Category: Mai Tai

Posted on

Cahoots 1940s Themed Bars in London

We had such a fun time at the Mr. Fogg’s bars last trip we sought out something similar and discovered Cahoots‘ three locations of 1940s-themed bars. These are actually from the same Inception Group that are behind Mr. Fogg’s, so now all of it makes sense. All locations feature late 1940s post-war decor and period music, plus a variety of drinks including some that are unique to each location.

Cahoots has three locations in London:

  • Underground (Soho) – the original location themed as a tube station
  • Ticket Hall (Soho) – adjacent to Underground, a street level pub that includes a patio space
  • Postal Office (Borough) – underneath rail lines and featuring a speakeasy style entrance

All three locations feature Cahooch, a delicious blend of Mount Gay Black Barrel rum, Bulleit Bourbon, Cointreau Noir, and Martini Riserva Speciale Rubino Vermouth that’s served as is or blended into other classic cocktails. We also enjoyed Ticket Hall‘s tequila-forward Giggle Water and the fruity Just Mai-Type, both excellent cocktails, and we enjoyed our lunch here as well.

The Postal Office offers several cocktails delivered Air Mail style via pneumatic tube, a fun way to get your drink to the table. I thought This Way Up was a great blend of tequila, cachaca, and blue curaçao, though it needed to be chilled via stirring before being perfect. Mrs. Mai Tai’s clarified Pen Pal tasted rich and was provided with a postcard with advice from a previous guest, and the opportunity to leave her own. There was even a show in the “Throne Room” toilet worth checking out.

Underground is perhaps the most elaborately themed location, including train car seating. The best cocktails here were the V12 Daiquiri and the lovely Keep Marm and Carry On served in a tea cup with a biscuit. All Cahoots menus are in the form of a newspaper, reinforcing the theme.

We were impressed by Cahoots theming and attentive service, and cocktails that are a step up from Mr. Fogg’s as well, featuring a relaxing escape that’s highly recommended.

Cahoots Ticket Office featuring Giggle Water and Just Mai-Type
Cahoots Postal Office featuring This Way Up and Cahooh
Cahoots Underground featuring Julep Platform no. 46

Posted on

New Menu at Dr. Funk Features Fan-Favorite Cloud Over Kona

You’d expect a World Cup hangover at San Pedro Square, but the crew at Dr. Funk aren’t waiting to launch an updated cocktail menu for the first time in a just over a year. The new menu contains a number of new original cocktails that build on the foundation of exotic classics and are embracing newer cocktail trends. The food menu has not changed, for now.

We visited twice this week to check out the new items and found them to all be well worth checking out the next time you’re in downtown San Jose, with one that’s a clear frontrunner for fan-favorite. The Funky Grog, Mai Tai, Dr. Funk, Espresso Oasis, Shipwreck, and Lychee Luau are heavy-hitters that remain from the previous menu.

Clockwise: Scarlet Macaw, Chartreuse Swizzle, Cloud Over Kona, East Meets Funk

I was interested to try the Chartreuse Swizzle, a modern classic that previously graced Dr. Funk menus in the past. The team has been stockpiling the rare Green Chartreuse and apparently have enough to put this amazing tropical cocktail back on the menu. It’s great! Dr. Funk is also adding another classic with their floral Pearl Diver that I thought was rich and sweet in the best way.

The standout new entry is Cloud Over Kona, a milk-washed blend of coffee and chocolate flavors with a rum-spiked macadamia foam. This drink was basically everyone’s favorite, so smooth, velvety, and rich with Hawaiian flavors.

Scarlet Macaw is a fruity tropical drink with plenty of nice tasting grenadine working with spices and Jamaican rum in the background. It’s not as sweet as you’d expect and isn’t too funky for those who don’t always like Jamaican rum.

Speaking of Jamaican rum, East Meets Funk is an elevated Eastern Sour with Rye and falernum, topped with a Worthy Park 109 Jamaican rum float. The balance of flavors is spot on, though you have to get past that rum float first. I’d suggest asking for a straw to use to drink from the bottom or to gently incorporate the smoky and funky rum into the blend.

There’s also a new Mai Tai glass that’s moderately priced when you purchase it with Dr. Funk’s still world-class Mai Tai

Pearl Diver and Dr. Funk Mai Tai
Posted on

Whitebox Mai Tai: Amazing Canned Cocktail in the U.K.

We ran across this Whitebox canned Mai Tai in York, England – and it interestingly bills itself as a “1944 Mai Tai” with rum, lime, orange curacao, and orgeat. The 100 ml can comes in at 23% ABV, putting it right where you want it to be for a nice single-serving Mai Tai.

And how’s the taste? Well, it’s actually really great – a very nice rummy body and orange and almond flavors you can taste. It actually came in handy when we’d been walking around all morning but the local tiki bar hadn’t opened yet, so we decided to have a Mai Tai in the hotel to cool off and take a break.

Whitebox is based in Edinburgh, Scotland, so it seems that distribution is just in the U.K. where single cans cost around £5.50. Check it out if you’re local or the next time you’re traveling and want to have a hotel Mai Tai like we did.

Posted on

The Tiki Bar Glasgow

Upon arriving in town we made a beeline for The Tiki Bar Glasgow for some drinks and treats. The space occupies the basement level including a well-appointed beer garden featuring numerous Moai (and TVs for sports). Inside there are a variety of tikis and artwork, tons of bamboo and matting, plus a nice set of floats on the ceiling. There are just two seats at the bar and all orders are taken at the bar, so it can get a little crowded there. Upstairs in a tropically themed augmented reality Darts Den.

Darts Den upstairs

Our drinks were generally good here, including a very nice Mai Tai floated with dark rum and came with a lime wedge garnish. The drinks here leaned sweet, though the nice thing about a lime wedge compared to a wheel is that if you want it less sweet you can squeeze some lime juice into your drink – which worked out really well in this Mai Tai. The 1950s-style Zombie includes pineapple juice and was just okay.

Mrs. Mai Tai did better with here two drinks including the Beach Bum that was topped with candy floss (cotton candy), leaning light with vodka and pomegranate. Even better was her half frozen Cherry Cuba Libre that was really great in this format and using a spiced rum to great effect.

We’d heard that Glasgow is famous for fried Mars bars and we can confirm they are amazing, served with vanilla ice cream, but this was the only food we ordered. A variety of locally made mugs are also available, plus drink specials Sunday-Thursday. The back bar featuring a nice set of sipping rums if that’s your thing.

Hardcore tiki fans will find faults with Tiki Bar, but we thought that they are doing a lot of things right in a market where pubs are king. The service was friendly and the drinks and decor were perfectly good for scratching the tiki itch and getting the locals acquainted to the genre.

Mai Tai, Zombie, Beach Bum, Cherry Cuba Libre
Posted on

Vintage Cocktail Club: Dublin’s Best Cocktails

We’d heard that Vintage Cocktail Club had great cocktails including a tiki section, so we planned to visit during our trip to Dublin Ireland. We made time during our first day in Dublin to check it out, having some difficulty finding the location thanks to a true speakeasy entrance and sleep deprivation from our red-eye.



Longtime VCC employee Ann Marie was our server and helped us through the menu options and offering recommendations when requested. We were so impressed by our cocktails we returned and saw Ann Marie again the next day and went again during our third day in town to revisit some of our favorites.

VCC has three floors, the middle of which has a bar and lounge seating. Upstairs there’s an outdoor patio with an additional bar if it gets busy, plus a downstairs bar and lounge open during certain hours (downstairs is the only place where you can sit at the bar). It’s a fun and elegant venue with appropriately relaxing jazz music and vintage touches.

VCC Mai Tai

In terms of the tiki menu, I ordered the Mai Tai and Fog Cutter on our first visit. The Mai Tai uses Havana Club 7, Goslings, and Wray & Nephew rums, plus Giffard Orgeat. I usually don’t like the Giffard but maybe it’s different in Europe because I loved the almond flavors in the rich Mai Tai served over a large cube. On another visit I asked for it over crushed ice and Appleton Signature replacing the Goslings and the Mai Tai was even better and one of the best this year. The Fog Cutter was not too citrusy and had plenty of booze hidden in the balanced blend. I prefer cream sherry rather than Manzanilla but this was a really fine Fog Cutter.

Tweaked Mai Tai with crushed ice

In fact, all of the drinks we had were really good with some including the Wee Dram, Dirty Wizard, Single Elix, Tequila Mockingbird, and Falls Road Flip being excellent. We adored Absinthe Minded, one of Ann Marie’s recipes that includes smokey Irish whiskey, Sloe Gin, and Absinthe.

Needless to say, we absolutely loved Vintage Cocktail Club for its great cocktails, amazing service, and relaxing vibe. We at meals in pubs, but for cocktails Vintage Cocktail Club would be hard to beat.

Dirty Wizard
Absinthe Minded
Fog Cutter
Tequila Mocking Bird
Falls Road Flip
Wee Dram
A.W.O.L.
Daiquiri
Posted on

1944 Mai Tai at Bar of America

The Bar of America is a Truckee restaurant that’s part of the Gar Woods chain of restaurants that are officially licensed to serve Trader Vic’s Mai Tais, including Vic’s glassware and made with Trader Vic’s syrups and rums. I chose the 1944 Mai Tai made with orgeat and orange curacao over the Trader Vic’s Mai Tai that’s made with Mai Tai Concentrate and it was just as great as I’ve had at Trader Vic’s locations. It’s a testament to this particular set of ingredients and the Trader Vic’s Royal Amber rum that actually works great in this cocktail.

We visited Bar of America for lunch on our way to Reno and had a nice meal including some brunch options that are available on the weekends.

Posted on

Last Spring Cocktails at Alter Ego

We returned to Alter Ego Cocktail Club to give their Spring 2026 seasonal menu one last try, with Mrs. Mai Tai trying the High Heels and Cigarettes that features Scotch as a trainer for our upcoming trip to British Isles and Scotland. Meanwhile, I absolutely loved the zesty flavors of First Bloom that features basic, coconut, and lemon. The drinks at Alter Ego are really top notch and consistent on each of our visits.

First Bloom

Another favorite is the Bread and Butter, featuring salted butter and savory sprinkles on top. We love it, and the fries also have some Japanese seasoning as well. The chicken skewers are also very good.

Paul let us know they’ve introduced a new late night cocktail menu that features some of Alter Ego’s signature cocktails as well as some modern classic such as the Trinidadi Issues, Second Serve, and Smoke Ume Margarita. Some of these some from seminal venues and bartenders of the last 25 years of the craft cocktail revolution.