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
Believe it or not!
You’d think that after spending something like 12 hours at Trader Vic’s this week that I’d have found time somewhere for a Mai Tai. But since I was drinking rum all day at the SF Rum Festival – and I was driving – it didn’t seem prudent.
I did enjoy this Coral Reef, a non-alcoholic slushy with strawberry and coconut. Yummy.
The education-oriented Rum Congress returned this year as an add-on to the San Francisco Rum Festival, offering deep dives into everyone’s favorite spirit. As with Saturday’s Festival event, Rum Congress was at Trader Vic’s Emeryville with the Lanyu room hosting 40 attendees.
Most of the sessions were hosted by a rum brand, with flowing samples provided – the best of which was Kate Perry representing LM&V and doing a deep dive into Hampden Estate from Jamaica with rum pours across their line. Many bottles were killed… Planteray’s Alexandre Gabriel discussed Navy Rum including the first U.S. tasting of the new blend of Mister Fogg’s Sail No. 2, including samples from each of the rums in the blend. I found No. 2 to be better than last year’s expression.
The Rum Lab founder Fede Hernández discussed historical details of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, once known for rum production. There was even a session that was a deep dive into Sherry styles, increasingly important considering how many rums are either aged or matured in different Sherry casks.
I was paired with Mitch Wilson for the last session of the day, discussing Essential Rums for Tiki Cocktails. I provided the premise for 10 key rum styles most common in historical and modern recipes including some brand recommendations. Mitch then led a more open discussion of additional considerations, such as how today’s expressions may not fully represent what Trader Vic and Don the Beachcomber were using back in their heyday. Mitch also brought some Black Tot rum expressions, including a very interesting Solera expression and also some fabulous Master Blender’s Reserve that I think tastes a lot like vintage Navy Rum.
We ended the day with toast:
There are tall ships,
And there are small ships,
And there are ships that sail the sea,
But the best ships, are friendships,
So here’s to you and me!
Thank you to all the attendees, especially those who stayed engaged all the way to the very end of a long weekend. You are the true champions of rum.
This year’s San Francisco Rum Festival and Congress moved to a new but familiar location at Trader Vic’s Emeryville. The event was mostly held outdoors in the parking lot, aside from the rum education seminars that were held in the Lanyu room, so it had much more of a festival feel. The music from DJ Speakeasy Ray featured lounge and exotica, and had a very relaxing feel that still allowed for conversation. In addition to tables for different rum brands, there were tiki vendors and Trader Vic’s offering cocktails and food.
I was assisting the speakers and helping to manage the guest flow with the seminars, and there were several good ones include a very interesting panel about American rum producers moderated by Robyn Smith of rum et al and featuring Wright & Brown and Striped Lion Distillery. The session on Asia Pacific rums dove into production processes and included tasting samples of rums from Fiji, Philippines, and Australia.
I found plenty of time to sample some rums. My favorites included the PM/DHE High Ester rum from El Dorado, Worthy Park’s rum made with sugar cane juice, Black Tot’s Master Blender 2022 release, and a very interesting unaged rum from Wright & Brown of Oakland. It seemed like there were maybe a few less brands being represented this year but there were more than enough to provide examples of the diversity of rum for newcomers to the spirit, plus new expressions to excite veteran rum tasters.
The outdoor format and location outside San Francisco had some plusses and minuses. The weather cooperated on Saturday but we had rain earlier in the week. Transportation and parking was a challenge in Emeryville, especially for someone who likes to sober up on the way home by taking BART rather than driving. On the plus side, Trader Vic’s lounge was open for service all day and had a private party event during dinner service, so suffice to say there was a lot of energy in the venue.
What a fabulous evening in downtown San Jose last night for our second hosted trivia event, this time hosted at Dr. Funk. We had a packed house of people testing their knowledge of arcane Mai Tai and Tiki Bar trivia, or maybe just load up on $8 Mai Tais and nacho fries.
We did four themed rounds of trivia, starting with Mai Tai Origins, South Bay Tiki, What’s in a Mai Tai, and Tiki Bars. Questions ranged from the simple (“In what city was the Mai Tai invented”) to deeper cuts such as the longest continuously operating tiki bar in Southern California. Hint: it isn’t Tiki Ti or Tonga Hut. Our last question about a British celebrity garnered a wild reaction when the answer was revealed.
16 teams were formed with up to four people, including themed names such as Team Finkonistas, Whiskey Business, Rum Believable, and the Two Swizzle Sticks. Prizes included a fab gift basket from Dr. Funk including a mug, tshirt, sweatshirt, and gift card – plus some tiki mugs and Mai Tai glasses from my collection.
Two teams tied for first so we went to sudden death with an obscure question about the number of issues of Tiki News. Congrats to Beachcomb Bubbies for winning and Rhum Island Provisions for also garnering an amazing score. Thanks to all who came out – I hope you had fun.
I was having so much fun I almost forgot to have a Dr. Funk Mai Tai, but I couldn’t leave without my reward at the end of the event.
It’s been more than a couple years since we’ve been to Sacramento’s leading tiki bar The Jungle Bird for some reason, but stopped in for a drink and some light food on a recent excursion. The place was fairly busy for a Sunday evening and they were playing a varied mix of exotica and other retro tunes. We left before things turn metal for Sabbath Sundays at 9 pm.
We’ve had mixed experiences with food and drinks in the past but things were on par this visit. I enjoyed some potstickers and my 1944 Mai Tai was pretty good. Julie went in a sweeter direction with the deliciously creamy Lei’d Back that includes Dole Whip alongside vodka and citrus. Jungle Bird’s cocktails are priced mostly at $14-$15, so a little less expensive than what we see in SF/LA, and our service was great. The large and varied menu also includes a potency rating which was helpful for Julie since she was driving.
The Jungle Bird is doing a lot of things right and remains a compelling and welcoming destination.
PG&E has been working in our neighborhood for weeks but Wednesday had two scheduled power outages that were part of the maintenance. The one in the morning came right on time but the one at 4:00 never happened and we thought we might have been able to skip it until the lights went out past 8:00 pm when it was already quite dark.
Luckily, our new Tiki Lounge Light with the Moai mug was within easy reach and uses a rechargeable battery for power. Totally saved us from huddling in darkness as the power went off and on and off and on and off and finally on.
We’ve purchased several pieces from Tiki Lounge Lights and Greg even worked with us on a custom order using our favorite tiki mugs a few years back, so check them out when they’re vending at events or reach out on Instagram.
Join us on Monday, Sept 8 at 7:30 pm for a special trivia event at Dr. Funk in Downtown San Jose. Groups of up to four can compete for prizes and bragging rights, plus enjoy Dr. Funk food and cocktails including $8 Mai Tais. Consider a reservation to secure a table inside.
If you know tiki bars and Mai Tais you should do very well. We’d love to see you in San Jose on a weeknight.