Category: Mai Tai

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Spring Saturday in Sacramento

Mrs Mai Tai and I drove up to Sacramento and had what Frank the Tank called “a nice little Saturday.” We visited several antique and vintage stores including the Midway Antique Mall which is our favorite.



Dinner was at The Jungle Bird at opening at 4 pm (hence the line outside in the photo). The cocktails were on point as always, and in addition to my Mai Tai I decided to order a Mint Julep since it was Derby Day. Man, that Mint Julep was fantastic, so sweet and minty.

The food options at Jungle Bird seem to be more limited than they used to be. The veggie Potstickers were good, as was the Veggie Stir Fry with noodles, but Mrs Mai Tai seems to recall more veggie options in the past. I really liked the Crab Rangoons but have had very mixed experiences with their burger and pork belly sliders.

Jungle Bird still has a big patio out back which was great for us (I get my second shot tomorrow) and they have done a good job with the spacing of the indoor seating. The staff was super friendly and very quick with the service.

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Mai Ta-IPA

This was of the recipes during the segment of “Mai Tai or Not a Mai Tai” during my appearance on the The Rumcast a couple weeks ago. My father likes IPAs like I like Mai Tais so seemed like a perfect opportunity to give this one a try with my parents coming over for dinner.

I gotta say, this was pretty damn good. There was just a hint of the IPA in there, and we used a pretty potent one, the Denogginizer! This is a Douple IPA from local favorite Drake’s Brewing Co. just up the freeway in San Leandro. I’d even say that you could up the IPA to 2 ounces and still keep this light and refreshing.

This was so good, I’m declaring it enough of a “Mai Tai” to go on my running total of Top 10 Mai Tais of the Year.

Mai Ta-IPA
1 oz Lime juice
¾ oz Orgeat (Latitude 29)
½ oz Orange curaçao (Clement)
1½ oz IPA beer (Denogginizer)
1 oz Aged rum (Appleton Signature)
1 oz Light rum (Cruzan)

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into an ice-filled rocks or Collins glass. Garnish with Luxardo cherries.

Recipe by Jacob Grier and Ezra Johnson-Greenough.

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New Jumbo Sized Hay! Straws

I’m loving these new jumbo sized Hay! Straws. I ditched plastic a while back but can’t deal with steel or glass. These don’t get soggy like paper straws and I like the smaller “cocktail straw” sized diameter straws which are great for Mai Tais (5”) or tall drinks (7.75”). These work great but Mrs Mai Tai prefers larger straws.


Now these Jumbo Straws will do the trick, and obviously seem better for frozen drinks that are more in Mrs Mai Tai’s wheelhouse.

Highly recommended.

Visit HayStraws.com

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Light Mai Tai

Riffed a little on this Mai Tai, which leans much lighter than my usual recipe. This is based on some rums I had on hand and I can see how this style might be preferred in scenarios such as Mai Tais by the pool on a hot day. Or even just personal preference.

Light Mai Tai
¾ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Cointreau
½ oz Orgeat (Latitude 29)
¼ oz Simple Syrup
2 oz Ron Barcelo Gran Platinum
Shake with ice and float with ½ oz aged and sweetened Spanish style rum (mine was a multi-rum “infinity bottle”). No garnish.

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Patio Mai Tai at The Kon-Tiki

Quick drive up to Oakland for a Mai Tai on the patio and a peek at the indoor dining situation at The Kon-Tiki. Man, the Mai Tai was really good on the patio, listening to Yacht Rock that the Kon-Tiki is famous for.

Nice to see Chris Day and Chris Parker and of course some of the Oakhana who were doing the indoor thing. After my second shot in a couple weeks, we’ll be indoors too.

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Sunday Mai Tai at Trader Vic’s

Mrs. Mai Tai and I took our adult sons to get their first COVID vaccine shots in the morning and then we arrived after noon for the Trader Vic’s Sunday Brunch and Mini-Bazaar. We had planned to just do shopping (more on that later) but we spotting a small table out on the patio and out of the sun and the staff was able to seat us without a reservation.

We enjoyed a light brunch, but what I really enjoyed was a freshly prepared Trader Vic’s Mai Tai. So frosty and refreshing. This is the best one so far in 2021.

Mrs Mai Tai enjoyed her Guava Mimosa, and it made a nice bubble bath for the Menehune!

So nice to see so many familiar faces at Vic’s today, some of which I know are toe-dipping back into group indoor dining. We will be in that place soon.

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Mai Tai Talk on the Rumcast

It was such a pleasure to talk to Will and John, and we had a great Mai Tai discussion on the latest episode of the Rumcast.

The episode covers the history of the Mai Tai, tips for the home bartender, and how to get an awesome Mai Tai at your local watering hole. And of course lots of talk about rum for your Mai Tai. We played a game of “Mai Tai or Not a Mai Tai” and the episode ended with the Rumcast’s signature Rapid Fire round of questions.

The episode begins with a discussion of KōHana Rum from Hawaii, appropriate since Hawaii plays a seminal role in the popularity of the Mai Tai.

Give the episode a listen at Rumcast.com:
https://www.rumcast.com/episodes/mai-tai-kevin-crossman