Posts

Posted on

Patron & Saints at Dr. Funk

It’s always nice when the drink menu provides guidance on the booziness of the cocktails. I was looking for something lower on the scale that I hadn’t tried yet at Dr. Funk and the Patron & Saints was recommended… or maybe prescribed. You know.

Patron & Saints is “a funky milk punch made with Jamaica’s Overproof Rum-Bar, Denizen, Southeast Asian pandan, rich Madagascar vanilla & citrus. Enjoy as a single serving or double serving.” Most definitely sweet and satisfying, heavy on vanilla and served over a big rock of ice.

Posted on

Drinks of Hawaii 1st and 2nd Editions

Why two copies? For very important reasons we’ll get to.

I’ve been doing some research on the evolution of the Hawaiian Mai Tai. Contrary to popular belief, the Mai Tai did not land on the shores of O’ahu and have pineapple juice added immediately. In fact, it took into the 1960s before pineapple juice was commonly seen in published recipes. But the Mai Tai that became the “top tourist tantalizer” (as described in Honolulu newspapers) was not quite the 1944 recipe either. It more clearly resembled the recipe we covered on UltimateMaiTai.com as the 1956 Mai Tai, made with light rum as well as Jamaican rum.

When did the pineapple juice get added? We started to see this in published recipes starting in the early 1960s. The Royal Hawaiian Hotel, where the Trader Vic introduced the Mai Tai to Hawai’i, seemed to not switch over to this style until quite late – the early 1970s.

We thank Jeff “Beachbum” Berry for the reference, the recipe book Drinks of Hawaii by Paul B. Dick, originally published in 1971. Except that the 1971 edition features two Mai Tai recipes and neither is from the Royal Hawaiian. 

The first Mai Tai is the “authentic unadulterated copy of the original recipe” which is:
1 oz Light Puerto Rican Rum
1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum
½ oz Orange Curacao
½ oz Orgeat
½ oz Simple Syrup
Juice of ½ Lemon and ¼ Lime

The second recipe in the 1971 edition comes from the iconic Ilikai Hotel: The Ili Tai
1 oz “Appleton Punch” Jamaican Rum
1 oz Dark Puerto Rican Rum
¾ oz Orange Curacao
¾ oz Orgeat
1 oz Sweet & Sour
2 oz Pineapple Juice
¼ Lime

Appleton Punch rum was the successor to the Dagger line and was a dark Jamaican rum at 43% ABV.

 

Second Edition is the Holy Grail of the Modern Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai Recipe

The elusive Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai didn’t appear in the first edition of the recipe book Drinks of Hawaii, so we sought out the 2nd edition published a year later in 1972.

As with the first edition, there are two Mai Tai recipes starting with the “authentic unadulterated copy of the original recipe” shown above.

The second recipe in the 1972 edition features the Mai Tai at the Surf Room at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. This is the recipe that Beachbum Berry included in several of his books and the Total Tiki App and the first documented use of pineapple juice in the Mai Tai at the Royal Hawaiian that I could find.

Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai (1972)
1 oz Light Rum
1 oz Dark Rum
1 oz Demerara 86 Rum
¼ oz Orange Curacao
Dash* Orgeat
Dash* Rock Candy
Juice of ½ Lime
¼ oz Lemon Juice
Equal Parts Pineapple Juice and Orange Juice

* Dash in this context is equivalent to ¼ oz.

How much Pineapple Juice and Orange Juice? It doesn’t say (Beachbum Berry suggested 1 oz each). This is a very different Mai Tai with darker and more flavorful rums, to balance all the added juices. This style of Mai Tai isn’t my favorite, but they’re certainly popular on the islands.

Drinks of Hawaii is an interesting book. There are some classic Don the Beachcomber recipes including the Pearl Diver and Navy Grog, but also 70s favorites like the Harvey Wallbanger and Margarita. Era-specific cartoons are by Honolulu political cartoonist Harry Lyons.

Look for my article on the evolution of the  Hawaiian Mai Tai in the next issue of Exotica Moderne (and contemporaneously at UltimateMaiTai.com) in May.

Posted on

Blood Lapu Lapu

I tried this Chief Lapu Lapu riff with my remaining Blood Orange juice. This was far more satisfying than the Paradise Cooler, thanks to the heavier rum included. The recipe calls for Passionfruit Syrup but since I was out of that I substituted some of Pearl’s Hideaway Fancy Falernum instead. This was quite good.

Blood Lapu Lapu
1½ oz Blood Orange Juice
¾ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup
½ oz Falernum
¾ oz Dark Jamaican Rum (Worthy Park 109)
¾ oz Light Rum (Denizen 3)

Posted on

Off-Menu Saturn at Dr. Funk

You know that a bartender knows their stuff when don’t flinch when you order an off-menu cocktail. In this case, it was the ask for a Saturn at Dr. Funk in San Jose, and Paul McCoun  made a great one.

The Saturn is a late-classic era tiki cocktail with Gin, Orgeat, Falernum, Passionfruit Syrup, and Lemon Juice. Every tiki bar should have these ingredients and this is a well-known cocktail so it shouldn’t be an issue to order one, but sometimes you never know. I like Dr. Funk’s Mai Tai, so wanted to try a cocktail that also used Orgeat, and the Saturn is one of my favorites. The original specs called for the Saturn to be blended, but I find it is better when served up – and that’s exactly how Paul prepared it. Paul even made a cool planet-with-rings garnish.

Every cocktail I’ve had a Dr. Funk has been great, and I hear an updated cocktail menu is coming soon. Looking forward to see what else the medical staff come up with.

Posted on

Paradise Cooler

I had some Blood Oranges and thought I’d try using them in some cocktail recipes that normally call for Orange Juice. First up is the Paradise Cooler, from the Total Tiki app for iOS. According to the notes from Beachbum Berry, this recipe comes from the Denver Hilton, circa 1960. I thought that this cocktail with Cherry Heering might go well with the Blood Orange juice. At least the color would be consistent.

Paradise Cooler
1 oz Orange Juice (sub blood orange)
½ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Falernum (Pearl’s homemade)
¼ oz Cherry Heering
1 oz Light Rum (Denizen 3)

This wasn’t bad, and the Falernum was a nice addition (I used Pearl’s Hideaway Fancy Falernum No. 1, made by Laura Murphy). But with only 1 oz of light rum there wasn’t a lot of character to this cocktail.

Posted on

South SF Bay Area Tiki Ohana at Dr. Funk

Now that San Jose finally has a legit tiki bar, …actually, scratch that. Now that San Jose finally has an amazing tiki bar, some of the locals are deciding to get together on a regular basis.

Working out of the “South SF Bay Area Tiki Ohana” Facebook group, local tikiphile and all-around mensch Michel von Schiltach decided to get the ball rolling. Michel lives within walking distance and helped with some of the build-out, so is the perfect ambassador for these meetups.

As of now the schedule is, starting at opening at 4 pm and lasting as long as it lasts:
1st Sunday of the month
3rd Wednesday of the month

Last night was the third Wednesday, and I arrived a little late around 7 pm. So nice to see a few friendly faces interspersed with San Jose locals doing the tiki thing midweek. With Dr. Funk’s central location and convenient parking garage across the street, I’ll definitely be returning more frequently.

Dr. Funk is now serving food, and from what I’ve been told the portions are quite large for the price, and everyone seems to enjoy the meal. There was some discussion about Dr. Funk possibly being an all-ages place once food was starting to be served, but the decision is that it was stay as 21 and over. Dr. Funk is also now offering reservations, so be sure to make one if you’re coming with a larger group.

Check out “South SF Bay Area Tiki Ohana” group in Facebook for more details.