We had a fun afternoon in Alameda for the 19th annual Parking Lot Sale at Forbidden Island. There are multiple vendors surrounding FI’s still thriving outdoor patio, with a couple drinks available in the outdoor bar and a full menu available for order inside. The vendors are mostly different on Sunday, offering an opportunity to review additional offerings during the weekend.
Mrs. Mai Tai picked up this cute Candy Corn Tiki Bob and a tiki hut pin. Meanwhile, I had a pretty good Mai Tai and a surprisingly good non-alcoholic Mai Tai that’s tangy and refreshing.
As the Trader Vic’s restaurant and food services empire expanded during the 1950s and 1960s, there were several variants of the Mai Tai developed to appeal to different customers. All of these were simply a Mai Tai but with an adjustment to rum or spirit being used. The Menehune Juice was simply a Mai Tai made with light Puerto Rican rum and the Suffering Bastard was one made with three ounces of rum rather than two.
Vic also developed versions using different spirits, including the Pinky Gonzalez with tequila, Honi Honi with bourbon, and the Rusky Tai made with vodka (now designated as “Vodka Tai” on Trader Vic’s menus). Using the Mai Tai as a template, these are all still really great cocktails.
Notable in absentia is the lack of gin Mai Tai, especially since gin was featured in many of Vic’s cocktails. This seemed like a strange omission, so I decided to make one at home using Tanqueray Gin, nicely flavorful at 47% ABV. I was really interested to see how this worked.
It was terrible.
I guess ol’ Vic knew a thing or two about cocktails because for some reason this “Juniper Tai” was truly awful and almost undrinkable. The gin’s Juniper and botanical flavors did not pair well with orange curaçao and almond-forward orgeat. They can’t all be winners, I guess.
The Fat Pigeon seems to be the Tri-Valley’s go-to venue for cocktail pop-ups, previously hosting Miracle at Christmas, Golden Girls, and Alice in Wonderland themes previously. Since spooky season is upon us, there’re now running a Halloween theme.
The setup includes a special cocktail menu including low ABV and mocktail options, plus fun and fairly elaborate decor. There are no special costumes or wildly immersive soundscapes, though, just fun drinks in a welcoming venue.
I enjoyed the 13 Stabs Later, a refreshing drink with soda and blood orange apéritif that leans fruity. Meanwhile, Mrs. Mai Tai tried the Offering which is a clarified drink including bourbon and pumpkin spices. It’s served with a Biscoff cookie which you’re supposed to take a bite of before taking a sip.
13 Stabs Later
The highlight for us was the Spooky Tini Flight, with an okay Espresso Martini but amazing Bad Apple and Pumpkin Spice variants. The little tiny martini glasses are a fun delivery method and we enjoyed rotating the display to get to our favorite item.
Spooky Tini Flight
As pop-ups go, Fat Pigeon seems to have the format and execution locked in. The atmosphere is fun and the quality cocktails offer something for nearly everyone.
Nightcaps at Rosetta is the cocktail-focused evening storefront for Livermore’s Rosetta Roasting cafe that includes a different theme each day. We visited on Sinatra Saturday with menu items including a Manhattan, Gimlet, Negroni, Martini, Whiskey Sour, and Dark Daiquiri.
Revolver and Sepia Spice Martini
My choice was the Revolver, an early 2000s cocktail by Jon Santer at Bruno’s in San Francisco, which has bourbon, coffee liqueur, and orange bitters. This was really great and had a fragrance that reminded me of vintage bars I’d visited in the past. Meanwhile Mrs. Mai Tai tried the Sepia Spice Martini and the Autumn Orchard Sidecar – both leaned a little lighter with mild spice flavors. I’m a sucker for a sidecar and this version tasted pretty good to me.
Autumn Orchard Sidecar
Nightcaps serves savory bites and desert, so we tried a bit of both. The artichoke beignets were really good and the brie and pear fillo rolls were even better. We indulged with two deserts including a Manhattan cheesecake that was amazing. But the star of the show on the food side was the pistachio ricotta cake that was so light in body, yet still also had an amazing flavor. I would come back just for that Ricotta cake.
What a fabulous evening in downtown San Jose last night for our second hosted trivia event, this time hosted at Dr. Funk. We had a packed house of people testing their knowledge of arcane Mai Tai and Tiki Bar trivia, or maybe just load up on $8 Mai Tais and nacho fries.
We did four themed rounds of trivia, starting with Mai Tai Origins, South Bay Tiki, What’s in a Mai Tai, and Tiki Bars. Questions ranged from the simple (“In what city was the Mai Tai invented”) to deeper cuts such as the longest continuously operating tiki bar in Southern California. Hint: it isn’t Tiki Ti or Tonga Hut. Our last question about a British celebrity garnered a wild reaction when the answer was revealed.
16 teams were formed with up to four people, including themed names such as Team Finkonistas, Whiskey Business, Rum Believable, and the Two Swizzle Sticks. Prizes included a fab gift basket from Dr. Funk including a mug, tshirt, sweatshirt, and gift card – plus some tiki mugs and Mai Tai glasses from my collection.
Two teams tied for first so we went to sudden death with an obscure question about the number of issues of Tiki News. Congrats to Beachcomb Bubbies for winning and Rhum Island Provisions for also garnering an amazing score. Thanks to all who came out – I hope you had fun.
Winning team Beachcomb BubbiesSecond Place: Rhum Island Provisioneers
I was having so much fun I almost forgot to have a Dr. Funk Mai Tai, but I couldn’t leave without my reward at the end of the event.
Mrs. Mai Tai and I spent Saturday in Livermore, sandwiching a showing of the Hamilton movie with a couple bar experiences that we’ll write about in the coming days.
But there’s one highlight I don’t want to delay discussing which is the excellent Mai Tai that I had at Nightcaps at Rosetta. This is the cocktail-focused evening storefront for the Rosetta Roasting cafe that includes a different theme each day.
We missed Tiki Thursday but the staff was kind enough to make a Mai Tai and it was most definitely a treat on par with the cakes and savory bites on the venue’s menu. The Mai Tai contains Hamilton Pot Still Black and West Indies Blend, two bold rums that work great in this format. Very well balanced and pleasant throughout – it’s great.
If you look closely in the photo you can see the large tiki and some jade tiles that appear in a dark corner of the venue.
It’s been more than a couple years since we’ve been to Sacramento’s leading tiki bar The Jungle Bird for some reason, but stopped in for a drink and some light food on a recent excursion. The place was fairly busy for a Sunday evening and they were playing a varied mix of exotica and other retro tunes. We left before things turn metal for Sabbath Sundays at 9 pm.
We’ve had mixed experiences with food and drinks in the past but things were on par this visit. I enjoyed some potstickers and my 1944 Mai Tai was pretty good. Julie went in a sweeter direction with the deliciously creamy Lei’d Back that includes Dole Whip alongside vodka and citrus. Jungle Bird’s cocktails are priced mostly at $14-$15, so a little less expensive than what we see in SF/LA, and our service was great. The large and varied menu also includes a potency rating which was helpful for Julie since she was driving.
The Jungle Bird is doing a lot of things right and remains a compelling and welcoming destination.
