Category: Recipe

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Crowd-Pleasing Tiki Recipe: Blue Hawai-Tai Cocktail

I had a lemon to kill and I’d been thinking about revisiting this hybrid Mai Tai / Blue Hawaii cocktail that I developed a few years back. It leans sweet, so feel free to pull back on the simple syrup, but I do still think this works and can be a crowd-pleaser for cocktail newbies.

Blue Hawai-Tai by Kevin Crossman
1 oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Orgeat
½ oz Simple Syrup
½ oz Blue Curacao
1 oz White Overproof Jamaican Rum
½ oz Aged White Rum
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with crushed ice. Shake and dump into a small snifter glass.

  • Giffard is an amazing orange liqueur that also happens to be blue, strongly recommended.
  • Any overproof Jamaican rum would do fine here, demonstrated in this case by the Monymusk. If you like it more punchy than use one that’s 100% pot still, like Worthy Park Overproof or Rum Fire.
  • For the white rum, use one with a bit of age and ideally at least some pot still components to remind you that a Mai Tai started with an aged rum. My old bottle of Denizen 3 works great, as would Probitas, Breezeway blend, or Myers’s Platinum White.
  • Latitude 29 Orgeat is great in this application as the syrup is fairly clear and not cloudy like some orgeat can be.
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Modified Hawaiian Sunset

The Hawaiian Sunset was a cocktail from the Aku-Aku restaurant at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas, circa 1960s. Famously used by Jeff “Beachbum” Berry in his books, the cocktail features vodka as a base spirit and grenadine for color and flavor.

As described by Beachbum Berry, the recipe is as follows.

Hawaiian Sunset – Aku-Aku Original
½ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Orgeat
1 tsp Grenadine
1½ oz Vodka
Shake with cubes and strain into cocktail glass.

If I can use a lighter style rum in place of vodka I’ll take that option every single time. I also thought that I’d like to taste more of the grenadine, especially since I’m testing the Portland Syrups Grenadine. So, I came up with a modified version that focuses more on the grenadine and uses rum instead of vodka.

Hawaiian Sunset – Revised
1 oz Lemon Juice
¼ oz Orgeat
½ oz Grenadine
1½ oz Light Puerto Rican Rum
Shake with cubes and strain into cocktail glass.

This is really delicious, thanks to Portland Syrups Grenadine that has a lovely floral taste that leans a little into some black cherry flavors but obviously still is primarily pomegranate flavor. The rich syrup pairs well with the Latitude 29 Orgeat that I use to stand up to the lemon juice and the Don Q Cristal Rum adds some legit rum flavor that I greatly prefer.

Thanks to Kristi and Jessie for bringing back this cute little bottle of Don Q direct from Puerto Rico!

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New Make and Drink Mai Tai Glass

Derek has come up with an all-new design for his Make and Drink YouTube channel’s Mai Tai glass. This one is much more elaborate than the previous incarnation, still sporting the Make and Drink logo but also including Hawaiian elements and even a Mai Tai recipe. The Mai Tai glass is available now and will be going up in price on June 1st, so “act now” as they say.

Derek’s favorite Mai Tai features both Jamaican and Demerara rums, hence the specific notation on the recipe, though of course it is always up to you how you use that two ounces of rum in the cocktail.

After you make the Mai Tai, be sure to check out Derek’s latest video which covers the oldest known Mai Tai recipe in print, a recipe “from the bartender at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel” that ran in the Memphis Commercial Appeal in 1958. That recipe features 1 oz of lemon juice and ½ oz of lime juice, so this version is definitely a little different than most Mai Tais you might have tried.

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Hawaiian Scorpion: The Polynesian Drink that Inspired Trader Vic

We thank Derek at Make and Drink for doing the heavy lifting to recover this recipe for the Scorpion cocktail that inspired Trader Vic to make his own version. In fact, Vic was quite transparent about the origin of this cocktail, as he often was, stating plainly that he had this during a visit to Honolulu. Interestingly, the drink includes both orange and lemon juice, a combo that Vic often favored.

Derek found newspaper clippings that described the original version of the drink, which notably including local Hawaiian spirit ʻŌkolehao. This truly means that this cocktail has a Polynesian origin, a rarity in the tiki cocktail genre where the Caribbean is usually the source or origin or inspiration. including Derek’s recipe that made some adjustments to balance the drink, and note that I made a half-sized version.

Hawaiian Scorpion / adjusted by Derek from Make and Drink
3½ oz Lemon Juice
5½ oz Fresh Orange Juice
2 tbsp Demerara Sugar
10 oz ʻŌkolehao
Put all ingredients into a mason jar, adding lemon/orange rinds and large mint sprig. Shake and let steep in refrigerator for 24-48 hrs. Strain solid ingredients and put into tiki bowl and garnish with citrus wheels, orchids, or fire depending on what you have.

We found this to be light and refreshing, with the subtle mint flavors to be pleasant and the overall character to be bright and lemon-leaning. The ʻŌkolehao doesn’t really assert itself in this recipe, though it is unclear if the ʻŌkolehaos of the day might have been different. In any case, Vic’s version is a pretty good approximation as that has light rum and brandy which are also more like background players in the mix.

 

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Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai at The Fink

We thank Judd and the entire team at The Fink for the opportunity to speak about the Mai Tai and organizing the “Sunday School” event in Napa today. The Fink is one of our favorite places and their OG Mai Tai is world class, so it’s honor to share the good word today.

The event is sold out, but we have the slides available for viewing here in case you missed it or just want to get the recipes and photos.

The Fink Presentation Slides

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Modified Scorpion Recipe

After having the individual Scorpion at Trader Vic’s last week I thought I’d revisit this classic at home. This is a prime example of the Trader Vic’s recipe style, featuring both orange and lemon juice, a split base of spirits, and Vic’s signature sweetener, orgeat.

This sometimes comes out too tart, and I’ve long felt that the juicy cocktail needs bolder spirits. So, I did some modifications on the ratios by dropping the orange juice a little and bumping up the orgeat. This was originally made with a lightly aged “white” Puerto Rican rum, but I think that something with more flavor would be better. Look for something bolder like Denizen White, Planteray 3 Star, Hamilton Breezeway Blend, or Myers’s Platinum White. The brandy or cognac is often lost in this and as a richer spirit I want to taste it so I’ve doubled that from what Trader Vic called for.

  • Valencia Oranges are a little sweeter than Navel Oranges and would be recommended for this cocktail.
  • Now with four ounces of spirts, you can feel better about using this Trader Vic’s Scorpion Bowl and maybe even splitting it with someone special.

Scorpion by Trader Vic (modified)
1½ oz Orange Juice
1½ oz Lemon Juice
¾ oz Orgeat
2 oz Brandy or Cognac
2 oz Aged White Rum
Flash blend with 8 oz crushed ice. Dirty dump and top with more crushed ice, garnishing with gardenia, orchid, or citrus wheels. Serve in Mai Tai glass or tiki mug.

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Pilo Pilo Recipe

Each Trader Vic’s location has a signature cocktail that initially is available only at that location, though sometimes these cocktails come to other Trader Vic’s locations. This is a really great perk for those who seek out and visit the various Vic’s locations, and these cocktails are chosen with great care because the team a Trader Vic’s know they have to good.

Signature cocktail examples:

  • E’Ville Ewa, Emeryville
  • Munich Sour, Munich
  • Peachtree Punch, Atlanta

The signature cocktail at the Trader Vic’s location at the San Jose International Airport is the Pilo Pilo. This cocktail uses two juices, two sweeteners, and three rums and comes in a mug that’s exclusive to the San Jose location as well (the mug is also available on the Trader Vic’s website).

The cocktail was developed by Daniel Velize and the recipe was shared a couple years ago at Tiki Oasis by Eve Bergeron. Notably, it’s a cocktail that uses the top-secret Navy Grog Mix syrup that  is available for purchase on the Trader Vic’s online store.

Pilo Pilo by Daniel Velize
1 oz Lemon Juice
¾ oz Lime Juice
¾ oz Trader Vic’s Passion Fruit Syrup
¾ oz Trader Vic’s Navy Grog Mix
½ oz Trader Vic’s Spiced Rum
¾ oz Trader Vic’s Dark Rum
¾ oz Trader Vic’s 151-Proof Rum
Shake with ice, garnish with three cherries and a spent lime shell.

I really liked this cocktail when I tried it a couple weeks ago before my flight to Seattle, and the blend of three rums really worked for me. I found it to be well balanced, despite all that citrus too.

The World’s Best Airport Bar