Category: Mai Tai

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The Last Mai Tai: Kon-Tiki’s Mai Tai was Unbeaten

Twenty six hundred and one days ago a man walked into a bar in Oakland and ordered an off menu Mai Tai at a tiki bar during their soft open.

the first Mai Tai

Since then I’ve had probably hundreds of Mai Tai there. Thanks to a stellar rum collection, high quality ingredients, and a professional crew they’ve nearly aways very good, sometimes stellar or mind-blowing. It was the first bar to serve the Ultimate Mai Tai and it is the venue where I’ve had the best Mai Tai of my life.

It was the Kon-Tiki Oakland.

The Kon-Tiki closed last night but I had to have one final Mai Tai. The circumstances were terrible but the Mai Tai was nearly perfect, a rum forward concoction with sweet and savory notes.

Despite being a supposedly simple drink to make, there are plenty of bars (even good bars) that can’t make a Mai Tai that’s balanced or tasty or without weird flavors. But the Kon-Tiki never let me down and the Mai Tai was unbeaten.

Thank you to every bartender who’s ever shaken one up. Thank you to the Kon-Tiki for ever existing.

The Kon-Tiki Oakland
First Mai Tai: Nov. 8, 2017
Last Mai Tai: Dec. 21, 2024

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Last Visit to Kon-Tiki

I got word that yesterday was going to be the last night for the Kon-Tiki and made it up to Oakland to snag a table with the family at opening.

Kon-Tiki Closing Night Checklist

_ Complete the DIY cocktail checklist by having the Pantera Rosa (lovely fruity tequila cocktail) and the Ma Kua for two (a bold sharable drink)
_ Order a last Uma Uma for Mrs. Mai Tai, her favorite
_ Eat the legendary Kon-Tiki Burger for the last time, the best thing in the building that has 200 rums
_ Order a Mai Tai
_ One last toast with Christ
_ Order Kon-Tiki merch (a t-shirt)
_ Say thank you to the crew
_ Leave an extra generous tip
_ Enjoy Yacht Rock in a tiki bar
_ Say aloha to the Oakhana
_ Enjoy eclectic tunes from the DJ
_ Leave with my Expedition plaque
_ Take group photo with the family
_ One last photo of the neon sign
_ Fail at trying not to cry
_ Regret not visiting more often

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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.