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SF Rum Fest Presentation: The Mai Tai in Hawai’i

Today was an add-on experience connected to the San Francisco Rum Festival and Congress held at Trader Vic’s Emeryville. Rum Education for a Cause was a fundraiser for Maui and included three sessions.

Mai Tai: The Official (Unofficial) Cocktail of Hawai’i

“The Mai Tai has been coined the “national drink of Hawaii” and is often referred to as the “king of tiki drinks” according to Dine with Drinks. Join our panelists to learn more about the history of this iconic cocktail in Hawai’i and from today’s Hawaiian rum producers who are advancing drink’s cornerstone ingredient into the 21st century.”

My portion included a presentation about the history of the Mai Tai in Hawai’i including how the cocktail continues to evolve and feature the fine rums from local rum producers Kuleana Rum Works and Kō Hana Distillers. Steve Jefferson from Kuleana and Kyle Reutner from Kō Hana discussed their rums and included more details about how sugar cane came to Hawai’i and how it is used today.

Download the Presentation (PDF)

Mai Tai from Kuleana at the Rum Education for a Cause event
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SF Rum Fest 2023

Another successful San Francisco Rum Festival and Congress is in the books. We had a great time at the Hibernia in downtown SF for this year’s event. Everything seemed just about the same as last year in terms of attendance and rum sponsors. So nice to meet many rum reps and to taste some new rums and expressions.

Welcome Mai Tai from Kuleana Rum Works

Having been doing the rum thing for several years now, I try to stick to things I haven’t tried before. So when I went to the El Dorado/Diamond table I unbelievably didn’t ask for a pour of cask strength Port Mourant but Diamond’s new Coconut rum. And I liked it! The Diamond line is a lower-priced product line and everything I’ve tried has been really great, including their two 151 expressions.

Barbancourt from Haiti has an interesting 110 proof white rum expression that I found interesting and had some bold and complex flavors. Same was true for the Monymusks’s forthcoming Overproof rum. This Jamaica rum is issued at 126 proof, but it quite a bit different from Wray/Rum Fire. Definitely a little lighter including Column-still distillate and a more subdued fruit-forward flavor. Worth checking out.

There were several good seminars. I really enjoyed the session from Johann Jobello covering the line of Haitian Clairins from La Maison & Velier. Clairins are wonderful and tasting these expressions side by side shows how diverse they can be – even when they’re just coming from the same country. The session from Monymusk led by blender Robert Gordon and supported by Adrienne Stoner was also quite informative. Based on rums coming from the Long Pond and Clarendon distilleries, Monymusk is relaunching their brand in the U.S. and seems poised for wider availability.

A session about estate-grown rums featured Zan Kong from Worthy Park and was paired with Steve Jefferson and Kyle Reutner from Hawaiian distilleries Kuleana and Kō Hana respectively. This was a little looser in style and more for a Q&A format with some cogent and respectful questions from the audience. Three of my favorite rums companies.

Robert Gordon from Monymusk
Mitch Wilson from Black Tot Rum
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The Evolution of the Mai Tai on Make and Drink YouTube

We were pleased to be the inaugural guest on Derek Cole’s Make and Drink channel on YouTube. In the video we discuss how the cocktail evolved in Hawaii and even make the original Hawaiian Mai Tai that did not include Pineapple juice. Make and Drink is a really great cocktail channel and Derek’s production values are off the chart.

The thumbnail for the video includes some “Easter Eggs” about the Mai Tai and even some forthcoming content. Stay tuned for future collaborations.

Now is also a good time to recommend subscribing to the Make and Drink Patreon, where you can support high-quality content like this as well as being able to interact with other patrons and Derek who is also producing patron-exclusive content. Check it out.

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Recipe: Piña Verde

I heard about this cocktail on the Bartender at Large podcast, hosted by Erick Castro-Diaz. Erick created this Piña Colada riff years ago when developing the menu for his bar Polite Provisions. It essentially replaces the light rum with the bold and flavorful Chartreuse liqueur.

The flavors really come through well, thanks in part to the 55% ABV of Green Chartreuse. The coconut and pineapple really compliment the herbal notes coming from the liqueur. It’s fantastic.

Piña Verde by Erick Castro-Diaz
½ oz Lime Juice
1½ oz Pineapple Juice
¾ oz Cream of Coconut
1½ oz Green Chartreuse
Shake with crushed ice and garnish with a mint sprig

It kind of makes me sad to discover this cocktail, since now more than ever I’ll be having fears of future FOMO as I whittle down my supplies of Green Chartreuse that is now so difficult to procure.

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Hawaiian Airlines “Signature” Mai Tai

Looking at the menu of cocktails on our Hawaiian Airlines flight back home I could see that the Daiquiri, Aviation, and Old Fashioned were from well-known ready-to-drink cocktail suppliers. But the Mai Tai, not listed as being from either On the Rocks or from Kō Hana. You’d think the “Signature” Mai Tai would be something different, but in the back of my mind I guessed it would be from one of the brands already on the menu. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, since both On the Rocks and Kō Hana Mai Tais are pretty good RTD Mai Tais.

So, I ordered the Mai Tai and it was… On the Rocks.

Not sure why Hawaiian Airlines can’t just say this, but you could do far worse for an airplane cocktail.

Update

We were told by a reader that Hawaiian Airlines is in the process of switching from On the Rocks to Kō Hana, which explains the ambiguity as they wind down inventory.

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Kō Hana Distillery on O’ahu

One of the highlights of the Tiki in Waikiki weekend event was a tour of the Kō Hana rum distillery in Waipahu. We took comfortable buses our about an hour out of Waikiki and were greeted by the friendly folks from Kō Hana.

The tour includes four components, with about ten minutes in each spot. Our group started with the distilling area with the pot and column stills, where we learned about how they take the wash and turn it into fine Hawaiian rum. Our next stop was the aging room where we saw that some of Kō Hana’s expressions are aged in a variety of barrels including a few made with native Hawaiian wood. There’s a lot more capacity in that aging room, where I hope we’ll get even longer aged expressions of Kō Hana rum in the future.

We also learned about the sugar cane and the dozens of varietals that Kō Hana is using. These varietals are on the grounds of the distillery for reference, but the farms are on the north end of O’ahu. At each stop the experts in each field were available for detailed questions about Kō Hana’s production process. A breezy tour for rum newbies and super cool for the rum nerds to dig into the details.

The last stop was the tasting room where we got to sample three Kō Hana expressions: the unaged Kea, the aged Koho, and the Kokoleka which is made with Kō Hana rum along with pure cacao and raw honey. This liqueur is bottled at 30% ABV and Mrs. Mai Tai was such a big fan that we walked home with a bottle. There’s also samples of Kō Hana’s fine bottled cocktails and some other branded items available for purchase.

Kō Hana is becoming one of my favorite rums thanks to the myriad excellent cocktails I’ve been having lately that are made with this fine spirit. I honestly don’t love their unique square bottles but they’re quite distinctive on the shelf and traveled well in our suitcase.

Big thanks to the team Kō Hana who were super informative and also provided us with a great deal of hospitality during our visit. Mahalo, team.

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2023 Hawai’i Trip Mai Tai Recap

Someone commented about all the Mai Tais from our recent trip to Hawai’i and asked which was my favorite.

The Banyan Mai Tai at the Skull & Crown Trading Co. pop up at Don’s Treehouse at the International Market Place was by far my favorite. This one really hit all the right notes and was complex and so full of flavor. It also features three outstanding rums, all of which are amongst my favorites: Appleton Estate 12 Jamaica rum, Kō Hana Kea Hawaiian agricole rum, and Smith & Cross Jamaica rum.

Others that were top-tier included Heyday, Skull & Crown’s Maunakea Mai Tai, Hau Tree Lanai, and the Halekulani House without a Key. For those with pineapple, I liked Duke’s ’44 and the Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai best.

Only one I wouldn’t recommend was the Royal Hawaiian’s $40 Ali’i Mai Tai. Not that good period, much less for a premium price.