The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai
Traveling the Bay Area and beyond to find the best Mai Tai in the world! Tiki, cocktails, and adventures by Kevin Crossman
The Island of Hawaii (“the Big Island”) is a great destination for Mai Tai fans, being the home of the last remaining Don the Beachcomber location, as well as the yearly Mai Tai Festival. This is not intended to provide an exhaustive review of every Mai Tai on the island, since you can get a Mai Tai in nearly any restaurant and every bar, but we do want to highlight some key destinations.
Tiki Travels – Big Island of Hawaii
You can also support Trader Vic’s by buying from their Online Store. They have a great selection of classic tiki mugs as well as some great new ones such as the signature mug from the San Jose Airport Trader Vic’s. Plus pins, apparel, swag, and bartender gear. Check out the online store:
I opened a bottle of Grapefruit juice, so seems like a good time to experiment to come up with a house Navy Grog recipe. I asked for feedback and got some great suggestions from some tikiphiles.
I started off by making the traditional Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic’s recipes. These are largely similar, with Don’s using Honey and soda, with the Trader Vic’s using Pimento Dram.
Navy Grog – Don the Beachcomber
¾ oz Lime Juice
¾ oz Grapefruit Juice
¾ oz Soda Water
1 oz Honey mix (1:1)
1 oz Light Rum (Bacardi 8)
1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum (Appleton Reserve)
1 oz Demerara Rum (Lemon-Hart)
Navy Grog – Trader Vic’s, adapted by Smuggler’s Cove
¾ oz Lime Juice
¾ oz Grapefruit Juice
¼ oz Demerara syrup
¼ oz Pimento Dram (Hamilton)
1 oz Light Rum (Bacardi 8)
1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum (Appleton Reserve)
1 oz Demerara Rum (Lemon-Hart)
These tasted fine but felt a little thin and one-sided.
Next I turned to a recipe provided by a bartender from one of California’s most excellent tiki bars (who shall remain anonymous).
Modern Navy Grog
¾ oz Lime Juice
¾ oz Grapefruit Juice
¾ oz Honey mix
¼ oz Pimento Dram (Hamilton)
1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum (Appleton Reserve)
1 oz Demerara Rum (Lemon-Hart)
“Top with Soda”
This recipe is a mix of the two historical recipes and for me tasted a lot better. They Honey balanced out the Pimento/Allspice very well, and I liked the soda floated on top.
But for me this was still not the heavy, rich Navy Grog that I was recently spoiled with at The Kon-Tiki from bartender Terry Six. So, I decided to improvise. That’s the story in the next post:
