Category: Rum

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Great Appleton 17 Mai Tai at Kona Street Market

Buckle in for a roller coaster of an experience and note the unique set of circumstances.

I was in the City for a work event and met up with local raconteur Nathan Robinson for drinks at Kona’s Street Market downtown. After enjoying a Kona original called the Banana Stand we had a good rapport with bartender Jason and it wasn’t too busy, so I asked if he could make a 1944 Trader Vic’s Mai Tai using the Appleton 17 Legend rum that newly appeared on their top shelf after the previous bottle was drained a couple months ago.

Note that Kona is still selling this at the ridiculous price of $30 for a neat pour and only a few bucks more in Mai Tai format, making this an absolute bargain.

Jason made sure to check that we didn’t want the dark rum float that normally comes with their Mai Tai and measured everything carefully. But the initial taste was anything but legendary due to what can only be characterized as very bad lime juice. Nathan took a little swig, confirming to us that “the lime is off”. Jason offered to remake it and I him he didn’t have to but after consulting with another member of the team I saw him juicing a fresh lime and preparing another version of the cocktail.

Does the Legend still make a fabulous Mai Tai? Yes, it still does! That second Mai Tai was just how I remember it, a fantastic flavorful rum that is so present in the drink with an extraordinarily long finish so you can savor every sip.

We want to highlight the circumstances of a not-so-busy bar, ongoing conversation with the staff, and the obvious industry experience that Nathan’s questions and comments with the bartender demonstrated. Your mileage would vary if it was slammed or if you roll in to mansplain your way into ordering this off-menu cocktail. A really fantastic experience overall, thanks to Jason and the Kona team.

I left a very big tip.

Banana Stand
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Dr. Funk Rum Asylum Level II: Deleri-rum

Popped into Dr. Funk to drink some rum from the Rum Asylum Level II list, a curated list of 60+ rums from the doctor’s collection.

Mrs Mai Tai is still working level I and she had a Wray & Nephew Overproof rum as a Daiquiri, so I did a little compare and contrast by having The Funk has a daiquiri, a similar unaged Jamaican rum that is a little less boozy (“only 100 proof”) and quite lovely in that format.

Then I tried a delicious AK Zanj 10 year rum from Haiti, made from sugar cane juice. Very approachable and full flavored.

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Island Glider at Trader Vic’s

Had a nice visit to the bar at Trader Vic’s Emeryville on the way to pick up Mrs. Mai Tai at the airport, where coincidentally my exploration of the vast cocktail menu led me to a new drink called the Island Glider. This is a Paper Plane variant developed by Mika who was actually my bartender for the evening.

The Island Glider features dark rum, Aperol, and Pineapple Amaro and is served up. This is a dry leaning but still flavorful cocktail and a good option for those looking for spirit-forward options, though the use of the Trader Vic’s Dark Rum means that the rum doesn’t quite hold up to the other ingredients as much as you’d want. I appreciate what Mika was trying to do here, and the constraints to use Trader Vic’s branded rums, but this is a case where a bolder rum really would have benefitted this cocktail. The garnish includes nods to hang gliders and is a really nice touch.

Later, Mika demonstrated how the Vic’s bartenders keep up with all those Mai Tai orders by building eleven Mai Tais at one time and keeping them on hand for orders so that all they need to do is add ice, shake, and garnish.

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Myers’s Rum Signature Origin Collection Guyana Blend

Though Myers’s Rum will likely forever be known for the signature Dark Jamaican expression, in the past decades this blending brand did issue bottles featuring rum from different regions. The brand’s current owners, Sazerac, went so far as to issue this Guyana variant a couple years back though to date this seems to be a one and done release. The rum is 41.5% ABV and is a blend of rums from Guyana with no age statement.

I was gifted a bottle of this rare rum from Jason Craig and am so grateful to be able to enjoy this fine expression. Tasting neat, it does strike me as similar to El Dorado 5 which I’ve tried several times and compares very favorably to the 40% Pusser’s 15 yr that I have in my collection. Rich toffee, nut, and banana notes mostly, and not too much oak. The lower ABV means that rum nerds likely won’t flock to it, but this is something you could impress a rum newbie with.

The Guyana Blend really shines in a Mai Tai, providing a ton of rummy flavor that pairs really well with the rest of the ingredients. Even at 83 proof, this rum is not buried in the cocktail, and I really enjoyed this Myers’s rum as a Mai Tai.

There still seem to be some bottles of Myers’s Rum Signature Origin Collection Guyana Blend out there for purchase, usually in the $45-$50 range. This interesting expression is worth seeking out and I hope Sazerac does more of these kind of releases.

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Completing Dr. Funk’s Rum Asylum Level I

I finally completed the first level of Dr. Funk’s rum club list, the Rum Asylum. I’d have finished back on March 11 had they not run out of my last rum, Real McCoy 12 year from Barbados, and finally returned after a couple weeks of heavy travel.

Level I is a very good overview of the various styles of rum, including unaged expressions all the way to heavily aged ones, plus distillate from more than a dozen different countries and regions. There’s a little bit for everyone, from those who like it sweet and light to those who like boozy funk bombs. I love Jamaica rum above all others, but best of all there’s not a dud in the bunch.

Dr. Funk Rum Asylum: Level I

1-3. Rum Flight (incl. Planteray Pineapple, Paranubes, Appleton 12)
4. Bacardi 8 Ocho
5. Barbancourt 8 yr
6. Planteray Xaymaca
7. Rhum JM VSOP
8. Santa Teresa 1796
9. Myers’s Single Barrel Select
10. Privateer Queen’s Share
11. Real McCoy 12 Yr
12. Lemon Hart 151
13. Wray & Nephew Overproof
14. Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva
15. Kō Hana Kea
16. Chairman’s Reserve Spiced
17. Appleton 21
18. Denizen White 5 yr
19. Pusser’s British Navy
20. Worthy Park 109

When you complete level I there’s a small pin awarded, plus the list for Level II and the goal of future rewards. Thanks to Justin for initiating me and letting me ring the bell.

The best way to celebrate the completion of the list? A fantastic Dr. Funk Mai Tai, of course.

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Mai Tai Shakeup at Inside Passage and Rumba

Ray suggested checking out Seattle’s “almost tiki bar” Inside Passage, so we popped in around 9:00 on Thursday to find a few spots at the bar and a couple open tables. As I scanned the menu I saw they have Kiki’s Premier Mai Tai, made with a symphony of rums including house barrel-aged Rivers Royale, Appleton 15, Chairman’s Reserve 1931, Rhum JM Terroir Volcanique, and Saint James 110 – plus two orange liqueurs. This premier Mai Tai has a premium price, $26, though the quality and price of the rums used means this is still a great value.

Rumba and Inside Passage Mai Tais

Having previously loved the Rumba Mai Tai that’s in the same venue as Inside Passage, I was looking forward to trying this monster and it exceeded my expectations in every way. So rich and flavorful, a Mai Tai that’s worth savoring every sip. I was very impressed.

I decided to order a Rumba Mai Tai to do a head-to-head comparison and the sister cocktail was delivered in short order. The richness of the Premier wasn’t present in the Rumba Mai Tai that really leaned into Martinique Agricole as the predominant flavor. The menu says this includes aged Rhum JM and a house barrel aged Wray & Nephew, but I didn’t taste oak or Jamaican notes as I would have expected. The overall mouthfeel wasn’t as great as I remember and I kind of ended up being disappointed with the Rumba Mai Tai.

Commitment to the bit

So, sadly, we’re going to remove the Rumba Mai Tai from our list of Top Mai Tais in the world – to be replaced by the Inside Passage’s Premier Mai Tai! Sometimes you have to pay a little extra to get a lot better Mai Tai and Inside Passage really delivered.

Inside Passage remains impressive on the eyes, with nods to Seattle landmarks such as the World’s Fair and the old Trader Vic’s, even though it technically isn’t a tiki bar. Lots of fun and nice to see you might not absolutely require a reservation.

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Power Outage at Nui Nui / North Shore Lagoon

Thursday was a night out with Tiki with Ray and wanted to visit again the McMenamins Anderson School location in Bothell, where there’s a tiki bar now called Nui Nui that sits over the North Shore Lagoon indoor pool. Once again I was so impressed by the quality and quantity of the Polynesian artwork, and the overall bamboo-heavy decor. We took a table by a window overlooking the busy pool.

Mai Tai

Shorty after receiving our first round of drinks, the power went out in the entire building – with some skylights, emergency lighting, and candles being the only thing illuminating the venue. The staff did an exemplary job reassuring customers and stated that while no new food orders would be taken they were still ready for additional drink orders. Turns out someone hit a telephone pole right outside the venue, toppling the pole and sending wires to the ground. The pool remained busy for a while and then was shut down a little while later.

I very much enjoyed the Mai Thai Steak Salad and paired it with a pretty reasonable Mai Tai made with light leaning McMenamins’ North Shore Lagoon rum blend and house orgeat. I followed that with Fashionably Tiki, an excellent and satisfying Old Fashioned riff made with the same rum, house Falernum, tiki bitters, and an orange peel. I really enjoyed both cocktails.

By the time we left it was well past sundown and some portions of the venue were extremely dark, a bummer for me because I couldn’t appreciate the vast artwork as well. Nonetheless, the patrons seemed to be in great spirits and once again we have to salute the staff for making the situation comfortable in the darkest of dark tiki bars.

The pool after the power outage
Emergency Lighting