Traveling the Bay Area and beyond to find the best Mai Tai in the world! Tiki, cocktails, and adventures by Kevin Crossman
The Mai Tai at Trader Vic’s San Jose Airport was especially good today. Some National Mai Tai Day magic happening at the world’s best airport bar.
8:30 am isn’t too early for a great Mai Tai at Trader Vic’s. Next step, Portland and Tiki Kon.
It’s June 30, which is halfway through the year and also the first of two unofficially recognized Mai Tai Day cocktail holidays. So, this is a great time to review our list of the best Mai Tais we’ve had so far this year.
Note that many of these feature custom rum blends compared to the standard-issue at these locations. Sometimes you want a Mai Tai with a special rum, and if you ask nicely the bartender will surely be able to accommodate the request. This can often lead to an excellent cocktail.
Honorable mentions: Deck, Halekulani Hotel, Drunk Munk, Tonga Hut, Trader Vic’s Emeryville and San Jose Airport
10. Trader Vic’s Mai Tai at Mamahune’s
When you use quality Jamaican rums the Mai Tai tastes great even if you free-pour.
9. Kuleana Hui Hui by Gabrielle Maser at Tiki Oasis
Great seminar cocktail using delicious Kuleana rum from Hawaii.
8. Casa de Christa Mai Tai
A homemade Mai Tai tastes wonderful when the host knows their stuff.
7. Golden Pineapple Craft Lounge
This off-menu request was amazing, using rare Holmes Cay Jamaica Wedderburn 2011 Single Cask Rum
6. Kon-Tiki with Hampden Great House 2021
The standard Mai Tai at Kon-Tiki is great, but this one with rich overproof Hampden was amazing.
5. Dr Funk
Their standard house Mai Tai is one of the best we’ve ever had.
4. Smuggler’s Cove with Appleton Reserve and Pot Still Gold
Asked for a different rum blend and it was delightful.
3. Maunakea Mai Tai at Skull & Crown Trading Co.
This ’44 Mai Tai features three rums and is fantastic.
2. Trader Sam’s Classic Mai Tai with Appleton 8 and Hamilton Pot Still Blonde by Skipper Nate
A credit to the Trader Sam’s bartenders at Disneyland that are so talented and willing to tweak their tourist-friendly Mai Tai. This one was amazing.
1. Birds of Paradise Lounge
With industry and event bartending experience it’s no wonder that the house Mai Tai with four rums from Mariella and Correy Bravo is fantastic. Great application of Appleton 12, Smith & Cross, Plantation Xaymaca, and Kō Hana Kea.
Can’t get into the specific reasons why but I made visits to three of the Bay Area tiki bars last night. And of course even if went there for other reasons you can’t leave without getting a cocktail.
Smuggler’s Cove: Hibiscus Rum Punch. Fruity and light, quite flavorful.
The Kon-Tiki: their very good Mai Tai and (not pictured) their best-in-the-world Cheeseburger.
Forbidden Island: Ohana night special cocktail called Black Hole Sun, by Sara Rivas. Citrus, Pineapple, Honey, Bourbon, Demerara 151, Dash of absinthe, Dash of bitters. Leaning spicy, this was pretty good!
Apple Maps in the car really came in handy yesterday. Just 30 mins from the Cove to Kon-Tiki at rush hour!
Nice to see familiar faces along the way. Such a blessing to have so many great destination experiences in the Bay Area.
The recipe for this Mai Tai riff was included in the 1st edition of Drinks of Hawaii in 1971. Author Paul B. Dick included this recipe, alongside a recipe for what was then the standard issue Mai Tai that included equal parts of Orgeat/Curacao/Rock Candy and both Light rum and Dark Jamaican rum. The illustration is by Harry Lyons.
The Ilikai Hotel was the first high-rise hotel in Waikiki and was at the peak of its cultural popularity in the early 1970s, being seen each week in the opening credits of Hawaii Five-O (the hotel was used the 2010 remake series credits, too). The cocktail is a pretty standard issue Island Mai Tai version, including two ounces of Pineapple Juice and a float of dark flavorful rum. Appleton Punch rum was the successor to the Wray & Nephew Dagger line and was issued at 43% ABV.
Ili Tai
¼ oz Lime Juice
2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Sweet & Sour mix
¾ oz Orgeat
¾ oz Orange Curacao
Build over crushed ice, mix, and then float 1 oz Appleton Punch Jamaican Rum
They’re selling @aperolspritzofficial bottles at Club Level at @oraclepark and not only is the cocktail delicious it also matches the @sfgiants colors.
@capopizza slice house pizza was also a treat.
We had the pleasure of flying out of San Jose a couple weeks ago on the 1st anniversary of Trader Vic’s SJC – the world’s best airport bar. The problem was that our flight was at 7:30 in the morning, so our visit to Vic’s was at opening at 6 am (Mai Tais at 6:15 am!). And the 1st anniversary celebration was at Noon that same day, so all the event merch was held under lock and key. The staff graciously tried to get into it, but no luck.
So we have to thank our benefactor for getting us this amazing Trader Vic’s San Jose Airport glass, and the incredible airline wing-style pin. Mahalo, friend.
To celebrate I made a Trader Vic’s Grog. This is one of the cocktails I’ll sometimes go to at the restaurant when I look for something besides the Mai Tai. It’s a pretty good cocktail in this format, and is basically a crushed-ice and double sized version of the Siboney cocktail that’s served up.
For this version, I used two flavorful Jamaican rums. Some Worthy Park 109, a dark Jamaican rum at 54.5% ABV, alongside Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Gold. I also made a tiny tweak by adding ¼ oz of simple syrup so that the cocktail was slightly less tart.
Trader Vic Grog
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Passionfruit Syrup (Liber)
2 oz Dark Jamaican Rum
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Add simple syrup to taste
Shake with crushed ice and garnish with mint.
It is not without a great deal of irony that after being a tiki bar wasteland for decades, that we salute San Jose that now has two very good tiki bars with this Trader Vic’s location and Dr. Funk downtown.
Starting to get really excited for our return to Tiki Kon next week. We had a great time in 2018-2019, and I love the venue and management of this event. We’re starting with the Thursday 4 pm private seating at Hale Pele and are also doing the Sunday home bar tour.
If you’re attending, please come check out my presentation on Friday at 1 pm on the (De)Evolution of the Hawaiian Mai Tai. There’s a lot more detail than in my article from Exotica Moderne or the version that’s posted at UltimateMaiTai.com. Learn how this iconic cocktail evolved over time and we’re even going to bust a couple longstanding Mai Tai myths.
I’ll have a bunch of Ultimate Mai Tai stickers on hand, featuring the fab logo by B-Rex, so if you’re at Tiki Kon please come say aloha and be sure to ask for some stickers.