Category: Music

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Mai Tai with Rolling Stones Rum at Trader Vic’s Emeryville

Trader Vic’s Emeryville partnered with the Rolling Stones’ Crossfire Hurricane Rum for some cocktail and glassware bundles in June which we missed out on, but we found ourselves at the marina for dinner last Friday and provided an opportunity to taste the rum in Mai Tai form.

The product is named after a lyric from the Stones’ song “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and is a blend of rums from Jamaican, Barbados, and Dominican Republic and issued at 40% ABV. Online reviews indicate this is likely sweetened, but I tasted no unwelcome flavors when I asked for the rum in Mai Tai format. It is a flavorful rum and made for a very nice Mai Tai – not too punchy but with enough rummy flavors to satisfy. We continue to appreciate that Trader Vic’s Emeryville allows for called rum Mai Tais especially since they have a nice selection to choose from including rarities such as this one.

The special Mai Tai glass produced in conjunction with Crossfire Hurricane rum was available at Emeryville in the green colorway but is now sold out online.

Our dinner at Vic’s was fabulous as always, and my son even tried the Indonesian Rack of Lamb that seems like a dish that would have been contemporaneous with release date of the Rolling Stones “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” single. The lamb is cooked in the Chinese oven and while I’ve seen it on Vic’s menus for years I’ve never tried it until this time – we both enjoyed it.

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The Aloha Caftan Society Theme by Mark Riddle

We saw this at the Tee-Ki Togs table at the recent holiday bazaar at Trader Vic’s Emeryville, where the cover model Audrey Moorehead was selling it in a bundle with her signature earrings.

Following up on 2023’s acclaimed LP Lahaina Sunset, Mark Riddle returns with an EP celebrating the Aloha Caftan Society. You may know Riddle by his stage names “Marty Lush” of Tikiyaki Orchestra fame and “DigiTiki”of podcast fame. If you find that your collection of caftans is overflowing, well, Riddle’s bouncy theme song is the perfect companion for your next meetup and strut. The EP is available from Riddle’s digitiki.com on a hot pink flash drive.

The EP contains three versions of the “Aloha Caftan Society Theme,” with a straightforward lounge version setting the mood, incorporating a hypnotic whistle riff that’s the most memorable component of the theme. The upbeat “Tiki A-Go-Go Mix” has a little bit of modern remix vibe, guitar from Skip Heller, and spoken word snippets. The “Long Walk Mix” is a relaxing journey that’s over 8 minutes long and features extended flute solos from Jay Work. Two bouncy lounge originals complete the set, with “Sun Hat” weaving Riddle’s signature vibraphone with organs and “Walter Goes Shopping” offering an inspired shuffle.

This is a great EP of music and worth seeking out even if you don’t wear caftans.

The Aloha Caftan Society Theme by Mark Riddle
The Groovy Sounds of Mark Riddle
DigiTiki Productions

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Ixtahuele at Tiki Oasis

My biggest regret from not attending past Tiki Oasis events was missing great musical performances from artist I am following. So it was a dream come true to see Sweden’s Ixtahuele perform last night.

Promoting their excellent new exotica album Pathways to Paradise, the band played a tight hour plus set including a couple of appearances by Crazy Al Evans and Medusirena the Fire eating Mermaid.

I went over to the merch table afterwards and both Johan and Mattias recognized me, calling out “Mr Ultimate Mai Tai.” Unbelievable. The band was kind enough to autograph the album and pose for a photo.

Crazy Al on Birdcalls
Medusirena the Fire Eating Mermaid
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“Mai-Tai Roa Aé” by Steve Dahl and the Dalhfins

Longtime Chicago radio personality Steve Dahl is best known outside Second City as the brainchild of the infamous Disco Demolition Night at a Chicago White Sox doubleheader in 1979. But in 1997 he recorded an album of Jimmy Buffett and Beach Boys inspired songs called Mai-Tai Roa Aé, with titles such as “Janet Don’t Go to Jamaica”, “Net Surfin’ U.S.A.”, and “Flying Over the Ocean.” The CD is available on the second-hand market and you can listen to the album on YouTube and music streaming services.

The title track is most notable, telling a historically accurate story about the creation and popularization of the Mai Tai cocktail. There are references to the original Wray & Nephew 17 year old rum, the Matson Line, and even a creative pronunciation of “ore-jay”. The album cover notably features portion of the longtime Trader Vic’s cocktail menu cover, likely used without permission. The song though is a bit more inspired with a pretty nice hook, and while nobody will confuse Dahl’s voice with one of the Wilson brothers, he does a fair job delivering the details. Interestingly, Dahl had issues with alcoholism and was sober for a couple years at the time of this album’s release.

Mai-Tai Roa Aé / music and lyrics by Steve Dahl
Sitting at the service bar in Oakland
Sometime back in 1944
The war was on, the empire was exploding
Vic Bergeron was looking for something more

Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend
May that special feeling never end
It’s paradise in a glass
For a world that moves too fast
Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend

He summoned the bartender from the back room
Had him bring the 17 year old rum
The freshest fruits, the almond flavored orgeat
From the finest things on Earth the drink had sprung

Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend
May that special feeling never end
It’s paradise in a glass
For a world that moves too fast
Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend

Traveled from the mainland to Hawaii
On the steamships of the mighty Matson Line
From Honolulu to the south beach of Miami
The old man’s drink has stood the test of time

Mai Tai means the very best in Tahiti
A gentle breeze, the beach, sunshine
Any time the native are getting restless
Trader Vic’s Mai Tai will do it every time

Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend
May that special feeling never end
It’s paradise in a glass
For a world that moves too fast
Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend
Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend
Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend
Mai-Tai Roa Aé my friend

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Custom Tiki Goth Club Shirts

Tiki Goth Club creator Tiki with Ray came up with a great idea where the shirt could be customized with a city or other location, which also allows for any bit of text.

There is nothing goth about my hometown, Fremont CA, so I went with Member Zero instead. That’s my membership number in the club, even lower than Ray who’s the founder and number one. For a time this was the most goth member number, though that distinction now goes to Devil’s Reef owner Jason Alexander who scored the coveted 666. We saw Ray in Seattle for Tiki Fest a couple months ago and there were several folks sporting Tiki Goth Club branding and Ray sold a bunch of membership kits. Thanks to Sean for the photo.

Custom Tiki Goth Club shirts are available for $38 including shipping. Contact Tiki with Ray for sizing and details. And go to tikigothclub.com to learn more about this fun extension of the tiki subculture.

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Tiki Palooza Seattle

Still catching up on the backlog of posts from mid-March but didn’t want to go without mentioning Tiki Palooza that was held a few weeks back in Seattle.

Tiki Palooza Mai Tais with Jason Craig

This event was hosted at Tim’s Tavern and started with a small tiki marketplace under the tavern’s covered patio area and some tiki drinks were served out of the adjacent trailer bar. The Tikipalooza Mai Tai was what it was, though I really enjoyed the Singapore Fling. We got to hang out in the marketplace with Andy Nazzal of Tiki Joe’s Ocean fame and bought the new CD single “Two Voyages.” Great exotica music if you haven’t heard. There was also a vendor selling Tiki Palooza swizzles.

Stephen Curran

The event transitioned indoors where Stephen Curran did a presentation about his travels to Papua New Guinea. This allowed attendees to order food or more drinks from inside the tavern, and Stephen’s presentation was top-notch with some great cultural details. With so much PNG artwork in so many tiki bars, it really was a treat to learn more about the people of the region.

The event then transitioned back to the patio for a paid/wristband entry for some live music from Tropical Itch and the Tikigraphs. The patio was in full swing, despite the cold and rainy weather, thanks to some heaters and the crowd that was filled with aloha. The bands sounded great and were very entertaining.

I lucked into being in town for this event, and it was modest in scale but was a really nice event for the Seattle crowd and a few interlopers like me.

Andy from Tiki Joe’s Ocean
The Tikigraphs
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The Exotic Sounds: The Very Best of Martin Denny

This Japanese compilation was issued on CD in 1991, and I found it at an antique store in Sacramento for $8 and picked it up immediately. Though the case is clipped, the CD is in great shape and the booklet is too – apart from nearly all of the writing being in Japanese!

I’ve been looking for this one for a long time, and it includes four tracks I don’t have on any of the other CD or digital reissues of Denny’s material. In fact, I’d say this 74 minute album is actually a pretty comprehensive collection that spans most of Denny’s 1950s-1960s output. The strongest material comes from Denny’s murderer’s row of 1950’s albums that ended with The Enchanted Sea, of course. But some of the 1960s tracks are quite good and representative of Denny’s later material, including “Blue Paradise” from 1962’s Romantica and “Indrani” from 1968’s A Taste of India. The version of “Black Orchid” is a live version that sounds great.

The photo of Denny and his band on the back cover features “The Modernist” tiki and is possibly taken outside the San Francisco Trader Vic’s.