I had an excellent Mai Tai the other day made with Coruba Jamaican Rum and Hamilton 86 Demerara Rum.
Thanks Terra Fritch and Alex Fritch for the great cocktail and the friendly conversation. A tiny toe dip of normalcy.
Home Delivery of Cocktails
Made these two double cocktails for a friend who was having a birthday. These jars from our take-out Trader Vic’s are coming in handy!
The cocktails are the Blue Hawai-Tai and the Disco Banana, a favorite of the birthday girl.
Memorial Day Mai Tai
Long weekend is almost over
We’ve got a heat-wave in the Bay Area, which mean that Mrs. Mai Tai didn’t want to turn on the over for dinner. Then she looked interested in the new Shrimp Sandwich at The Kon Tiki. So you know what’s next.
Great takeout from Kon-Tiki tonight. The Kon-Tiki Burger traveled exceptionally well tonight, as did the fries. Man, that Kon-Tiki burger is sooo good. The Shrimp Sandwich was spicy and good according to Mrs. Mai Tai. We saved her Uma Uma in freezer for tomorrow.
And the Mai Tai… very good to close out the weekend. I put mine in one of the fine Kon-Tiki glasses, still for sale.
Only bummer was no cool artwork on the bag, but resident bag artiste Tony Martinez needs a day off from time to time.
Wish I could do takeout more from these guys, but even with no freeway traffic it’s hard to travel 30 mins in each direction (same for Forbidden Island and Trader Vic’s). I’m still contributing to the staff Go Fund Me, though.
Mask Required 
Kon-Tiki Burger 
Plain Bag
Tweaked Mai Tai Concentrate Recipe
I took another run at a Mai Tai made with the newly available (once-in-a-lifetime) Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Concentrate. This “industrial strength” syrup is used in place of the Orgeat and Curacao and is used in the Trader Vic’s restaurants for certain cocktails.
The bottle calls for ¾ oz of the Concentrate, but I thought it needed more. This time, I used a full ounce and it’s much better. There are more bright orange notes in this version.
Making Mai Tais from scratch will always be the best option, but this mix is pretty good and saves you one step when preparing the cocktail and potentially substantial cost vs. buying the Orgeat and Curacao separately.
Purchase: Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Concentrate
Original Home of Trader Vic’s – 2020 Update
The original home of Trader Vic’s
We swung by 65th and San Pablo Ave in Oakland on our way to Trader Vic’s the other day to go check out what’s happening. And like the past few years, there isn’t much. But starting in 1934, this was the home of the original Trader Vic’s location and where the Mai Tai was created in 1944.
Two palm trees used to flank the entrance, but sadly only one remains. The last time I visited in October 2017 one of the trees was still standing, though without fronds. It seems to have been cut down in the meantime. Someone is still maintaining the grounds here, though, as there aren’t tall weeds growing anymore and the graffiti is painted over.
The lot is still for sale. If you’ve got $500,000-750,000 burning a whole in your pocket you might still be able to buy it.
Trader Vic’s Original Location in Oakland 
Palm Tree stump 
Same lot in 2017 
2017 view including Palm Tree then standing
Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Concentrate
Available for the first time ever from the Trader Vic’s online store, I had to get this. Back in 1998 I had a bottle of this gifted to me, and I loved Mai Tais made with it. Opening it today, the fragrance of this mix is the same as I remembered. The Concentrate basically replaces the Orange Curacao, Orgeat, and Rock Candy syrup in a 1944 Mai Tai. So, you supply the 1 ounce of Lime Juice and 2 ounces of Rum. Note that this is very different from the Mai Tai mix you normally find in retail stores.
In year’s past this was what made the standard “Trader Vic’s Mai Tai” at the Emeryville location, and is still used for large batches and at high volume events. It is also used in other cocktails such as the Mai Tai variants Menehune Juice and Pinky Gonzales, Tiki Grog, and the Drum of Ku.
My Mai Tai is made with Hamilton New York Blend, a blend with rums from Jamaican and Guyana. This was my last pour of this very nice rum (now known as the 1670 West Indies Blend). The Mai Tai with the Trader Vic’s Mai Tai Concentrate is pretty good. The recipe calls for ¾ oz, but I’d up it to a full ounce next time. The cocktail isn’t as good as a scratch Mai Tai, but this is an affordable value for those who don’t normally get to try Mai Tais made with this at the Trader Vic’s restaurants. It definitely would be great to use in a Mai Tai punch for a party.
Trader Vic’s is running a 20% off sale this weekend, just use promo code “MAY20” at checkout.
Thank you Trader Vic’s for making this available for purchase for the first time outside of an industry setting.
