The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai
Traveling the Bay Area and beyond to find the best Mai Tai in the world! Tiki, cocktails, and adventures by Kevin Crossman
Made a Painkiller with a modified juice ratio. I really love the Valencia Orange Juice and thought that maybe adding more orange to a Painkiller would improve it. But it probably came out a little less good.
1 oz Coco Real Coconut Creme
2 oz Pineapple Juice
2 oz Valencia OJ
2 oz Pusser’s Rum
Glassware by B-Rex.
Foursquare Rum
Cracked open the 2007 to compare to the 2004. Both are wonderful high proof aged rums from Foursquare in Barbados. This is a rum for rum lovers. Aged and complex and at 59% ABV it is definitely not watered down. The 2004 is aged 11 years, the 2007 for 12 years.
Both are outstanding. The 2007 had a little bit more of a toasted coconut flavor but overall these are similar rums with oak, vanilla, and caramel notes. The 2004’s bottle is less elaborate and has a screw top, while the 2007 has a cork.
The 2004 is really hard to find these days but the 2007 is fairly available at fine liquor outlets and even at some Total Wine locations. If you want to try an aged rum without any added sugar this is a great expression to explore.
Challenge your assumptions.
I didn’t like the Jungle Bird cocktail in the past but it has been a while and it’s only been a small sample size. Plus my palette has changed over the past few years, so time to give this another try.
I made this according to the standard Beachbum Berry recipe, with the rum being 1 oz Hamilton Pot Still Black and 1/2 oz Coruba. But the bitter Campari and full four ounces of pineapple juice are just too much for me. They can’t all be winners.
Glassware by The Jungle Bird which on the other hand I do love! Wonderful tiki bar and restaurant in Sacramento.
Got to try out the online ordering system at everyone’s favorite Oakland Tiki Bar, The Kon-Tiki. The system was easy to use and conveniently allows you to order before the restaurant opens (now 4-8 pm Mon-Sat). Give it a try.
The system is useful too, in that it reminds you of the rum bottles available for sale. I picked up the Denizen Vatted Dark and it’s wonderful. It also allows you to make comments for each item (such as sauce on the side). The loaded Tater Tots are back and they’re wonderful. The peppers have a little kick but not too bad. The tots traveled great, too. Still crispy when I got home. And the Jerk Almonds had a great favor too. The Kon-Tiki Cheeseburger was amazing as always, though do note that it comes with chips now, not fries.
The Kon-Tiki Zombie cocktail was a delight. I made sure to carefully pour over ice.
There are a lot of new murals in downtown Oakland, in support of Black Lives Matter. They look amazing and of course have an important message.
You can’t win if you don’t play.
If you like it, buy it!
Whatever the metaphor, the victory was mine today when I almost literally stumbled across this box of the famed Foursquare Exceptional Cask 2007 rum. There were three bottles left, I only took one. Sometimes you get lucky, but you’ll never know unless you’re there to see what pops up.
Patronize your local liquor store. And if you want to try it, then buy it.
Can’t wait to give this rum a try and compare it to the Foursquare 2004 already at home.
Trying to learn more about this event and future national holiday. I didn’t have strawberries but wanted to make a red drink.
1 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Liber & Co. Blood Orange Cordial
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1/2 oz Cherry Heering
1 oz Light Rum (I used Denizen White)
1 oz Saint Benevolence Rum Clairin from Haiti
Shake with cubes and top with soda.
Had a great time yesterday watching Suzanne Long deliver a fabulous Instagram Live rum presentation for Pusser’s Rum.
Suzanne is such a pro at these things, and always know how to welcome an audience. Several times she stopped the presentation to welcome those who had just joined and level set in her presentation about rum basics, the tradition of British Navy Rum, and then more about Pusser’s Rum. Their new 15 year expression contains no sugar and is wonderful.
The cocktail uses the Pusser’s Gunpowder Proof rum, which I find to be fabulous. Pretty affordable for what you get, it is delicious in cocktails such as Suzanne’s Gunpowder Swizzle. If you don’t have this rum, you can fake it by using 1.5 oz of Pusser’s Rum (Blue Label) and .5 oz of a 151 Demerara rum.
