Category: Rum

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Inuhele 2026 Seminar Slides

(Nearly) Everything You Know about Rum in a Mai Tai is Wrong

While the Mai Tai was born with a long-aged pot-still Jamaica rum, over decades the Trader used rums from various islands and styles to produce Mai Tais for different purposes. Learn how the rums and recipe for the Mai Tai evolved over the years and how changing up the rum can make your Mai Tai more palatable for your guests.

Think you know everything about rum in a Mai Tai? Prepare to have your assumptions challenged.

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The (De)Evolution of the Hawaiian Mai Tai

Everyone is familiar with the iconic Hawaiian Mai Tai that features pineapple juice and a dark rum float. This popular variant of the Mai Tai is quite different from the original 1944 Mai Tai created at Trader Vic’s.

So, when did the Mai Tai in Hawaii become the “Hawaiian Mai Tai” we know today? It is actually far later than the myths you might have heard. Learn more about this iconic cocktail and how it evolved over the years based on contemporaneous reports and published recipes.

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Back to the Asylum

With extended visits to many Halloween and Holiday themed bars, travel to Europe, and family visits, it has been a long time since we visited downtown San Jose for some rum tasting from the Rum Asylum rum list at Dr. Funk Rum House.

The three rums this time including Cruzan Hurricane rum, an 137 proof firebomb that’s best tried in a cocktail. Better for me were Batiste Agricole and Damoiseau VSOP, two cane juice rums from French departments Martinique and Guadeloupe respectively. These were much more interesting and tasty to sip on.

Dr. Funk recently announced they’re doing a “Fortune Meets Romance” theme for February, incorporating both Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day. These pop-ups are fun, and popular with the downtown San Jose cocktail crowd, though I’d love to see Dr. Funk be known more for just being a great tiki bar.

We also heard the long-anticipated food menu revamp is coming soon, so stay tuned for updates.

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Mai Tai Seminars at Inuhele: Atlanta’s Tiki Weekend

There are still tickets available for Inuhele: Atlanta’s tiki weekend, January 23-25.

This will be our first trip to Inuhele and I’ll be presenting two Mai Tai seminars, updated and refreshed for 2026! We’re excited to present to a Southeast audience, and having a Trader Vic’s in town is a huge plus.

Are you attending Inuhele? Leave a note and let’s be sure to meet up.

If you’re local, leave any touring tips in the comments.

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Nochebuena at Cavaña: Mission Bay Rooftop Bar

Mission Bay’s Cavaña is located on the roof of the Luma Hotel, offering great views of Oracle Park. The Latin-focused bar and restaurant features Agave and Cane spirits, meaning it was a welcome option when we arrived early for a show nearby. The venue has a lounge vibe with a large bar area plus lots of patio seating, fire pits, and 17 story views of the neighborhood. Authentic artwork fills the modern space.

Our first visit was taking place during the Nochebuena pop-up with Christmas decor and speciality drinks. The menu is very nicely laid out including details of themed specialty glassware for sale. As with most holiday menus, there’s a little something for everyone including shots and non-alcoholic options.

I went with Jingle Juice, served in a mug eerily “reminiscent” of the Sippin’ Santa mug. The balanced drink is similar to a Mai Tai including Bacardi Seville rum, orange liqueur, orgeat, and lime – with Earl Grey Mango. Trademarks aside, this was a great cocktail.

Mrs. Mai Tai went with Our Lady of Guava-Lupe, including tequila, amaro, aloe liqueur, and guava. Served in a glass that looked like a Mexican religious candle, complete with recipe on the back of the glass. This drink was another winner and so flavorful.

We were impressed by our first visit to Cavaña. Service at the bar moved pretty quick, even on a busy night, and it’s nice there’s an obvious place to order if you’re not sitting. Entry via elevator near the hotel’s entrance ran smoothly and we foresee return visits before or after events at Oracle Park or Chase Center.

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Ron Legendario from Cuba

When I arrived home from Europe I discovered the rum fairy had placed these bottles of Cuban rum in my suitcase, lo and behold. That would be the only explanation of how they got there.

Ron Añejo 9 Años is a very nice aged rum aged for nine years. This rum has a fruitier flavor profile and I thought it was pretty good, though I didn’t like it as much as Havana Club 7 which is more oaky.

Elixir de Cuba is actually a liqueur, something I didn’t notice until I tasted it. It is 34% ABV and definitely dosed with a ton of sugar, if that’s your thing.

It was only little bottles on this trip, thankfully, as we were basically borderline overweight on our two bags.

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Clarified Ultimate Mai Tai

Huge shout out to our buddy Rex Stone (aka DJ Ship Rex) who brought a clarified version of the Ultimate Mai Tai to a recent gathering. Clarified cocktails are an area that I’m not deeply familiar with but sounds like Rex used standard milk washing techniques.

The resulting elixir is very smooth to drink but still has plenty of the flavor that the Ultimate Mai Tai is famous for. So, if you’ve ever thought about trying it I can tell you that the effort will be worth it – even better, if there’s any left over from the gathering then clarified version will last for days.

So, cheers to Rex for making the effort and delivering a fantastic Mai Tai in a different format. One of the best Mai Tais of the year.

The Ultimate Mai Tai rum blend features equal portions of Appleton 12, Smith & Cross, Planteray Xaymaca, and Planteray OFTD rum.

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Lost Recipe: Camparinara

This historical punch recipe was recently discovered and amplified by Derek on his Make and Drink channel on YouTube. It is Campari-forward, with other ingredients familiar to tropical and exotic cocktail fans.

In Derek’s video he published two single cocktail versions of the Camparinara and I chose the one that’s more rum forward. It originally calls for ginger and clove and so I used Falernum in place of the Ginger Syrup that Derek used. And rather than using Allspice Dram I used “Don’s Spices no. 2” which is equal parts Allspice dram and Vanilla Syrup.

It’s a really interesting and very flavorful cocktail that I’d like to see commercial tiki bars adopt. Cheers to Derek for finding this lost treasure.

Camparinara – Rummy Version on Ice
1 oz Lemon juice
2 tsp Falernum
2 tsp Cinnamon syrup
2 tsp Don’s Spices no. 2
1 oz Campari
2 oz Rum (Mount Gay XO)
Shake with ice and strain over a large ice cube. Garnish with ground nutmeg.

Watch the video on YouTube