Category: Mai Tai

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Paradise at the Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai Bar

First stop after landing in Waikiki was the Mai Tai bar at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel for a cocktail and some eye candy. We love the tables at the edge of this bar that are adjacent to the beach with great views of Diamond Head.

Ali’i Mai Tai and Royal Mai Tai


The Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai remains a competent island-style Mai Tai, with Pineapple and Orange Juice but also with real Orgeat and Orange Curacao. Mrs. Mai Tai enjoyed the Pink Palace, which is a Pina Colada with Grenadine added for color.

We have less positive things to say about the $40 Ali’i Mai Tai, which features Kō Hana Koho barrel aged rum, El Dorado 15, Ferrand Dry Curacao, orgeat, and fresh lime. Sounds good? There’s also “freshly muddled pineapple” which to my taste didn’t seem that fresh, along with a generous toping of Coco-Loco foam. The fruity topping tastes good on its own but doesn’t really work with the rest of the cocktail, and then completely overpowers the flavor once it gets incorporated into the cocktail. The color and notably also implies a great deal of pineapple juice, otherwise the two aged rums would turn this darker. I couldn’t really taste the rums in this, poor since it is supposed to feature them considering the price.

So, word of advice – skip the $40 Mai Tai and just go with the standard. There’s plenty of to enjoy here, including live musicians playing most days. Seating is open, so keep a look out for the tables right next to the beach.

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Oakhana Summer Swizzle Recap

An epic day in Oakland for the inaugural Oakhana Summer Swizzle home tiki bar crawl and fundraising event. This was a very well-run event, so we thank the entire organizing team, bartenders, and all the event volunteers.

The day started at The Dragon’s Den, Jeff Hall’s house. We enjoyed the dark ambiance and some cocktails and pupus. The drinks were done well, featuring Tanduay and Rum Fire rums, and bartenders Carlos and Christian kept up with demand like the pros that they are. I especially liked the Mai Tai that was even made with Latitude 29 Orgeat (Rum Fire is great in a Mai Tai). Groovy music was provided by DJ Wiley Coyote.

We then moved over to Pearl’s Hideaway, hope of Laura and Woody Miller. DJ Ship Rex switched music with a couple tight sets from the Reefriders – including an incredible version of “Taboo.” Drinks were from Doc Parks and he and Julio also did great including a blended cocktail with banana. I liked Doc’s spin on a Jungle Bird using Rum Fire to counterbalance the Campari. We also had dinner here, and many enjoyed swimming in the pool.

The event featured a silent auction to raise money for Oakland’s Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, and bidding at closing time got a little crazy. We did win a couple items and look forward to delivering the Mai Tai Happy Hour experience that was an item in the auction. There was also a second fundraiser, a raffle of new and used items that people brought to the event, and the funds there are going to Maui.

We can’t thank Laura, Jeff, Woody, and all the Summer Swizzle planning team and volunteers enough for putting on such a great event. Let’s doing it again!

Mai Tai at Dragon's Den
Mai Tai at Dragon’s Den
DJ Wiley Coyote
Christian and Carlos at Dragon’s Den
Peacock chair with Mrs. Mai Tai
Doc Parks at Pearl’s Hideaway
Reefriders at Pearl’s Hideaway
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World Rum Day with Kō Hana Rum

One of the highlights of my visits to The Kon-Tiki is to check out their rum selection and to try something new. Such was the case on Wednesday when I tried two varietals of Kō Hana Kea Hawaiian Agricole Rum. These rums are distilled from the crushed cane juice from different types of sugar cane, providing each expression with unique and interesting flavors.

First was Kalaoa, harvested in December 2020. I tried this neat and found it to be similar to the Kea varietal I have at home but a bit more mild and less briney. Very satisfying to sip.

Next was Lahi from June 2019 and for this varietal I had it in Kon-Tiki’s excellent Mai Tai. This rum is so flavorful that it really punches through and makes for a fantastic cocktail. You can taste the savory flavor profile from the Kō Hana Rum, and no grassy aftertaste like sometimes get with this style of rum distilled from sugar cane juice.

The Kon-Tiki had a nice collection and we thank Carlos for the suggestions.

We’ll be visiting the Kō Hana distillery next week on O’ahu when we attend the Tiki in Waikiki event. There’s a lot of focus on local businesses and cultural activities for this tiki weekender event, including some fundraising for Maui relief efforts.

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Oakhana Summer Swizzle Silent Auction – Opens Friday, Register Now

A small charity focused tiki bar crawl is happening on Saturday, organized by the Oakland-based Tiki Ohana – the Oakhana. This two bar crawl has limited capacity and tickets are sold out, but even if you’re not attending you can get into the action by participating in the silent auction. There are some great items available, with proceeds going to Stephen and Ayesha Curry’s Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation.

In addition to tiki mugs, gift cards, books, and fashion items, there are a couple experiences available. I’m pleased to include an Ultimate Mai Tai Happy Hour at Jeff Hall’s Dragon’s Den home tiki bar in Oakland.

Ultimate Mai Tai Happy Hour:
3 hours, from 4-8 attendees

Taste three different Mai Tais to appreciate how different rums and other ingredients can help you develop your own personal ultimate Mai Tai. The Mai Tai was born with a long-aged rum from Jamaica, and Kevin will be bringing some rare and potent rums to demonstrate the variability when using different rum styles.

Depending on who wins the auction, we can customize the rums being brought and definitely will prepare something awesome for the attendees.

The registration for the silent auction is now available, with bidding starting on Friday at Noon Pacific time and closing Saturday August 19 at 7:30 pm Pacific.

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Farewell Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge

We’re in Minneapolis for other reasons and were going to visit the tiki restaurant Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge anyway, but we weren’t going to miss it after their recent announcement that they’re closing on August 19.

Apparently everyone has gotten the memo, because Wednesday at 7 pm seemed like a weekend at prime time. There was a giant line for walk-ins, but thankfully we made a reservation a few weeks ago. That said, all your ordering is done via a web app on your phone (more on that later), or via a gigantic line at the patio bar (yes, even if you have a table reservation). Everything on the lower level and on the patio was completely filled, but the staff made good time running around delivering food and drink orders that came pretty quickly. They weren’t seating upstairs, and sadly the gift shop is also closed.

We had some issues getting to the checkout screen on the app but once we force-quit the browser it worked finally. Our personal sized pizza’s were okay (too heavy on the crust, especially on Mrs. Mai Tai’s pizza). There’s not a lot of variety on the food menu these days.

I ordered two drinks. The Paralyzed Politician has four rums, hibiscus, grapefruit and citrus. Or so they say, since this didn’t have a lot of flavor to be honest. Thankfully, the Mai Tai was pretty reasonable. There’s a little pineapple juice in there, so it leans a little sweet, but overall this was a refreshing tropical cocktail. I didn’t love the plastic glasses.

Who knows what’ll happen to the decor inside, but we were glad to visit before the closing. It leaves a big void in Minneapolis.