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
Smuggler’s Cove is running a special on their Formidable Dragon to-go cocktail. There is Wray & Nephew Swag available with purchase, a promotion to celebrate the use of Wray Overproof and sister brand Appleton 8 Reserve in the cocktail. It’s a delicious cocktail and the merch makes it extra fun.
I chose these fine W&N beach slippers, which will come in handy next week on vacation.
The promotion is available for a limited times, is get thee to The Cove before it is too late.
Mrs. Mai Tai and I took a drive to SF and got some fab cocktails from Smuggler’s Cove.
I’ve been impressed with the quality of the take-out cocktails from Smuggler’s Cove, which have been consistently excellent throughout their to-go period. These cocktails aren’t the cheapest, but man they’ve been fantastic and importantly better than I could make at home. Remember that post a few weeks ago where Mrs. Mai Tai and I tried three different Painkillers made with fresh ingredients? Not as good as the Painkiller we had from the Cove, and not even close.
The Tradewinds was my order, pictured with some take-out sushi from another restaurant. I’ve never had this amazing cocktail made with coconut creme and apricot liqueur before and now I have serious FOMO. So good.
Now, if only Smuggler’s Cove would offer a to-go Mai Tai!
I completed the Kill Devil list on the patio at Forbidden Island today. I started the list in early 2018, but got probably 75% of the 106 rums purchased via take-out orders in the last few months. So, I’m pleased to be part of the “Quaranteam” who did this largely under lockdown.
My final rum was my favorite, Appleton 12, in a Mai Tai of course. This was our first baby step back to dining in person with table service on the patio at a table with Mrs. Mai Tai (who said the Chi-Chi’s were especially delicious today).
Thanks to some of the members of the “Forbidden Ohana” Facebook group for coming out to celebrate today, some of which were at conversation distance away at their own tables. Thank you to Dean Koenig for the pour of Foursquare 2008, a fantastic rum. I was at FI when Dean completed his Kill Devil list, so it’s very nice to see him today for mine. Cheers!
And thank you John and Michael and all the FI staff for support doing the list. I’ll look forward to seeing my plaque up on the bar someday when I’m patronizing inside again (FI opens for indoor dining starting tomorrow). I’ll start working on FI’s Kill Devil 2.0 rum list soon, though for a while I’ll be sticking to cocktails on my next few visits.
These rum clubs are a great way to try our some new rums. And while they aren’t all “winners” it is a great experience to talk with fellow patrons and the FI staff about the rums. For my 106 rums I kept short tasting notes and did rate the rums. I grade on the curve so there were lots of 3 star rums, but here are the top rums from the list.
5 Star
4 Star
Should come as no surprise to regular readers that my tastes favor Jamaica/Barbados/Guyana rums.
And now on to the next adventure of spreading the good word of rum.
Mrs. Mai Tai got her second vaccine today, a super fast experience in Oakland with plenty of time for lunch to-go from Trader Vic’s. I’m really loving their Kahlua Pork Sandwich, which thankfully isn’t bathed in BBQ sauce. So tender and tasty.
The Mai Tai was made fresh with ice for nearby parked lunch experience. Gotta love that great Trader Vic’s crushed ice and fresh lime to make the Mai Tai extra special.
Vic’s is now open for indoor dining. Here’s a peek at the table spacing, if you’re so inclined.
This was taken a year ago at The Kon-Tiki at a celebration for Terra Fritch and Alex Fritch completing the Kon-Tiki Expedition Rum list. It was such a great time but that’s where we heard about Tom Hanks and the NBA shutdown, and well, you know the rest of the story.
Perhaps if I had been sitting on the couch when all of this went down I might be taking the one year anniversary less hard. That event was such a memorable gathering and the rapid shutdown thereafter is something I’ve thought about almost daily; heck, I wrote a whole essay about this for Exotica Moderne magazine a few months ago.
Mrs. Mai Tai is getting her second vaccination tomorrow and hopefully our sons and I can get vaccinated soon as well. That will make us feel safe for private gatherings of vaccinated people, and is a step to getting transmission rates so far down that we’ll feel safe doing indoor dining again.
Someday we’ll be able to do this again.
The newly refreshed and repaired sign is back hanging out front of Forbidden Island. Looks great!
I’ll be finishing my Kill Devil 1.0 rum list on Sunday at 2pm out on the patio, if you’d like to come for virtual toasts and hugs/handshakes.
It’s nice to see some changing menu items at The Kon-Tiki in Oakland. The new cocktail this week is Chet Baker, a rum-based Manhattan with two overproof Jamaican rums, Punt e Mes Italian Vermouth, Honey, and Bitters. I really liked this, though when you put Jamaican rum forward in a cocktail and I can’t see how you can do wrong. Wikipedia says that Chet Baker was a Jazz musician who died falling from a window in Amsterdam while high on heroin and cocaine, so I’m not sure what that has to do with the this tiki version of a Manhattan.
Also new this weekend was the Steak Sandwich – grilled ribeye, shallots, American cheese, arugula, garlic aioli, and BBQ sauce. The meat was tender and easy to eat in sandwich form and I liked it. Man does not live by the Kon-Tiki Cheeseburger alone!
The Kon-Tiki’s second parklet got an artistic makeover this week, an indication that those will be with us for a while. Quite a nice crowd yesterday at dinnertime when I picked up the meal, and the soundtrack was James Bond themes, an indication that Kon-Tiki’si retro-inspired music program continues to surprise and delight.
