Category: Travel

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Grand Mai Tai

Grand Mai Tai Indeed!

Found a hidden gem. The cocktails at the Disney Resorts don’t have great rep, apart from Trader Sam’s. The Mai Tais have generally been following the Captain’s Mai Tai formula with Captain Morgan and Amaretto. Spiced rum has its place, especially at a resort. But not in a Mai Tai.

So I was pleasantly surprised to see the Grand Mai Tai on the menu at the newish Craftsman Bar at the Grand Californian Hotel. This cocktail features Bacardi Ocho and Myers’s rum, and is made according to a 1944 recipe (no agave syrup, a Trader Sam’s staple), though with half the rum floated. Even better, this was actually a really good Mai Tai.

The poolside vibe was just fine for relaxing and the cocktails here seems much stronger than the Hearthstone Lounge on the other side of the hotel. I shall return!

The Grand Mai Tai at the GCH Craftsman Bar
  • View from the bar
  • Captain’s Mai Tai
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Profile on Tiki with Ray Blog

Head on over to the Tiki with Ray Blog to learn more about our backstory and journey, thanks to the “Tiki Blogging” profile and interview.

Tiki Blogging #10 – The Search for The Ultimate Mai Tai (Kevin Crossman)

Ray has been a really important part of my reintroduction into the tiki scene over the past few years, starting with his blog and later his YouTube channel. Ray seems to know everyone, and they’re often featured on his blog.

In my day job I have had the opportunity to travel to the Seattle area a few times over the past few years and I’ve met up with Ray and some of the other Seattle Ohana. We have had some great adventures in the Seattle/Tacoma area!

Seattle Sightseeing


It’s always fun when Ray rolls into town for visit. The photo below is from last year’s meetup at Forbidden Island in Alameda. There’s nobody in this world who makes me laugh as much as Ray does. It was also my pleasure to help Ray out by monitoring the camera for  two Tiki with Ray Live episodes in late 2019. 

Ray gave me the opportunity to do several guest blog posts on his blog, covering tiki bars in the Bay Area. And I guested on his YouTube show a couple times. So, it’s truly an honor to be featured on Ray’s blog, one of the seminal resources in the Third Wave of Tiki.

Tiki with Ray hamming it up

 

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New Site Feature: Top 5 Mai Tais

We’ve added a new page with our current list of best Mai Tais. These are Mai Tais made without any rum or ingredient substitutions (which could yield a better Mai Tai of course). If you just walk in and order the house Mai Tai, these are the best.

  1. Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29
  2. Rumba
  3. House without a Key, Halekulani Hotel
  4. Lono
  5. Hale Pele

The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai: Top 5 Mai Tais

The Latitude 29 Mai Tai is Ranked Number One by the Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai
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New Site Feature: Tiki Travels – San Francisco Bay Area

We’ve added a new page to the Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai website: Tiki Travels – San Francisco Bay Area.

Home to the largest concentration of tiki bars anywhere in the world, our Tiki Travels page covers all 20 tiki bars in the San Francisco Bay Area. We have location info, touring tips, and photos. We also rate these destinations on a number of categories, so you can choose which ones to prioritize on your visits to the area.

View the page:
Tiki Travels – San Francisco Bay Area

Kevin Crossman at Trader Vic's
Having a Mai Tai at Trader Vic’s in Emeryville