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Trader Vic’s Ofrenda

Trader Vic’s Emeryville hosted the annual Holiday Bazaar and Brunch on Sunday, and we enjoyed shopping and dining with friends.

Notable this time was a thoughtful ofrenda display that paid homage to Trader Vic as well as local legend Brian Mcdonald who recently passed. A couple Forbidden Island friends even made sure there was a little offering of coconut rum, Chiwito’s favorite.

There were a couple fall cocktails on the menu, which we tried with mixed results. I tried the La Ofrenda which featured Mexican rum, pepita syrup, and Limpia’auras Herbal Liqueur. I wanted to embrace some new flavors but this blend didn’t do it for either of us. Much better was Mrs. Mai Tai’s Marigold Path, also featuring Mexican rum plus Hot Buttered Rum Batter and a host of spices. Served hot, Marigold Path was a delightful cocktail with a ton of flavor to savor.

We’ve had a long Halloween season and I’ll admit we might have done too much but we were having too much fun while it was happening. Time to look forward to the holidays including an upcoming trip to Christmas Markets in Europe.

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Rum Negroni Halloween Special

Had a good Rum Negroni with skull ice cubes in a Tiki Goth Club glass. Not too bad to celebrate Halloween but also laying low because you have a busy weekend ahead.

I used the new Planteray Mister Fogg Mavy Rum Sail n°2. I hypothesized that this rum wouldn’t be great in cocktails and even with cutting the Campari way back the rum doesn’t really push through. Stick to Jamaican rum next time. Sail n°2 is better as a nice sipping rum.

Rum Negroni
1½ oz Sweet Vermouth
1 oz Campari
1½ oz Planteray Mister Fogg Mavy Rum Sail n°2
Stir with ice and strain over large cubes

Happy Halloween

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Planteray Mister Fogg Navy Rum Sail n°2

A new edition of Planteray’s Mister Fogg Navy Rum tribute expression has set sail and is now on the way to retailers. “Sail n°2” features different components but similarly follows the inspiration of vintage British Royal Navy rums by incorporating distillate from various producers and countries. The rum is issued at 55.7% ABV including 4.8 g/l of dosage, along with Cognac cask aging in France for a background flavor familiar to Planteray customers.

This year’s blend includes a bit of cane juice rum from Mauritius but mostly leans on a blend of pot and column still rums from Trinidad, Barbados, and Guyana. The blend spends some time in open vats along the riverside in France, intended to replicate the process employed at historic docs in London.

Planteray Mister Fogg Navy Rum Sail n°2 breakdown:
35% Trinidad: Trinidad Distillers, limited
34% Barbados: different vintages from West Indies Rum Distillery
20% Guyana: Diamond Distillery
6% Mauritius: Cane Juice rum from the St Aubin Distillery
5% Jamaica: Blend from Clarendon Distillers, Long Pond Distillery, and Hampden Distillery

Due to the ever-changing blend rums coming into the docks, each flagon of vintage Navy rum had a different character. I was unimpressed by Mister Fogg n°1 but n°2 definitely tastes more like the vintage British Navy rums I’ve tried a couple times by incorporating more smoky molasses notes. Mister Fogg is not nearly as assertive as something like Pusser’s Gunpowder Proof in this regard, however.

Mister Fogg seems better to me as sipping rum than one used for cocktails. It doesn’t drink like a 55% ABV rum, and the small amount of dosage means this is very pleasant to sip. Some of the flavors are subtle enough that you really need to taste this rum neat, though that said it does work fabulously in a rum-forward cocktail like a Mai Tai.

Thanks to the sailor from Nashville for dropping this bottle off the ship and letting it float to California.

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Return to Kaia’s Tiki Bar in Danville

We returned to Danville for a family dinner and cocktails, finding Kaia’s Island Kitchen and Tiki Bar to be running smoothly and with quality service and offerings. The restaurant recently enabled a reservation system, making planned trips even easier. We also saw that the shaded outdoor patio has been expanded.

During our visit we once again enjoyed the island style food, including a delightful poke bowl that I loved. The preparation and delivery of food was very quick once again, and our server was super prompt in following up and getting us set up with a second round of cocktails.

The cocktail menu has expanded a bit since our first visit, and we found the cocktails to be overall better balanced this time as well. The Ipanema Breeze leans a little tart with cachaca, passionfruit, and falernum but is still pretty good. The standout drink for me was the Ohanapod Mai Tai, a riff on the Monkeypod Mai Tai from Hawai’i. This cocktail features Koloa coconut rum, Coruba Jamaican rum, plus honey-lilikoi foam. The coconut rum wasn’t overpowering and this Mai Tai leans sweet in a good way.

Kaia’s remains a pretty good suburban tiki option, especially if you want to include kids. They also offer a variety of merchandise including mugs and glassware that look great.

Ohanapod Mai Tai and Ipanema Breeze

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Rum Club Launches at Boo Loo Lounge

Orinda’s small but well-received tiki bar Boo Loo Lounge  is launching a rum club called the Restless Spirits Club. Similar to other venues, the club allows you to taste spirits and accumulate credit for those purchases on a checklist. The club is inspired by Boo Loo’s location inside the Orinda Theater complex, so it is a nice touch that your punch card looks like a movie ticket.

The process at Boo Loo is pretty simple and more open than some other spirit or rum clubs in that you can pick any rum on Boo Loo’s list and then they punch your ticket that stays at the bar. A list of rums will be generated periodically and you can take that home with you to track your progress or plan your next tasting. The reward system is still completing development but you’ll get coupons for discounts after 25 rums and there are plans for a wall of fame as well.

The rum list for October 2025 shows a nice variety of brands and styles, all of which are value priced lower than another local tiki bar that has a publicly available price list.

It is really nice to see this development at Boo Loo Lounge, and I am a fan of choose-your-own rum lists so I can avoid rums/style I don’t like or already tasted (or owned), allowing me to focus on things I do like or something I’ve never tried before. While nobody will confuse this with the elaborate rum clubs at Smuggler’s Cove or Forbidden Island, this does provide focus on Boo Loo’s pretty nice selection of rums and should be a gateway opportunity for casual visitors that make up a large portion of Boo Loo’s clientele.

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New Menu at Boo Loo Lounge

It’s been a few months since our last visit to Orinda’s small tiki bar, Boo Loo Lounge. Of interest on our latest visit is the new and expanded cocktail menu that launched a couple months back and the first revision since the venue opened in 2023.

The menu format takes inspiration from Boo Loo’s location in the Orinda Theater complex, laying it out like a screenplay with red editorial notes in the margins. It’s a clever way to draw in many of the patrons who are new to tiki and visiting due to the proximity of the theater or the local restaurants and shops. There are 14 cocktails plus three NA options, plus beer and wine, and is a nice mix of classics along with a few originals and some good options for tequila, gin, and whiskey drinkers.

I’d heard the Mai Tai’s rum blend was reformulated but after scanning the menu I couldn’t help but get a Donnie’s Element, a banana/coconut/coffee cocktail with spiced rum that was developed by Chris Day and served at The Kon-Tiki during Day’s tenure there. It’s a truly fantastic cocktail and am so glad to see Boo Loo Lounge serving it. Mrs. Mai Tai ordered the Voodoo Grog that surprisingly is pretty heavy on the Rhum Agricole and so not really to her liking (or mine, really), though she did love the Donnie’s Element.

Those were the only cocktails we tried on this visit, though was interested in the special Halloween menu from Kriss “Cucuy” Gonzalez that’s also movie inspired. Check it out while you can.

Boo Loo Lounge is doing a lot of things right given the confines of their small space and sleepy suburban location. We arrived on Friday well before 5:00 and had the place mostly to ourselves but by the time we left there were several parties inside and there was a lot of great energy from the crowd and surf music playlist.

IYKYK
Donnie’s Element and Voodoo Grog
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San Jose’s Best Halloween Bar is Alter Ego

San Jose’s burgeoning bar scene is really hitting its stride, including social media promotions of the various bars doing Halloween-themed offerings. We heard that Alter Ego Cocktail Club had special menus and decor so we arrived right at opening on Saturday to experience the offerings.

The Dark

Upon entering the speakeasy inside Still O.G. you’ll be told that the entire staff was killed and what you’re witnessing are the ghostly apparitions. You’re provided with a small welcome punch to drink to complete the effect. We were seated at the bar and could see the decor has been transformed with dark elements and a great modern dark wave soundtrack.

We’ve had amazing cocktail experiences here before and the new menu was no exception, presented as a book with elaborate illustrations. A variety of spirits and cocktail styles are presented, with the Heart Stopper shots served from a chest being popular in the venue and on social media.

Isle de las Muñecas

I started with The Dark, an absolutely delightful coffee cocktail with an orange foam and a chocolate pentagram garnish. Meanwhile, Mrs. Mai Tai had the Isle de las Muñecas with tequila, carrot, and ginger – served in a disturbing baby doll’s head mug. This was a really great cocktail and the vegetal notes were interesting and well-balanced.

Our second round started with the Witching Hour which is basically a boozy chocolate milk served in a flute. Perhaps the best overall for me was my Telltale Heart which uses beet and Alchermes for a red color that works fantastically with the mug that’s shaped like a heart. We were truly impressed by the cocktails.

Telltale Heart and Witching Hour

The staff were dressed in costumes related to their untimely deaths and as with previous experiences very knowledgable, professional, and team-oriented. Alter Ego fills up fast so be sure to make a reservation.

Welcome drink