minty.” The wonders of pot stills.

All of which led us to a small sample pf Appleton 17 Legend and then a taste in a Mai Tai made by Dennis. Issued at 49% ABV like the historic original, this is more than a proofed down Hearts release. The blend of four marques means this is truly unique. There is no traditional Appleton orange peel, nor overripe fruit. Instead there are hints of nutmeg and herbal spices. It is delicious nest from a glass but even better in Mai Tai where the long and lingering finish is truly sublime. Dennis made the Mai Tai with Ferrand Dry Curaçao and homemade orgeat and rich simple.

Locals were able to purchase a bottle for pickup on Monday. At $500, the rum is fab but I’d probably choose almost two Hearts bottles instead.

We left with goodie bags featuring an Appleton jigger, blue glass, and a cute bottle of Appleton 8. We thank Campari and Appleton for putting on such a great event.

June 11, 2023June 11, 2023

Forbidden Island 17th Anniversary

Had a nice afternoon in Alameda on the patio with friends celebrating Forbidden Island‘s 17th anniversary. The seminal third wave tiki bar opened in 2006 and is still going strong. We were glad to stay outdoors in prep for our upcoming trip to the British Isles, so we missed the live Hawaiian music and hula from Haopinaka, but it sounded great from afar.

Copalli rum was doing free tastings of their line, including a delightful cask strength expression picked by Forbidden Island. Copalli was present in one of my cocktails, the nicely balanced Copalli Chartreuse Swizzle. Gotta order those Chartreuse cocktails when the French herbal liqueur is still actually available.

Following up from my visit a few weeks back I tried the Infinite Coastline again, but this time with the robust and boozy Rum Fire Jamaica Rum. I really liked this and it remains, as they say, easy drinking.

Nice to see so many familiar faces celebrating Forbidden Island’s birthday – and there was even cake. Congrats to Michael Thanos and all the staff who keep FI going strong.

June 11, 2023June 11, 2023

1990s Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai Recipe

This recipe comes from a 1997 Honolulu Star-Bulletin article, and curiously doesn’t include any Pineapple Juice.

1990s Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai
5 oz Mai Tai Mix
1 oz White Rum
1 oz Myers’s Dark Rum
Fill glass with ice, add mix and rums

Mai Tai Mix
10 oz Orange Juice
4 oz Orange Curacao
2 oz Orgeat
2 oz Rock Candy Syrup
2 oz Sour Lemon
Combine all ingredients and add water to make 1 quart

This complex and large format Mai Tai Mix likely isn’t particularly approachable for the home bartender, though if a math wiz wants to scale this down for individual serving size we’ll gladly attribute your effort.

Update: our friend Cory Schoolland did the math and while the exact amounts for some of these are technically a bit higher or lower than indicated this is very close without having to measure in single milliliters.

Mai Tai Mix (single use)
1½ oz Orange Juice
⅔ oz Orange Curacao
⅓ oz Orgeat
⅓ oz Rock Candy Syrup
⅓ oz Sour Lemon Juice
1¾ oz Water

June 4, 2023June 4, 2023

Perfect Pour Rum Runner

According to legend, the Rum Runner cocktail was originally developed when “Tiki John” Ebert improvised a new cocktail based on leftover ingredients at the Holiday Isle Resort in the Florida Keys in 1972.

And, strangely, looking at leftover bottles is also what led me to making this cocktail.

I was going through one of the main liquor cabinets at home and thought maybe it was time to take look at dumping stuff I’m no longer using or to finish up an almost empty bottle. This was the case with my beloved Giffard Banane du Brésil, almost empty (and with a spare bottle already at the ready). I look way in the back and saw a bottle of Blackberry Brandy. I’ve head this for years and it’s been so long I don’t even remember why I had it.

Banana and Blackberry… what could I make? Thankfully, I remembered these were the two cornerstone ingredients in a Rum Runner.

Rum Runner
1½ oz Lime Juice
⅞ oz Banana Liqueur (Giffard)
⅞ oz Blackberry Brandy (Hiram Walker)
⅝ oz Grenadine
¾ oz 151 Proof Puerto Rican Rum (Cruzan)
Fill 5 cup blender half full with ice cubes and blend until smooth.

I blended until smooth and poured into a bamboo glass and it was a perfect pour right to the rim!

The above recipe is what’s on the souvenir cup pictured in the Total Tiki App and differs slightly from the listed recipe by using less grenadine. In actuality, this is too much ice for the amount of rum and liqueurs. Pretty flavorless and leans a little tart. So, I added about an ounce more of the Blackberry Brandy and it did improve the cocktail. The recipe on the cup doesn’t specify a type of rum and certainly a Demerara 151 likely would also improve this.

I’ve heard the Banana is lost in this and I must concur. Maybe I should have used artificial creme de banana instead of this good Giffard liqueur.

May 29, 2023May 29, 2023

Tiki Dreams: From Far-Away Fantasy to Pop-Culture Phenomenon / Napa Valley Museum Yountville

We enjoyed a trip up to the Napa Valley Museum Yountville to view the exhibition running now through through December 31, 2023. The collection is curated by Baby Doe & Otto von Stroheim of Tiki Oasis and it tells a chronological story of tiki in popular culture with an emphasis on venues from the Bay Area. Those venues include Trader Vic’s of course, but also The Lanai, Tiki Bob’s, and more. Each named venue features a nice chronology and plenty of historical details and artifacts.

The collection includes some large tikis, a tiki mug collection, and plenty of artwork. There’s an incredible tiki by Crazy Al (unfortunately not attributed in the museum) that has nods to the different carving styles from across the Pacific. And there’s a custom-built bar built by Woody Miler and used for events.

Overall, the exhibit is well worth the drive and modest entrance fee. We went first thing on Saturday and avoided the typical weekend traffic jams. A California Road Trip exhibit downstairs will also scratch the itch for fans of midcentury kitsch.

The exhibit also features a gift shop with a great selection of items from Trader Vic’s, McBiff, Heidiline, Tiki and Stitch, and more. The great looking event mug by Woody Miller that pays tribute to the Barney West tiki outside Trader Vic’s is only available at the ~monthly ticketed special event receptions: June 17, July 15, August 19, September 16, October 7, December 2. Check the website for event details and ticket links.

May 26, 2023May 26, 2023

Tropical Standard Book Event at Trader Vic’s

A wonderful evening at Trader Vic’s where Eve Bergeron welcomed authors Garret Richard and Ben Schaffer who discussed their new book Tropical Standard. The authors signed copies and held a Q&A about topics within the book. We thought Schaffer did a good job sort of leading the discussion points and throwing it to Richard for deep dives on various topics. Lots of smiling head nods when Richard noted “Lime, sugar, and spirit is nature’s alcohol delivery system.” A very tight and breezy hour or so.

Richard also discussed the approach for his Mai Tai recipe, noting that he uses ⅝ oz of Latitude 29 Orgeat (2:1 syrup) and two orange liqueurs to provide an ounce of sweet to balance the ounce of lime juice. He mentioned going to 2¼ oz of rum to deliver the equivalent of the booziness of mid-century rums.

The authors also brought Tommy’s Margarita creator Julio Bermejo to discuss his approach to that cocktail, procuring and using limes, and more. Bermejo’s adjustment to use a watered down Agave Syrup in lieu of Triple Sec in the Margarita reinforced some of the author’s ideas around Sugar Adjustment for preparing cocktails, and Bermejo is a charismatic speaker in his own right.

Three cocktails from the book were featured and prepared in the Cook Room where the book discussion was held. I heard only great things about Yacht Rock, which I did not try, but I did enjoy the two others.

From Dusk Till Dawn was quite delightful, featuring a delightful Blood Orange Syrup. The use of a Blood Orange Syrup allows the flavors of that fruit to be used but in a format that is sweet enough to work with the spirit and doesn’t water down the drink.
Pineapple Princess was a delicate cocktail that uses a Pineapple Syrup and milk washed rum. I thought this was great.

We thank the authors for signing the book and for bringing forth the ideas about preparing tropical cocktails using these different techniques.

May 20, 2023April 18, 2025

Appleton Estate Legend 17 Details

Appleton unveiled details of their forthcoming Appleton Estate 17 Year Old Legend Jamaica Rum release this week. The rum was developed by Appleton’s master blender Joy Spence using four rare distillates to replicate the formula for Wray & Nephew 17, the original rum that Trader Vic used in the Mai Tai. Issued at 49% ABV and aged in ex-Bourbon oak barrels, Legend replicates the original by being 100% pot still distillate.

Spence was quoted in a Forbes article about the release, saying “When I made the Mai Tai with this rum. I tell you, I was in heaven. I sat in my garden and I said this is most amazing Mai Tai ever.”

Due to the rarity of the distillate, only 1500 bottles will be available globally, never to be produced again. Legend will be available at select “premium retailers” starting in June 2023, in the United States, Jamaica, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Denmark, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand, Japan, and Hong Kong. List price is $500 per bottle.

Their hyped May 17 announcement date coincided with the selling of a few bottles via Blockchain broker BlockBar, where the early adopters are guaranteed an NFT and a bottle. Or, they are now in a position to flip the rum to the highest bidder, with some bottles now well over $1000.

The Mad Scramble Starts in June

You’d think that with a $500 list price that maybe it would keep away some buyers. Heck, even Appleton’s $300-$400 Hearts releases are still found out there here or there. But given the hype it seems that Legend will be very difficult to obtain. We know a few famous venues and collectors who won’t be getting Legend even after they asked.

Personally, I’ll be traveling in the British Isles for the last two weeks in June. So, there’s nary a chance I’ll be able to jump on my favorite retailer’s customer email and snap this release up like I did with the Appleton Hearts release. The whole NFT thing left a bad taste in my mouth.

Maybe someone will take pity and offer me a tot or two.