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Kon Tiki Single Barrel Release Party

Congrats to our friends at The Kon-Tiki who celebrated Monday evening with the long-awaited release of their Worthy Park Single Barrel Rum. This cask-strength rum from Jamaica comes in at a hefty 66% ABV and you’ll taste every bit of the flavor. Obviously overproof and quite funky by general rum standards, but not so much that this can’t be sipped neat or on the rocks. It’s from barrel 717 and aged five years in the tropics.

These bottles are for sale. Prices vary depending on whether you buy one, two, or a case, but think ~$60 per bottle. It is a great rum and supplies are limited, so be sure to visit The Kon-Tiki soon to secure this great rum.

For the party on Monday, there were some cocktail specials featuring this rum along with other products from the Worthy Park / Rum-Bar Rum portfolio. Of course I had to try the Kon-Tiki Barrel Mai Tai and this rum is simply a great choice. One of my favorite Mai Tais of 2022. Expect to see this as a higher-end Mai Tai option in a revised menu coming soon.

Got to speak a little with Zan Kong who is the Commercial Manager for Spirits at Worthy Park. Such a nice guy and knowledgable and passionate about what Worthy Park is doing. 

For many years the distillery has made a tidy profit selling bulk rum to the likes of Hamilton Rums, Doctor Bird, and others. But lately the distillery seems to be using more of their rum for their own products. I’m a fan of their mainstream aged rum release Worthy Park Single Estate Reserve, but also their unaged Rum-Bar Overproof expression and Worthy Park 109, a lightly aged dark rum. 100% pot still rum, always.

Kon-Tiki Barrel Mai Tai
Zan Kong from Worthy Park
Kon-Tiki Owner Christ Aivaliotis
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Keeping it Cool at Dr. Funk

With temps over 100° we took a risk visiting Dr. Funk, but we’re pleased to report that their air conditioning is working great. It was sooo coooool inside.



Speaking of cool, we tried some of the new cocktails on Dr. Funk’s refreshed cocktail menu. We really enjoyed the Drink of the Gods, with overproof rums, coconut and heavy cream, pineapple, lemon, turbinado, walnut bitters, and cherry liqueur. Such an amazing blend of flavors.

We were less impressed with Thai Chi, with rums, spices, milk syrup, and turbinado. This is Mrs. Mai Tai’s flavor profile but overall it didn’t have the complexity or rich flavors which Dr. Funk is known for.

I had the Sidewinder’s Fang, which uses Lemon Hart Blackpool Spiced Rum to good effect, along with a fine blend of citrus and passionfruit. It was really fantastic.



The outside patio now has a thatch roof of sorts, increasing the appeal of this venue on the weekends when it is used when things get busy. It does add more escapism to the deck as well, to go along with the fine tropical and retro music that is still thankfully being played.

It was really fantastic hanging out at Dr. Funk last night. Cool drinks. Cool music. And cool air, too!

Drink of the Gods
Sidewinder’s Fang
Thai Chi
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SF Rum Fest Recap: Social Scene

I enjoy the seminars at San Francisco Rum Fest, if only that it helps to take a break from all the drinking. I didn’t find the seminars this time to be as interesting as year’s past (I also had to leave the event a little early, so missed the last two sessions I was interested in). Hope next year is better.

I did enjoy the session led by Cocktail Wonk Matt Pietrek regarding the work that WIRSPA is doing to build strength among Caribbean rum producers. Matt also gave me some details about his next super-secret product that I’m sure will be amazing. Shhhhh.

So many familiar faces from the industry and the fan side. Thanks to Cory Schoolland for being my line buddy when I got to the event early. We met up with master mixologist Nathan Robinson who is a frequent contributor to the FB groups where Cory and I participate.

There were a few tiki vendors once again this year. It’s always great to see Match Accessories who Mrs. Mai Tai buys from frequently. I just don’t know how much a couple vendors adds to the event, especially at the Hibernia Bank location that lacks an outdoor patio like the previous event space for past Rum Fests. The crowd always seems more interested in drinking, anyway.

The Hibernia Bank is a good location for this event, though. Nice and cool inside, even on a super hot weekend in SF. A good layout with high ceilings and an adequately sized seminar room.

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SF Rum Fest Recap: The Rums

Had a great time in the city for this annual Rum Fest, this time being billed as the San Francisco Rum Fest now that there’s a companion new event in Los Angeles.

This is an event that’s mix of educational seminars, rum education, rum exploration, and social meetup. Having tasted more of these rums over the years, I lean more into the social side but there’s always some new brands or expressions to try. View the video of the layout.

I was impressed by the single-still releases from El Dorado: Enmore, Versailles, and Port Mourant. These are all aged 12 years and provided at cask strength. I was told these would retail at ~$90, in which case that would be a steal. I do see them offered online for ~$150 which seems to be more what I’d expect. In any case, these are flavor bombs that are so great. I was most impressed by the Versailles, with the Port Mourant being a close second.

Diamond Distilleries was also showing off a fruity and light white 151, aged six months. And a heavier dark 151 aged two years, somewhat more reminiscent of the famed LH151 but still quite lighter.

Rhum Barbancourt had a white expression I’d never tried before and liked. It’s a lighter style than the Haitian rum clairin from Saint Benevolence, which has an aged expression in the market and more things to come.

Copalli rum from Belize seems to be everywhere. I liked both the white and the barrel rested expressions. They were serving a great daiquiri riff by local bartender Maritza Rocha-Alvarez that was superb.

Rhum Saint James from Martinique seemed to be making a push to get better distribution and had a number of new and interesting expressions.

I spoke to the Hawaiian producers about their product, which will be covered in a deeper dive in a couple weeks.

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Last Rites – Return to the Jungle

Our first time back to Last Rites in a couple years. We had an early dinner nearby and popped in shortly after they opened at 6:00 to find a few folks at the bar. So we found a little nook off behind the front door, so still quite immersive. This was our first time sitting in the airplane seats that reinforce the plane crash into the jungle backstory.

Cocktails were fantastic. I was driving and just had the Bahama Trauma, quite spicy thanks to the spiced rum, syrups, and bitters – but still a great punch. It’s topped with a dried mango that was decadent. Mrs. Mai Tai tried the Kali Ma’s Doom, a gin and cream cocktail that I thought was fabulous. She also tried the Golden Idol which is a great no-ABV Painkiller riff with Turmeric Milk.

The atmosphere inside Last Rites is still going strong, with some light background music that at times leaned into New Age to nice effect. Staff were super friendly and prompt with service. We really need to get back here more often.

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Goodbye Forbidden Island Jukebox

The merch display looks great and I understand maybe the jukebox wasn’t working great anymore, but I’m super bummed it’s gone. Used to love to be able to go to Forbidden Island and play some music I wanted to hear. And the best part was that it didn’t cost anything to make your music selections.

Also, the green B-Rex glass is a perfect size for rum sips with big ice cubes, or for smaller tropicals with modest amount of ice. And the design is cool. Grab it before it’s gone.

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Mai Tai Day at Forbidden Island

Had to go somewhere for the actual Mai Tai Day on August 30. Forbidden Island hosts their Ohana nights on Tuesdays and they had guest bartender Captain Dave from the Captain’s Cabin bar in Arizona, so this was the choice.

We were all too happy to relax on FI’s well-appointed back patio. Mrs. Mai Tai ordered her standard Chamborlada, always a favorite here. She also had the Tradewinds that combines coconut and apricot flavors so well.

I went with FI’s standard Classic Mai Tai. They’re using a multi-rum blend in the Mai Tai and I thought it was pretty good. There’s a certain tanginess that I really liked. They have a new cocktail menu and there’s a Viking Mai Tai that I’ll try next time.

Captain Dave had a few drink specials and I dug the Shipwrecked in Scotland, which thankfully leaned more into the Jamaican rum than the Scotch. Lots of good flavors.

Nice to be able to say hello to Michael Thanos, who petitioned Oakland to recognize the Mai Tai and where this August 30 Mai Tai Day stuff originally emanated from. Cheers!

Michael Thanos
Chamborlada