Category: Rum

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Beautiful Day on the Santa Cruz Wharf at Makai Tiki Bar

My company gave me Friday off for a “wellness day” so Mrs. Mai Tai and I went over to the Santa Cruz area for shopping and lunch. After a quick visit to Capitola and Soquel, we drove onto the Santa Cruz Wharf for lunch at Makai Island Kitchen and Groggery.

Makai has been a favorite of ours for some time, including the rotating bar area. This is such a unique feature and you have full views of the ocean, Makai’s Captain’s Table room, and the rest of the restaurant. We also saw a vast rum list that was over 30 pages and according to staff features over 620 rums, very quietly one of the largest collections of any venue in the United States. We both enjoyed our lunch, I had the Poke Bowl that includes lychee and crushed macadamia nuts as different kind of options, with Mrs. Mai Tai having the Halibut Green Curry Bowl.

There are bunch of different cocktail options including many developed by the crew. I started with a 1944 Mai Tai that I should have loved, featuring Appleton Signature, Smith & Cross, and Planteray Xaymaca rums (three of my favorites), but this Mai Tai was too lime forward and I could barely taste the rum. We had much better luck with the other cocktails, including the sweet banana flavors of Squid Ink, the light gin and lavender flavors of Purple Haze, and the not-too-sweet ube and coconut Triumph & Disaster. Our favorite was Pau Hana, a gin and elderflower cocktail that incorporated lemon and raspberry. This cocktail was developed by Hana Kingsbury (see what she did there) who was our server and posed with a photo with her creation.

The cocktail and rum options at Makai remain strong, plus their island far remains high quality and moderately priced. We enjoy things inside in the rotating bar, but the patio outside is pretty nice including a couple of very large tikis to help set the mood. Along the way, we saw birds and sea lions from our vantage point, and then strolled to the end of the pier to check out more sea lions, sea birds, and seagulls.

1944 Mai Tai, Squid Ink, Pau Hana, Purple Haze

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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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My Favorite Mai Tai 12: What Makes The Ultimate Mai Tai?

Mai Tai media week continues with another new video to watch this weekend.

Those looking for a deeper dive into the Mai Tai will likely enjoy the new episode of Tiki with Ray’s “My Favorite Mai Tai” video series. We sat down with Ray and Pete from Bamboo & Bitters to discuss the Mai Tai’s ingredients, lore, and personal preferences.

The Mai Tai is very special to many people, including myself of course. But those who are paying close attention should note in this video how many times I chose not to gatekeep the drink or specific ingredients. I know what I like in a Mai Tai, and I’ll talk about things you should be thinking about when making one at home or ordering one at a bar. But I pass no judgement if you prefer it this way or that way. It’s your Tai, not my Tai.

Thanks to Ray for driving a great discussion into this cocktail and to Pete for having us over at his amazing basement bar, The Fo’c’sle.

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Elevated Mai Tai at Inside Passage

After dinner at Rumba, we were seated in Inside Passage next door. We chose the bar since I hadn’t been seated there before, though at opening on Friday they were only moderately busy. Ray chose the excellent NA version of the Panorama Punch, served in a Seattle World’s Fair glass with replica disc and topped with sorbet. I earned some ire from the bartender for grabbing a straw to sample Ray’s drink.

Entering Inside Passage with Tiki with Ray

Last year I was so impressed by the Kiki’s Premier Mai Tai I swapped Rumba to Inside Passage on our Best Mai Tais in the World list. Prices at Inside Passage have crept past $20 for their signature cocktails, though the Premier Mai Tai’s ingredient list certainly justifies the $26 price: House barrel-aged Rivers Royale, Appleton Estate 15, Chairman’s Reserve 1931, Rhum JM Terroir Volcanique, Saint James 110, curaçao, creole shrubb, orgeat, and lime. Those are all elevated rums, and you’ll taste it in the still-excellent Mai Tai. The blend of sugar cane and molasses based rums means there’s a lot of rich flavor in the cocktail and it’s one you’ll want to sip and savor.

Kiki’s Premier Mai Tai

The music at Inside Passage was retro mood music, though neither of us thought the inclusion of the Beatles’ “Octopus’s Garden” was inappropriate given the presence of sea creature Kiki, the venue’s spotlight focal point and visual mascot.

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The Rumba Mai Tai is One of the Best on Planet Earth

Nothing really new to report, Mai Tai fans. We went to Rumba for dinner and to wait until Inside Passage opened, and so I had to check and see if the Mai Tai is still world-class. I’m pleased to report that the Mai Tai is still one of the best you can get on planet Earth.

Rumba’s Mai Tai rum blend features house barrel-aged Wray & Nephew Overproof from Jamaica and Rhum JM Gold agricole from Martinique, so this features some savory and funky notes to pair well with the sweet orgeat. For those concerned with the Rhum Agricole component it’s a very approachable Mai Tai with just a hint of grassiness.

For my meal I had a fantastic Poke Bowl that included mango, pickled onion, jicama, and Basmati rice. Ray’s Cuban Sandwich also continues to be well prepared, and our service during the visit was great.

We didn’t partake in any rums, but if you’re in town looking for the largest selection of rums then this is the place.

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Dr. Funk’s Rum Asylum Level II Complete

We had a great time at the quarterly Rum Asylum rum club meeting at Dr. Funk on Sunday. Dr. Funk has been building their momentum with these quarterly Sunday meetings, where each meeting includes a rum brand with tasting and education, plus recognition for rum club milestones.

The featured rum brand this time was Hamilton, with Ed Hamilton himself speaking to the assembled masses and walking us through a bunch of Hamilton rum expressions. Ed is always an entertaining speaker and it never hurts to have some of his greatest hits to taste, including the Breezeway blend and my favorite Jamaican Pot Still Blonde. We also got to try the new Café Carib coffee liqueur that was really delicious. A featured cocktail called the Crimson Castaway featured a triple berry shrub and was fantastic.

By completing Level II: Deleri-Rum, I received a Dr. Funk asylum pin as well as this very nice pith helmet. Yes, another funny hat for completing a rum list! Level II featured over sixty rums from Dr. Funk’s vast collection, including some rare rums that are truly special. My last one was completed a couple days before and was Cadenhead Trinidad 18 which was really great.

The next quarterly Rum Asylum meetup is June 28.

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The Crush of NVIDIA GTC

Wednesday night found us at Dr. Funk in downtown San Jose for dinner, cocktails, and a few more rums for my final push to complete level II of Dr. Funk’s Rum Asylum list.

We immediately sensed the energy of San Pedro Square with a crush of people filling every bar and restaurant in the area, due to the attendees of the NVIDIA GTC (GPU Technology Conference). Luckily, the crew found us a booth inside and Riley and I both had excellent cheeseburgers while we watched the decidedly uncommon crowd pack the patio and interior of San Jose’s best tiki bar. So many lanyards and backpacks and a couple people even doing laptop work with their Mai Tais. Shhh, don’t tell the office back home.

Foursquare Rums

I’m getting to the end of my Level II list, and most of the remaining rums are top shelf items, so I made a concerted effort to savor the pairing of excellent Barbados rums from Foursquare – the 2010 vintage and Isonomy. After Riley polished off a Dr. Funk Mai Tai we shared a really crisp and delicious daiquiri with the limited edition Ron Superior De Bacardi Y Cia from Mexico, supposedly more like the old Bacardis used to taste like.

The Dr. Funk crew have had quite a week, given the weekend’s St. Patrick’s Day revelry, corporate buy-outs, and a true crush of customers on our visit Wednesday. It was basically all hands on deck and we saw the crew really working well together. Our sever Michelle did an especially stellar job.

Just a few more rums to go ahead of Sunday’s quarterly Rum Asylum meeting.