Category: Mai Tai

Posted on

The Last(?) Appleton 17 Mai Tai

I was fortunate to procure a Mai Tai’s worth of Appleton 17 Year Legend Jamaica Rum, the limited release from 2023 that was developed by Appleton Master Blender Joy Spence to replicate the character of the original Mai Tai rum, Wray & Nephew 17. As was well-chronicled in 2023, this long-aged 49% ABV rum has a ton of flavor thanks to it being 100% pot-still distillate and including rare marques unlike any of the mainstream Appleton rum expressions. The Appleton 17 Mai Tai at Smuggler’s Cove was my favorite of the year and the best so far this decade.

I was always interested in making an Appleton 17 Mai Tai using the same ingredients I use at home. My favorite orgeat and orange curaçao but also my own ice, so that I can compare to other Mai Tais that I make at home. Would the Appleton 17 rum remain notable? Yes, friends, yes it does.

At 49% ABV, this rum is very approachable compared to a lot of overproof flavor bombs. There’s just a little less of a punch in the face, which means that it is very smooth once it gets into Trader Vic’s masterpiece cocktail. You can really taste the rum and this is a cocktail you want to sip to savor every last drop.

I don’t know how many of those original 1500 bottles still exist. I’m sure many were opened and still not quite finished, which means that running across a bottle in the wild is exceedingly rarer and rarer. But there are still bottles out there on the back bars of retail establishments and there most certainly some bottles keeping collectors and home bartenders company. Keep on the lookout, friends.

Glassware: Smuggler’s Cove circa 2019

Posted on

Bamboo Room Takeover at Trader Vic’s Emeryville

The Bamboo Room by Trader Vic’s recently opened in the Esmé Hotel in Miami, positioned as a drinks-focused tropical lounge featuring original cocktails and some Trader Vic’s classics. This concept is one of Trader Vic’s Hospitality Group’s venue concepts and isn’t a tiki bar but leans towards a cozy chill nightclub vibe, often featuring jazzy live music or DJs.

On Friday, Trader Vic’s brought a little bit of Miami beach to Emeryville by setting up the Lanyu Island room as the Bamboo Room featuring mood lighting and a special cocktail and food menu. Wait service was provided and the chairs and decor were drawn from items formerly in the Trader Vic’s London location.

The four cocktails were drawn from the Bamboo Room’s original cocktails and all were very good with Date in Dubai and The Park Lane being the best overall.

  • El Polinesio with Brugal 1888 rum, Vic’s grog mix, mint syrup, and lime is served in a fab flamingo class and has fruity notes.
  • Date in Dubai with date-infused bourbon and pistachio orgeat was a delight, a rich mouthfeel thanks to aquafaba and the blend of nuttiness and fruitiness was perfect.
  • The Park Lane with Tea-charged Tanqueray, amaro, coconut, passion fruit, white chocolate leaned the closest to traditional Trader Vic’s cocktails, but the light touch of coconut and rich flavors were truly outstanding.
  • Hinky Dinks is a clarified Mai Tai with Zacapa 23, lime, orange curacao, and orgeat. We spoke with some folks who didn’t really care for this but I found that this was a good midpoint between a traditional Mai Tai and the overly silky mouthfeel of many clarified cocktails. But having a more flavorful rum than Zacapa would definitely improve this.
Hinky Dinks

We didn’t try the food options as we had dinner in the restaurant. The Bamboo Room drinks could only be ordered in the lounge so I had to carry some back to our table. The chill music made the vibe in the room truly relaxing and provided a sense of what visitors can expect in Miami.

The Park Lane
El Polinesio and Date in Dubai
Posted on

Big Top Mai Tai

I’m not letting an open bottle of BG Reynolds Circus Peanut syrup go to waste and decided to lean into a tweaked Mai Tai recipe from Jason Alexander of Devil’s Reef fame.

The recipe includes Passionfruit syrup, which I think pairs really great with the Circus Peanut (I used it in my Hurricane riff, the Hurriclown). But I dropped the amount down to a quarter ounce to focus a bit more on the traditional Mai Tai syrup, Orgeat.

Big Top Mai Tai by Jason Alexander
1½ oz Lemon Juice
¼ oz Passionfruit Syrup
½ oz Orgeat
1 oz BG Reynolds Circus Peanut Syrup
2½ oz Planteray Xaymaca Rum
Shake with crushed ice

Xaymaca’s unique funky taste really works well here, as does the lemon juice in place of traditional lime. This is a big, bold cocktail that is delicious.

Posted on

DIY Frozen Ultimate Mai Tai

The intent was to see if you could make a frozen Mai Tai, since I was told you could freeze the liquid and then give it a quick blend to reproduce frozen cocktail texture. I tried a couple different variants but never got better than middling results, though those results still might be interesting or at least a good change of pace.

The best variant was a standard Mai Tai recipe doubled for volume and with an additional three ounces of water to replicate the dilution of water. This is placed in a zip lock back and placed in the freezer overnight. Give this a light pinch or two and then pour into a glass and drink with a straw. In my case I used the standard Ultimate Mai Tai recipe that includes two ounces of rum at just over 50% ABV.

This version is totally flavorful even with the lower overall temperature, though it is a chunkier texture than your average slushie. Putting this version into a blender essentially removed most of the ice components, but the version out of the baggie wasn’t too bad.

Some of the variants I tried included adding much more water and different lower proof rums. The extra water didn’t really change the consistency in the end product, and the lower ABV rums lacked the flavor from the potent Ultimate Mai Tai rum blend of Appleton 12, Smith & Cross, Xaymaca, and OFTD.

Posted on

Tipsy Putt On the Green

The cocktail shows that this isn’t our usual haunt, but we had a great time doing the mid-week suburban drinks and golf thing in downtown Sunnyvale. Tipsy Putt has a nine-hole traditional mini golf setup, plus a nine-hole 1-2 Putt tabletop format. It’s all indoors and there is a large selection of beer and cocktails on tap, plus pretty good bar food too. There are several Tipsy Putt locations in Northern California and there are leagues and trivia events as well.

The On the Green cocktail seemed appropriate and it was nicely matching my ball, too. It contains Midori, of course, plus vodka and lemonade and turn out to be not too bad and certainly helped me get into the mood. Thanks to Michael and Holly for invite, Tipsy Putt was a lot of fun.

Posted on

The Best Mai Tai of 2025: Smuggler’s Cove

Yes, I know that we’re not far into 2025 but I wanted to acknowledge the excellent Mai Tai I had at Smuggler’s Cove last weekend and sort of put the stake in the ground as the gold standard for mainstream cocktail bar Mai Tais. Can other bars top it? Possibly, but the vast majority won’t even come close.

And Smuggler’s didn’t too shabby with the other cocktails in our order, all so well prepared and balanced just like we always experience there. A lot of places pay lip service to “craft cocktails” but few provide consistent excellence like the Cove. Kudos to the staff for continuing the tradition.

There was a nice crowd there at opening on Sunday, but not so many that you couldn’t find a seat to relax. I was also able to pick up the fabulous 15th Anniversary Mai Tai glass featuring eight colors and a really great design. The last thing I need is another Mai Tai glass but I have to salute owners Martin and Rebecca Cate, they really do have great taste and that fab design is a testament.

Posted on

The Best Tiki Bar in SoCal is Trader Sam’s

We had another great visit to Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel on our recent trip, arriving in the mid-evening on a Sunday during the holiday week between Christmas and New Year’s. Despite being such as busy weekend at the resort, we were paged and seated at the bar within just 20 minutes even without a reservation.

The cozy confines of this bar feel like home, thanks in part to the Skippers who recognize regulars or even irregular vacationers with a greeting. Such was the case for us again this time as Skipper Melissa said hello and took our order. For many years Mrs Mai Tai’s favorite drink has been the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum, which is the Trader Sam’s version of a Painkiller. And they made it just as great as usual, though as her tastes are changing it now might be too sweet for her palette. I asked for a Mai Tai with Smith & Cross Jamaica rum and it was simply fantastic and made totally on point, thanks to Skipper Melissa.

The ability for the bar staff to adapt to customer requests and even develop their own custom “secret menu” items is truly what separates Trader Sam’s from many bars. Even in a high volume location like this, I’ve never seen them bat an eye at this and in some occasions they’ve even encouraged orders of off-menu items. The staff here from greeters to servers really work well together.

Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum and Smith & Cross Mai Tai

The Disneyland version of Trader Sam’s has a few special effects when certain drinks are ordered, but this is relatively mild to the Disney World version where you can barely breathe in between effects and gags; the Disneyland version is better where it is a special event not an onslaught. The immersive space is impressive as is the friendly customer service at this Trader Sam’s where we saw a bartender reposition a guest so that they could see the Shipwreck on the Rocks display for their order.

Trader Sam’s has been an intro to tiki bars for so many people who likely are forever spoiled by the dark immersive space with so many thematic elements and exotica music that’s always on point. It is about as good as any tiki bar anywhere given the size and it is our favorite in the region.