Category: Mai Tai

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The Best Sippin’ Santa Cocktails This Season are at 55 South in San Jose

Mrs. Mai Tai and I were in downtown San Jose for a show and stopped by 55 South for dinner and drinks. This is the fourth year that 55 South is participating in the Sippin’ Santa popup, and we’re still not sick of holiday bars so this seemed like the natural place to be.

Sippin’ Santa Cocktail

Having visited two other Sippin’ Santa locations this year we were both extremely impressed by the quality and taste of the four cocktails we tried, each of which exceeded our expectations and compared better to the other sites. For example, my Sugar Plum Mai Tai was not overly sweet and had a truly delightful mouthfeel and long finish, so much that it was by far my favorite holiday Mai Tai this season.

I finally tried the Sippin’ Santa cocktail this year, the longstanding menu entry with aged Demerara rum, Amaro, citrus, and gingerbread mix. This had just the right amount of holiday spice flavors and remained balanced as I drank the cocktail. The Choquito also had a great balance of flavors and didn’t have any of the syrupy coconut consistency you sometimes find with a Coquito, nor did it lean too much in a chocolate direction from the Créme de Cacao. Mrs. Mai Tai’s Holiday on Ice was another standout, featuring creamy coffee flavors.

Our food and service were great at 55 South, consistent with previous visits. We arrived around 4:45 pm and the place was festively abuzz thanks to two work groups having holiday parties, so the atmosphere was delightful. Sippin’ Santa runs through New Year’s Eve at 55 South.

Choquito
Holiday on Ice
Sugar Plum Mai Tai
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Forbidden Island Mug Swap

We had a great time for the annual tiki mug swap at Forbidden Island last night. Thanks to Chad for organizing and hosting this, we put our wrapped mugs into the pile and ended up with some new ones. Mrs Mai Tai really loved hers, and while I thought the mini bowl was nice I was thankful for a trade.

There’s a nice holiday cocktail menu and Mrs Mai Tai loved the Tropical Hot Coder. Meanwhile I drank a couple rums from the rum list and gladly accepted the suggestion for a premium Mai Tai made with Monymusk 10 yr Jamaica rum. Very good Mai Tai with additional depth.

Lots of good cheer in Alameda.

Mug Draw
Traded Mug
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Juice of One (Very Large) Lime

There were a good two months where I couldn’t find anything but small, dry limes at the grocery store, but apparently it is now lime season because all the limes are fresh and gigantic now. How large? I posted a photo and did a poll on my Instagram and only 10% picked the correct amount – 2 ½ ounces from one single lime!

This serves as a good reminder that when a recipe calls for “juice of one lime” that you shouldn’t merely juice the lime as is, because when a typical lime gives you 1 oz and instead you put in 2½, well, your drink will be very sour. Always measure all your ingredients in a cocktail including the citrus! A rule of thumb for a traditional 1944 Mai Tai is that it is 1 oz of lime juice, maybe a little less or a little more depending on the recipe and the balance you’re shooting for. Smuggler’s Cove only uses ¾ oz of lime, but the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki uses 1¼ oz, and both are excellent.

I bought three limes and all gave me more than 2 oz of lime juice. One possibly solution to this is to make two Mai Tais or do like I did and just make yourself a double. Those 16 oz Mai Tai glasses are easily capable of handling the additional volume and the ice keeps everything cold to the last drop.

Glassware: The Kon Tiki Oakland. Catch them before they close for good after service on December 22.

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Different Sugar Plum Mai Tai at Kona’s Street Market

We popped into downtown San Francisco’s Kona’s Street Market to check out their Sippin’ Santa pop-up. We saw that the menu options were the same as our Sippin’ visit to Beer Baron, but the bartender mentioned that their rum blends were different due to availability reasons.

So, I tried the Sugar Plum Mai Tai and found this one to be significantly different. Much sweeter and forward with the plum mix, so much so that it didn’t really remind me of a Mai Tai. Which isn’t to say this one was worse, in fact I could see this one being favored by a lot of customers who might like a cocktail that isn’t as spirit-forward. They say the cocktails for these pop-ups vary by location a little, even within the same state, and this was most definitely true for Mrs. Mai Tai who found the Frosty the Merman cocktail to have a lot more flavor.

Each of these Miracle/Sippin’ Santa locations sets their own prices for the drinks and merch. Kona’s cocktails were understandably around $3 more than Beer Baron in Pleasanton, and their mugs were $20 more as well, though some of the glassware items were less expensive. Your mileage may vary.

We really enjoyed our visit to Kona’s Street Market, where the bar staff were super friendly and the decor was appropriately elaborate.

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15 Years of Smuggler’s Cove

Congratulations to Smuggler’s Cove on 15 years, as it opened today in 2009. One of the finest run and cocktail bars anywhere. We thank owners Rebecca and Martin Cate for keeping up the quality throughout the years, even during the “canned cocktail and soup” era during the pandemic, and of course the Smuggler’s Cove crew who are so talented and gracious to customers.

First visit in 2015

The engaging space tells the story of tiki with nods to Trader Vic’s, Don the Beachcomber, and Tiki Bob’s, while the curated menu allows patrons to experience the history of rum and exotic cocktails through the ages. And the team builds on the tradition with their own amazing creations such as my personal favorite The Pampanito or the cult classic Dr. Barca’s Fluffy Banana. It is still home to one of the world’s best Mai Tais, and the best I’ve had there was made with the amazing Appleton 17 year old rum that Martin helped champion.

Mai Tai with Appleton 17

I’m proud to be a member of the Cove’s rum club, the Rumbustion Society. You can see my name on one of the many plaques in the bar and their rum program is so elevated that there are several people who’ve had over 2000 (!) rums here. There are a lot of fantastic benefits of being a member including special events and (shhh) secret stuff, so consider joining the program.

We have enjoyed nights at the Cove as a couple but it is better with friends, even those who are tiki newbies. The Cove continues to amaze first timers and even for veterans there’s always something new to see or discover, or just a new cocktail or rum to try.

Cheers to you, Smuggler’s Cove.

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The Tonga Room Didn’t Skimp the Mint

Mrs Mai Tai and I were in the city on Wednesday to see Cher’s book tour event, so we stopped by the Tonga Room for dinner and drinks beforehand. The fortuitous night started with our exit out of the Powell BART station to find a nearly empty Cable Car ready to climb the hill. This saved us time and a great deal of effort and wasn’t much more expensive than a taxi ride, plus a lot of fun.

The Tonga Room is now taking reservations on Open Table, but weren’t sure when we’d arrive so didn’t make one and waited in the standby line. The doorman has the process down pat, offering patrons the ability to enter the bar (“drinks only, standing only, no food”), and then weaving in those with reservations and people without. We were seated shortly thereafter to enjoy the grand ambiance and attentive service that the Tonga Room is famous for. Rain showers followed, three in a 20 minute period. Food once again was the Poke Tostadas and the Grilled Salmon, leaning expensive but the taste was wonderful. We continue to wish the menu had a little more variety.

For drinks, they’re still using the same cocktail menu introduced in October 2023 and the overall quality remains strong. The Tiki Meister is still the standout item for me, a rich cocktail with Jägermeister, rums, and spices. I also had the Mai Tai, a lighter leaning but still good 1944 version with light and aged rums from Puerto Rico. And check out the fine bouquet of mint, which was impressive but not nearly as amazing as the mint in Mrs. Mai Tai’s hand-shaken colada with huge leaves. That Colada isn’t bad at all, even with Cruzan Black Strap rum which I normally try to avoid due to its maple syrup flavor but which worked here. The Seafoam Espresso Martini features sea foam cream and black lava salt that really enhance the flavors.

We exited before the band started playing and the $15/person cover charge kicked in. Coming early to the Tonga Room is just so relaxing and those drinks taste great and have plenty of booze too (a LOT of booze, actually). This remains a special destination that we try to hit at least a few times a year for special occasions.

Tiki Meister, Hand Shaken Colada
Mai Tai, Seafoam Espresso Martini