Traveling the Bay Area and beyond to find the best Mai Tai in the world! Tiki, cocktails, and adventures by Kevin Crossman
An old Waikiki Trader Vic’s recipe, courtesy Jeff “Beachbum” Berry in the Total Tiki app and his Intoxica book.
The recipe calls for Passion Fruit juice or nectar but I used passion fruit syrup. It wasn’t as good as when I had this in the past with the nectar. Live and learn.
The Octopus
1½ oz Orange Juice
1½ oz Passion Fruit Nectar
1½ oz 151 Rum (I used Hamilton)
1½ oz Club Soda
1 dash Angostura bitters
Stir in the glass
Jamaica won independance on August 6, 1962, so what better way for me to celebrate than with a Planter’s Punch with three of Jamaica’s finest rums? The Planter’s Punch is a historical cocktail but largely ignored in the native country these days (where overproof rum with Ting soda is far more popular). But, it is one of my favorites. Especially this recipe that Jeff “Beachbum” Berry shared in the Beachbum Berry Remixed book and in the Total Tiki app for iOS/iPadOS.
Rather than just the single rum called in the original recipe, Coruba, I split the base and added some higher end Jamaican rums.
Stephen Remsberg Planter’s Punch
¾ oz Lime Juice
1 oz Sugar Syrup
1 oz Coruba Dark rum
1 oz Appleton 12 Rare Casks rum
1 oz Hampden Estate Pure Single Jamaican rum
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
Serve in a tall glass. Refreshing!
Another fabulous issue of everyone’s favorite tiki magazine is now available from House of Tabu.
Some great features including all kinds of eye candy, music reviews, and some thoughtful commentary about cultural appropriation by Jason Craig Plus the usual tiki bar column from Tiki with Ray and recipes from Tiki Lindy.
The cocktail recipes page has a little something for everyone and be sure to try my Innovation Cocktail with Gin, Passion Fruit, Orgeat, and Blue Curacao.
Innovation Cocktail by Kevin Crossman
1 ounce Passionfruit Syrup
½ ounce Orgeat
½ ounce Blue Curacao Liqueur
2 ounces London Dry Gin (I used Beefeater)
I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Alameda’s Forbidden Island twice in the last few days. Their patio is open and is expanded to fill the parking lot.
The crew has done a good job filling the space with socially distant tables and two-seat barrels, with some nice decor, a shade netting, and a fine selection of diverse but appropriately retro/exotic music. The crew works hard to accommodate groups in whichever seating they are most comfortable, and upon entering everyone has use some hand sanitizer and to read the rules (my favorite: No “Freedom Rights” Outbursts). Masks are supposed to be worn when away from the table, and encouraged to be worn except when you are actively eating/drinking.
Food is still a required part of your experience, if you want cocktails. This is basically an extension of the same rules allowing to-go cocktails but only when accompanied by food.
The new setup means that Forbidden Island is now able to have a much larger set of cocktails to order from, and they’re presented in all their regular garnished glory. The crew is also able to have a brief bit of conversation and camaraderie that Forbidden Island is famous for. The set up is a big draw for patrons working on their Kill Devil rum lists order rums from the list. Rums can be sampled neat, on rocks, or in a Daiquiri, Ti Punch, or Mai Tai.
To-go cocktails have been great, but there’s nothing like getting a freshly made Chamborlada or another expertly prepared cocktail. I ordered a Mai Tai and John Peterson somehow after all these months remembered that I like it a little bit heavy on the orgeat. Man, that is customer service at it’s finest.
It was a great couple visits, and I got to see some tiki friends in the flesh, too. Mahalo to Forbidden Island, let’s keep this going.
This recipe differs significantly from the classic 1944 Mai Tai recipe, and Bergeron indicates this is the recipe that’s served both in the stateside Trader Vic’s restaurants but also the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu. This recipe seems to predate the widespread use of pineapple juice in the Hawaiian style Mai Tai.
1956 Mai Tai – Adjusted for 2020
1 ounce Lime Juice
¼ ounce Rock Candy Syrup
¼ ounce Curacao
¼ ounce Orgeat
1½ ounces Lightly Aged Puerto Rican Rum
½ ounce Hamilton Pot Still Black Rum
¼ ounce Coruba Dark Rum
Mix in 16 ounce tumbler glass with shaved ice. Drop half a spent lime shell in the glass. Stir and decorate with fresh mint.
Today we remember Black Tot Day, the day in 1970 when the British Navy provided the last daily rum ration to sailors.
To celebrate, I made my own Navy Rum blend. This is generally accurate though the actual blend was a state secret and few on the planet know the actual recipe (which in any case changed over the years due to supply and demand). I made this out some rums I had in stock at home using rums from the traditional supply countries.
Ultimate Navy Rum Blend
2 oz Skipper Rum (45% ABV Guyana)
3 oz Wood’s Navy Rum (57% ABV Guyana)
4 oz Pussers Gunpowder Proof (54.5% ABV Guyana)
2 oz Denizen White (40% ABV – Trinidad and small Jamaican portion)
1 oz Real McCoy 5 (40% ABV – Barbados)
.5 oz Pussers 15 year (40% ABV – Guyana) because it is a special occasion
If I’ve done my math correct this is just about 50% ABV, so just below typical “Navy Strength,” but still boozy. This is a complex and bold rum blend.
I’m sure we could have had some really cool celebrations today in person, but due to COVID it’s all online. Nonetheless, I’d like to thank and salute all my rum friends on Black Tot Day.
The Black Tot 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!
It is fashionable among rum nerds to naysay Myers’s but this White Jamaican rum ain’t bad for the price. Way better than the unaged Puerto Rican rums to me. Don’t get me wrong though, this is a mixer not a sipper.
It made a very nice Daiquiri.
