Category: History

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Trad’r Sam Mai Tai

My company gave me a “wellness” day so I took a trip to San Francisco to visit Trad’r Sam, the longest continually operating tiki bar in the world. Like many bars outside the city’s financial and tourist core, this is a dive bar not a craft cocktail place. Inside things are … very divey. There are some longtime bamboo framing elements around the tables, and a few tiki mugs hanging above the bar, and a lot of tired bones. Inside, the place is cash only, and they have a long menu of cocktails along with a modest collection of spirits and beer.

The owner of Trad’r Sam took offense to my review a couple years ago when I said that all the drinks were pretty much the same. Part of my revisit was to test the theory.

My $9 island Mai Tai was prepared thusly:
Splash of bottled Lime and Sweet & Sour mix
Splash of Triple Sec and Amaretto
Splash of Grenadine 
Steady pours of Myers’s white rum and a dark rum (might have been Cruzan)
Big splash of Pineapple Juice
Healthy float of Myers’s dark rum

If the grenadine was removed I would give this a passing grade, as my first few sips came off the bottom where the grenadine had settled and it was not good. Once I stirred it up a bit more the cocktail improved. Service was efficient and friendly enough for a dive bar.

I was thinking about a second cocktail when another patron ordered a Zombie. The Zombie had even more pineapple juice and more rum, but otherwise seemed like the same ingredients. Served blended.

So, it was one and done for me. I’m glad I took the drive out on a sunny Friday. The parklet outside was spartanly appointed but definitely was being well used by regulars who were starting the weekend early. 

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Oceanic Arts

I made it, finally. But it was too late.

When we started planning our SoCal trip we decided that we should make this a priority. We’d never visited in the past, since most SoCal trips were centered in Orange County (and almost always with the kids). But we knew this place wouldn’t last forever.

Unfortunately, they closed just a few weeks before we got there. A missed opportunity, and a lesson learned: you’ve got to visit these places while they’re still around.

I’m really looking forward to the book about Oceanic Arts that I’ve already ordered and is coming soon.

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1953: The Mai Tai is Trader Vic’s Favorite

Found this in a gossip column from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, dated February 4, 1953. The article references the Royal Hawaiian Hotel’s “newly revised drink list” which we all know was the place where the Mai Tai was introduced to Hawaii.

And quite notably, Trader Vic’s indicates that his favorite drink is the Mai Tai, “a heady concoction with a rum base.”

It is easy to see some of the statements about the Mai Tai from Trader Vic the man and Trader Vic’s the corporation through the lens of being behind a drink that became world famous. But here, at the birth of the Mai Tai’s rise to fame is Vic himself extolling the virtues of the cocktail. It also gives some perspective to Vic’s role in the “Mai Tai Origin Wars” and how much effort he went through to be known as the father of the cocktail. The Mai Tai appears to be his favorite child.

The article’s capper paints clearer picture of the man with the closing remark that “Vic says his job gives him heartburn about once a week.”

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1722 McCadden Place

This is the location of the original Don’s Beachcomber Cafe, the forebear tiki bar that opened in Hollywood in 1934. A couple years later Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt opened a larger place across the street called Don the Beachcomber, then subsequently changed his name to Donn Beach.

There’s nothing to see really, and as far as I can tell there’s nothing technically at 1722 anymore. There is a condo sitting over location of the second location.

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Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Rum

There’s a nice case of vintage Trader Vic’s bottles in the Cook Room at the Emeryville location.

This shot is of the Mai Tai Rum, which combined rums from Jamaica (70%), Martinique (20%), and Virgin Islands (10%), and coming in at a very nice 43% ABV. Likely a great rum to put in your Mai Tai (or your “Mai-Tai” according to the label, sigh). Man, I’d love to try some of this.

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Happy 4th Anniversary Kon-Tiki

It was no sure bet four years ago when Matt Reagan and Christ Aivaliotis opened The Kon-Tiki. Since then, they’ve carved out an important role in the download Oakland restaurant community, and the venue also serves as a hub for many in the East Bay and Oakland tiki community. The “Oakhana” have weekly meetups usually on Wednesdays. Come over and join the fun.

Over the years, the Kon-Tiki has hosted many events with rum producers and developed their rum club, the Kon-Tiki Expedition. When members complete the expedition they bang the gong and it is always a party. Kon-Tiki has hosted a few music events and who can forget the frequent appearances of Cosmic Lady Six for Tarot Tuesdays. And Kon-Tiki has hosted and participated in a number of events in the Oakland community.

These days, Kon-Tiki is the flagship location for everything tiki including a vast selection of rums, a large cocktail menu, and a modest but varied set of food offerings. Including their world famous Cheeseburger, of course. And there is now an “outpost” location a half mile away, the Kon-Tiki Room at Palmetto. And, who knows, maybe more outposts to come.

So many memorable visits over the past four years, ten photos doesn’t really do justice. Thank you to so many great staff members who’ve provided excellent hospitality: @christaivaliotis@tolkien_black_dude @tomatigre @doctorbyday @not_carlos@terrysixofficial @manuelenriquebonilla @jeanie.with.a.bottle@le_toine_official @stirmaxalot @splifford_robinson and more.