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Walnut Creek Yacht Club Mai Tai

After some cocktails and apps at Tiki Tom’s we walked over to Walnut Creek Yacht Club for dinner. For those who are unfamiliar, Walnut Creek is a land-locked city in Contra Costa County in the East Bay Area. So, the “Yacht Club” is a theme or maybe an ironic name, not an actual place to dock your yacht.

We enjoyed our dinner and I had an incredible Lobster Roll. Our service was very prompt and friendly, and this place is so popular that reservations are recommended. Prices are a little high, commiserate with quality.

The WCYC has a nice cocktail menu including a 1944 style Mai Tai. The Mai Tai includes Cruzan Spiced Rum, Appleton Reserve Rum, Orgeat, Ferrand Dry Curacao, and Lime Juice, along with a float of Coruba Dark Rum in the spent lime shell. Far better than the average suburban restaurant, and far better than we’ve had at a lot of places (even if it doesn’t compare to the Ultimate Mai Tai over at Tiki Tom’s). They also serve a Mary Pickford that we thought was pretty good as well.

Lobster Roll
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Appleton 17 Legend Mai Tai at Smuggler’s Cove

The King is dead. Long live the King.

That’s the takeaway after tasting the much hyped Appleton 17 Legend rum in a Mai Tai at Smuggler’s Cove tonight. Simply amazing and so mich better than even SC’s world-class standard Mai Tai. So much more flavorful and rich. Consistent with a previous tasting, it lingers so long on the palette and it’s a taste that is simply unlike any rum or blend I’ve ever tried.

The shenanigans started before opening, when Martin Cate came out with a “Mai Tai” to whet our appetite. Inside the efficiency of the SC crew meant that rum pours and Mai Tais flowed quite quickly. But the quality in the cocktail was still there.

Having a rum to be similar to the original Wray & Nephew 17 used in the original Mai Tai has been a passion of SC’s owner Martin Cate. Literally imploring and begging Appleton to make such a rum. And tonight it was here at one of the world’s greatest tiki bars and made using Smuggler’s Cove high standards for lime, orgeat, curaçao, sugar, and rum. Cheers, Martin.

One of the best Mai Tais I’ve ever had!

NOT a Mai Tai
Mai Tai with Appleton 17 Jamaica Rum
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Tiki Tom’s Pre-Dinner Apps and Cocktails

Had a great time over at Tiki Tom’s for some pre-dinner cocktails and appetizers on Saturday. They only serve you in the bar if you’re just having drinks, so we ordered some appetizers to justify a table seating.

Drinks were well done, consistent with our recent visits. I made sure to check on the quality control of the Ultimate Mai Tai and can confirm they’re still making this very well (not sure about the offer of a rum float, though…). And our two guests thought their Ultimate Mai Tais were really great.

Mrs. Mai Tai ordered her favorite, the Ohana Punch, still really great featuring green apple and walnut. She also had the Pineapple Whip with dark rum – so wonderful when you mix the rum in with the dairy desert.

Our friends went with a couple Tiki Tom’s favorites, the Blowfish Intoxica and the Song of the Siren. Two very good options for those who haven’t been to Tiki Tom’s before. They really enjoyed Tiki Tom’s amazing decor.

We enjoyed the apps, including the Tiki Spamsubi and Prawn Skewers, and our service was super prompt and friendly. As is common on our last few visits, the waitress did a good job making sure that orders with specific ingredients would be okay for the guests. Tiki Tom’s doesn’t take reservations on Fri/Sat and there were plenty of people there but the tables turned over quick enough that no guests seemed to need to wait long.

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Amrut Two Indies Rum from India

Amrut Two Indies is a rum produced in Bengaluru India and made with distillate from both India as well as the West Indies (Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados). The light style of rum has some mild spice notes on the finish after an initial burst of astringency. The rum isn’t really anything special when sampled neat, though the ABV is a bit higher than you’d expect at a precise 42.8%. This is not a heavy rum, so could appeal to those new to spirits or even some crossover whiskey drinkers.

Given the middling review of the rum when tasting it neat, I did not have high expectations for this rum in a Mai Tai where I usually like my rums to be bolder and boozier. But I’m here to tell you that Amrut Two Indies is fantastic in a Mai Tai.

Amrut has some bright and citrusy notes that paired so well with fresh lime and my custom blend of Clement and DeKuyper orange liqueurs. The Mai Tai was a pleasure from beginning to end and the mild aging notes certainly came through in the cocktail. Not every rum needs to be a sipper and I was impressed with Amrut Two Indies as a mixing rum.

West and East Indies, get it?
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Heather and Tim Complete the Kon-Tiki Rum Expedition

Congratulations to Heather and Tim for completing the 100 rum list as part of the Kon-Tiki Expedition. The ceremony Wednesday included a special menu of Heather and Tim’s favorite cocktails, plus cheering as they banged the gong to celebrate.

The Kon-Tiki was really buzzing in downtown Oakland on Wednesday. The place was quite full, though the service staff and bartenders were doing a great job getting drink and food orders filled in a timely fashion. The Kon-Tiki’s world’s best cheeseburger was in amazing tip top form, and we tried the very intriguing new desert item Vino Pears a la Mode. This is wine-soaked pears served with vanilla ice cream and this was truly interesting and delicious.

We must call out the excellent musical playlist from Kon-Tiki’s @not_carlos. The playlist featured a variety of mostly instrumental songs that leaned in a soul and afrobeat direction. This felt retro (even though some songs are very recent) and groovy, and since they were instrumental this still felt appropriate for a tiki bar.

Kon-Tiki Burger
Special Menu
Vino Pears a la Mode
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National Daiquiri Day at The Kon-Tiki

I’m doing Kon-Tiki’s Rum Expedition list of 100 rums again, and decided to Daiq it up last night for National Daiquiri Day.

I tried three rums in this format, all light/clear and I believe all unaged.

Copalli White – this pot/column blend from Belize is made from sugar cane juice but is very approachable. Not as much character in this one compared to the other two, but it is very serviceable in this format.

Père Labat Blanc 59 – a high proof rhum had more oomph and the traditional Martinique grassy notes were somewhat tempered in this format. I liked this, not just for the 59% ABV but because of the terroir of the island of origin.

KōHana Hawaiian Agricole Rum KEA – by far by favorite from this list. I absolutely love Kea for the savory qualities, even at only 40% ABV. Not grassy like the Martinique, instead this flavor bomb had a really lovely and long finish in the daiquiri.

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Atomik Tiki Lounge Luau and Grog Contest

We had a great time on a warm Saturday attending the annual luau at the Atomic Tiki Lounge. Big thanks to hosts Chad and Jenny who opened their home, backyard, patio, and rum collection to the party attendees. Their tiki bar is comfy and covered wall to wall with fab artwork, and the patio outside is covered and comfortable as well.

There’s a cocktail contest each year that Chad organizes. Last time I attended it was a Mai Tai contest and I came in second to a really awesome Mai Tai and this year’s fiesta was a Grog contest. I’m pleased to report that my Turkey Grog was the winning entry, and I won a bottle of Amrut Two Indies rum from India. These contests are a lot of fun and I tasted some of the other entries and they were all worthy of consideration with strong merits.

Photo credit: Josephine Bjellqvist

Turkey Grog by Kevin Crossman
¾ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Ruby Grapefruit Juice
½ oz Honey Syrup (1:1)
½ oz Velvet Falernum
½ oz Don’s Spices #2
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
¾ oz Smith & Cross Jamaican Rum
1½ oz Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon
Shake with ice, garnish with mint. Serve in glass of choice.

Don’s Spices #2: Equal parts Vanilla Syrup and Pimento Dram/Allspice Liqueur.
If you have non-alcoholic Falernum syrup then drop the amount to ¼ oz.