Did a little comparison shopping on Saturday and am pleased to report there are a couple places where you can get a good Mai Tai in Napa. Wilfred’s Lounge has a very good one made with Jamaica rum and Rhum Agricole from Martinique and it is quite nice, though to me it leans a little bit too much in the grassy flavor profile.
The Fink’s OG Mai Tai is incredibly balanced and leans a little creamy thanks to their house-made Orgeat. Jamaica and Martinique rums are also used here, but far more in balance. Very rich and flavorful, the Mai Tai at The Fink is just great.
Found this at an independent liquor store about a mile from my house. I’m not sure why I never stopped in but this beauty from 2010-2015 was there for just $41. The character of this Mount Gay Extra Old blend leans a little heavier and has more traditional oak barrel flavores than the current XO expression that leans a bit fruitier. Chocolate notes are stronger in the older blend, too. Then as now, this is issued at 43% ABV.
I was lucky to find a 2000s era Extra Old in another local store a few years back, so I now have four generations of XO expressions, though my 2015-2019 era bottle is almost gone. These are all very flavorful Barbadian rums that for me a pretty easy to sip at this ABV level and they’re missing the “over oaked” taste you sometimes get with aged rums. These are great on those nights when I want to taste the rum but don’t want to deal with cask strength ABV.
The latest XO expression is commonly seen over $60 which factors as a premium for the well-known Mount Gay brand but which also means that savvy shoppers can find better values by looking at brands such as Doorly’s, Old Brigand, and Real McCoy (all produced by Foursquare on Barbados). Nonetheless, the XO has remained a good option for those looking for widely available and approachable sipping rums from Barbados.
Today we learned the sad news that legendary San Francisco bartender Steven Liles had passed away. Liles was a fixture at Smuggler’s Cove for more than a decade, recently departing and working elsewhere in the City.
I was always in awe of Liles’ seemingly effortless bartending skills, and he was always had a friendly wink when we’d visit the Cove. He was very accommodating when I last saw him there, where he skillfully blended two rums for an awesome Mai Tai and even better conversation. Sincere condolences to friends and loved ones who knew Steven better than I did. Smuggler’s Cove announced the passing.
As a tribute, I made one of Liles’ recipes, the RongoRongo. Quite tropical and easy to drink.
RongoRongo by Steven Liles ¾ oz Lime Juice 1 oz Pineapple Juice ¾ oz Cinnamon Syrup ¾ oz Planteray OFTD Rum 1 oz Planteray Siggins’ Fancy Pineapple Rum 1 oz Aged Rum (Real McCoy 5) 1 dash Angostura Bitters
Flash blend with 1 cup of ice for 5 seconds. Serve in Pilsner glass and garnish with orchid, pineapple leaf, and swizzle stick.
Our favorite Chinese restaurant is Los Altos’ venerable Chef Chu’s. We’ve been going here for years and in addition to great food they do offer some cocktails including a Mai Tai.
The Mai Tai is billed as using “our original Mai Tai mix” which tastes a lot like Trader Vic’s Mai Tai mix if I’m being honest. The one tasted a really good, maybe due to a change in recipe or perhaps due to real sugar replacing corn syrup in the latest incarnation of the Vic’s retail product.
Chef Chu’s uses light and dark Myers’s rum, which is perfectly reasonable to me as I consider the Myers’s white rum to be under-appreciated and quite affordable if you can find it. Mai Tais that are nothing but pineapple juice are kind of awful, but a light touch as with this one can be quite nice.
After drinks at Last Rites we took a chance by going to Smuggler’s Cove, where lines to enter aren’t uncommon especially on the weekends. Thankfully, we got right in and found some comfy seats upstairs in the Hut. This is definitely the best place at the Cove for conversation, made all the better by running into our mutual friends David and Amy.
As a birthday treat, I ordered an old Samaroli rum from Jamaica. Distilled in ’92, making this almost nearly as old as I am. This was some amazing rum, so full of flavor as you’d expect from a 52% ABV rum aged for 25 years. I’m a member of the Rumbustion Society at the Cove and though I’m not anywhere near the 2000+ rums some folks have tried if I’m here I try to spoil myself with something great. I ended up killing this limited edition bottle, which means it shall never return.
As we exited Smuggler’s Cove we saw that there was quite a long line to get in. Our easy entry was quite a gift indeed.
It’s been a minute since we were last at Last Rites but with a little planning had a really nice time on Saturday. We had a pretty nice Italian dinner at nearby restaurant The Rustic and got in line about 10 minutes before opening. The last time we opened Last Rites there weren’t that many people inside but that was far from the case this time as even before opening there built up a large crowd.
Happy Birthday Sam
We sat by one of two stone idols and had a couple round of drinks. I asked for cocktail suggestions on my Instagram stories and had the recommended Zombie Killer, a mashup of a Zombie and Painkiller featuring overproof rum, coconut, pineapple, citrus, cinnamon, falernum, and absinthe. The nutmeg garnish was quite fragrant but this was more “bitter Painkiller” than a true combo and despite the reputations of both drinks didn’t taste or feel like a ton of rum.
Mrs. Mai Tai tried a couple creamy cocktails. Kali Maa’s Doom has gin, pisco, cream, melon, sauvignon blanc, citrus, and vanilla has has a marshmallow garnish. This seemed very floral to me and pretty interesting. She also tried the non-alcoholic Golden Idol made with Turmeric milk, coconut, orange, pineapple, lemon, and nutmeg. This was far less sweeter than you’d expect and better balanced than most Painkillers that use similar ingredients.
I also tried the off-menu Mai Tai, which had a bold balance of funky rum. I didn’t love the orgeat and this felt a little flat to me overall, unfortunately. Last Rites has a very nice rum selection if you’re so inclined.
The service was quite nice and the interior remains in great working order even after being open for several years. The theme of an airplane crashing into the jungle was reinforced by an audio piece that played outside right before opening. The seats were all taken, though a few standing room spots still remained available. The haunting musical track was reminiscent of tribal drums, though a little more variety would have made this even more immersive. There are no wooden tikis here, but the large stone idols serve a similar purpose and we got an up close view of the smoke effects. Last Rites is great fun.
This is the signature cocktail for the Trader Vic’s in Atlanta but it tasted just fine at the Emeryville location with dinner. The cocktail contains light rum, canned peaches, orange juice, and cream of coconut, blended, and garnished with a peach slice and mint.
The good news is that in the frozen format this doesn’t come off as too sweet and also not too heavy on the peaches either. Very approachable for newbie cocktail drinkers and a good example of the variety of cocktails on the Trader Vic’s menu. Sure, some of us might like heavy and boozy drinks like a Navy Grog or a Zombie. But cocktails like this one are great options for others, and there’s even a “Peachtree No Punch” available without rum.
