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Hardcore Tiki Marketplace at Bamboo Club

Mrs. Mai Tai has spring break from teaching so we are taking a trip to Southern California. Our first day was to get us as far as Anaheim for some socially distant gazes at Mickey’s house. We did arrive locally early enough for us to check out the last hour of the Hardcore Tiki Marketplace taking place at Bamboo Club in Long Beach.

This was a nice tiki marketplace with about 10 vendors. We picked up this painting by Ken Ruzic that will go great in our bedroom.

The Bamboo Club was open indoors and also with their very large covered outdoor space, so we opted for an early dinner. The DJ was playing garage rock which I didn’t love at first (it was pretty loud), though the ecclectic set of patrons demonstrating their retro rock sensibilities seemd to be loving it. I liked it more after my Mai Tai.

The cocktails at Bamboo Club were pretty good. My Mai Tai was good, not great, but more than passable. Meanwhile Mrs. Mai Tai loved her Fluffy Banana (which I agreed was excellent). We enjoyed the food, too. I had Spam & Eggs and Julie had a veggie curry which she said was outstanding.

We took a peek at the indoor portion and this place seems like a dark, dirty and retro tiki bar. Very cool, and glad we made it this time.

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Orange Blossom Dream

This recipe came to me in a dream a couple nights ago, where it was a deep orange in color and in flavor.

Orange Blossom Dream
1 oz Lime Juice
½ oz Orgeat
1 oz Orange Liqueur (Clement Creole Shrubb)
1 oz Aged Jamaican (“Gold”) Rum (Appleton Signature)
1 oz Aged White Rum (Denizen 3)
4 Maraschino Cherries
Shake with Ice

Turns out that reality isn’t nearly as good as the dream was. This Mai Tai riff wasn’t a winner.

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Official Bali Hai Mai Tai Recipe

I think I’ve cracked it. I have noticed that Bali Hai does list Orgeat and Triple Sec alongside the rum and other “no juice” ingredients, so my second version without either must not be correct.

This is was based on a comment from @icecrushersd in a previous Instagram post and indeed seems to taste like the Bali Hai Mai Tai that I remember. Except that I didn’t find this too bad. Maybe I’m just so used to drinking straight rum that the tiny affordances of other ingredients is feeling like a luxury. Your actual mileage may vary.

The True Bali Hai Mai Tai
½ oz Sweet and Sour Mix – or ¼ oz Lemon Juice and ¼ oz Simple Syrup
¼ oz Orgeat
¼ oz Triple Sec
2½ oz Cruzan Light Rum
2½ oz Coruba Dark Jamaican Rum
Shake with ice

Yes, five ounces of rum.

I’m looking forward to comparing to the legendary Bali Hai original.

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Formidable Dragon with Wray & Nephew Swag

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.

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Smuggler’s Cove To-Go Cocktails

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!

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The True Bali Hai Mai Tai Recipe?

Following up on yesterday’s post, I found this recipe online and it seems to be much closer to what I remember of the potent Mai Tai from the Bali Hai restaurant in San Diego.

This version omits the Orgeat, the key ingredient in a Mai Tai, and suffers for it. This tastes like the Bali Hai Mai Tai that I remember though, so I’ll compare this to the one served there when we visit on April 5th.

Bali Hai Mai Tai (redux)
2 oz Sweet and Sour Mix
1 oz Triple Sec
2 oz Light Rum (I used Cruzan)
2 oz Myers’s Dark Rum 

The Bali Hai says that they have sold over 2.7 million Mai Tais since they opened in 1953. Good thing for us is that we’re staying within walking/stumbling distance of the restaurant.

See the Official Bali Hai Mai Tai Recipe

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Getting in Shape

We’re heading to San Diego after Easter, so I’m trying to get into shape to prepare for the legendarily lethal Bali Hai Mai Tai.

We visited Bali Hai in 2017 and one of their potent Mai Tais nearly killed me. They famously “don’t contain any fruit juice.”  This recipe was published so I thought I’d give it a try:

Bali Hai Mai Tai
1 oz Sweet and Sour Mix
½ oz Trader Vic’s Orgeat
½ oz Triple Sec
1 oz Light Rum (I used Cruzan)
1 oz Myers’s Dark Rum 

Unlike my experience in 2017, this wasn’t bad. Though, it must be said that I used Cointreau as the triple sec and fresh lemon juice in my Sweet & Sour mix, plus Latitude 29 Orgeat, so possibly these are “top shelf” compared to what’s actually used at Bali Hai. Still, I’m thinking that this isn’t the real recipe. I would have noticed that orgeat in the cocktail, even back in 2017 when my palette was less refined and when my booze tolerance was less.

Time to search for the true recipe.

See the Official Bali Hai Mai Tai Recipe