Mai Tai – Page 72 – The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai

July 24, 2022July 24, 2022

Trader Vic’s Hawaiian Bazaar & Brunch

We skipped brunch but it is always fun to check out the vendors at the Hawaiian Bazaar at Trader Vic’s Emeryville, one of the few tiki marketplace events that take place in Northern California.

We caught up with some local favorites who we’ve purchased from before, including Woody Miller, B-Rex, Sweet Siren Designs, and Tiki Lounge Lights. All had some great stuff, though we were most impressed by the Greg’s amazingly cool peacock chair lamps.

There were some new vendors at this event. Rob and Jeanine Allspaw brought their Mischief Motu carvings up from Southern California for the first time that I can remember, and we scored a few items for our bedroom walls. Oakland artist Kelly Jo Mullaney had some interesting shirts and paintings – and many of the designs have hidden elements. Tiki Makaio was showing off some wood coasters and bottle openers that have vintage designs – and he does custom work too. Check them out.

Can’t go to Vic’s and skip a Mai Tai. Mrs. Mai Tai had been meaning to try the Guava Tai, a sweet variant that for sure you’re not going to miss the guava in. I went my favorite, the San Francisco Mai Tai – the standard Mai Tai with 151 float.

Nice to catch up with some folks out on the back patio and in the marketplace. It was a beautiful sunny day in Emeryville.

July 23, 2022July 23, 2022

Revised List of Top 10 Mai Tais

People often ask where they can get the best Mai Tai. So, we’ve recently updated and expanded the list of the best ones to a total of ten. These are my top Mai Tais made without any rum or ingredient substitutions, current as of July 2022, and they’re all great Mai Tais that anyone should enjoy.

Note that for purposes of the “rating” on this list, it only about what’s in the glass and not about the rest of the bar visit experience. Not that any on this last have poor ambiance or service, mind you.

Here is the alphabetical list of the top 10 Mai Tais that you can have right now.

Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 – New Orleans
Dr. Funk – San Jose
Hale Pele – Portland
Halekulani Hotel – Honolulu
The Kon-Tiki Room at Palmetto – Oakland
Rumba – Seattle
Maunakea Mai Tai at Skull & Crown Trading Co. – Honolulu
Smuggler’s Cove – San Francisco
San Francisco Mai Tai at Trader Vic’s – Emeryville
Undertow – Phoenix

The list is ever-evolving. We had a close call in Seattle where Rumba is transitioning their Orgeat and we caught the bartender incorrectly using the previous ratios. And we hear that The Kon-Tiki in Oakland and Dr. Funk in San Jose are working on revised menus. So, we’ll have to see how that affects this list.

This list obviously skews to the United States. I’m willing to try anyone’s Mai Tai if a plane ticket and hotel is included in the invite.

Additional details, photos, and recommendations for these Mai Tais

July 19, 2022July 19, 2022

Petco Park Mai Tai

Petco Park is a dream for fans of local favorites Cutwater Spirits and the myriad craft beer breweries. Cutwater is everywhere, with a common menu of cocktails throughout the stadium and their ubiquitous canned cocktails. Since neither is my favorite, I was pleased to see an unexpected option with a Mai Tai at one of the cocktails bars that had a unique menu. Even better was the presence of Orgeat and Orange Curacao on the back bar.

If you’re so inclined, you can get this served in a tall plastic bat, but we went old school for a SD cup. And this Mai Tai wasn’t bad at all. There’s a little splash of pineapple juice, and so when I returned for our second game of the weekend I ordered it sans-pineapple and it was even a little better. Since this uses Cutwater’s light rum, don’t expect too much rum flavor, but for a ballpark you could do much worse.

July 15, 2022July 16, 2022

Hala Kahiki Derby

End of the week deserves a manly Mai Tai made with @woodsnavyrum in tribute to our friends @neilsmith1971 @carlasmith1973 from England. We braved Covid on the Sunday Bar Tour with them at @tikikon #busDisthebestbus

Thank you for the shirt. The @hala_kahiki_derby design looks great! Cheers!

The Mai Tai with Wood’s is amazing. Such a bold and flavorful dark Demerara rum, with plenty of burnt caramel overtones. Another friend from England muled that over for me a couple years ago and I keep it for special occasions.

July 14, 2022July 14, 2022

Blind Burro

Back in 2017, we were so pleased to see a tiki bar called the Cat Eye Club just steps from Petco Park. It wasn’t an amazing tiki bar per se, but the clientele seemed free of the jocks and frat bros that crush all the other nearby establishments on game day. Food was from the adjacent restaurant The Blind Burro.

Sadly, all that remains of the Cat Eye Club is the “Tiki” neon sign that now says “Tacos”. It’s now simply part of the restaurant.

Our pregame lunch at the Blind Burro was pretty good nonetheless including some tasty Mexican food and Margaritas from their expansive menu. Mrs Mai Tai liked the Guava Margarita. I loved my Chipotle Chicken Torta.

There is a Mai Tai on the menu that includes “white rum” and a float of Real McCoy 5 yr rum. I ordered this without the pineapple juice that it normally comes with and it was a competent Mai Tai and comes nicely served in a Real McCoy tiki mug.

July 12, 2022July 12, 2022

False Idol – San Diego’s Best Tiki Bar

We skipped False Idol last year since we weren’t doing much indoor bar crawling, but we were sure to make it this trip by making a reservation. Having visited Smuggler’s Cove and Hale Pele in the last ten days this completed the trio of Martin Cate’s bars on the west coast.

A rare moment when standing room cleared

You enter False Idol via the host stand inside Craft & Commerce. With reservations you’re seated at a table and get to avoid the crush of patrons in standing room or trying to get to the bar seating that is first come, first seated. The reservation for four at 8 pm on a Friday was for two and half hours and we used nearly every minute. Our server Jordan did a great job checking in with drink orders and such, and since we were seated by the exit door we also saw him play bouncer when people tried to sneak in.

The decor here is so cool, with a ceiling filled with floats and carvings on the fall walls from local legend Bosko. Thunder roars when flaming bowl drinks are served. This was our first time seeing the new entrance, replacing the old speakeasy style freezer entrance with one framed by scary shrunken heads and skulls.

The cocktail menu is vast, offering both a classic tropical cocktail as well as a modern riff. I thought the Mai Tai was just fine, and the Mai Sho Roa Na riff was a great excursion for a version using Banana rather than Orange liqueur and then adding Madiera. Our group tried some of the other cocktails including the Polynesian Forty-Niner (using Gardenia mix), Coronado Luau Special, Mac Nut Chi Chi, and Ube Bae. Really great cocktails overall at False Idol.

I attempted to not over-indulge by only having two drinks. But the group was really interested in ending the night with a flaming bowl drink, so we settled on the Alkala the Fierce, featuring Dons Spices #2, Orgeat, rum, and Chai-infused Bourbon. I really liked this cocktail, and Jordon flamed it up real good for us. Though, afterwards there was a clear cloud of cinnamon that settled on the table.

A really fantastic evening at False Idol.

False Idol Entrance inside Craft & Commerce

July 8, 2022July 8, 2022

Tiki Tuesday at the Diller Room

They say that alcohol reduces your inhibitions, which can lead to bad decisions. Or great ones. Sometimes, it’s a little of both and that was our experience at The Diller Room on Tuesday.

Having already done drinks at Rumba and Inside Passage, we were encouraged by our friend Tiki with Ray to visit the Diller Room just a short drive away to see Justin Wojslaw who slings tiki drinks on Tuesdays. Ray promised Pearl Divers, which was just up Mrs. Mai Tai’s alley, so against our better judgement we headed over.

When we arrived we saw Justin hard at work, but welcomed us with his special tiki menu that featured some tropical classics, as well as some originals. Ray and Julie ordered Pearl Divers and I ordered the Golden Era Mai Tai, Justin’s house variation. Special Diller Room tall glasses are also available for sale.

All the cocktails were really great, especially the Pearl Diver, and the mood in the room was happy but mellow. Justin is a true artist behind the bar, confirming his well-deserved reputation for quality cocktails and hospitality. The neon sign provides a great backdrop.

But, all the booze was catching up with us and it was time for head back to the hotel, so we didn’t stay long.