Tag: HawaiianRum

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Tequila + Rum Recipe: So Long Summer

I ran across this recipe from Deb Parks, wife of famed bartender Doc Parks, celebrating the end of summer. The recipe uses tequila and cane juice rum, a combo I hadn’t tried, so I thought I’d give this a shot and see if any of Doc’s mixology skills have rubbed off on his better half.

So Long Summer by Deb Parks
¾ oz Fresh Lime juice
¾ oz Fresh Grapefruit juice
½ oz Cinnamon Syrup
½ oz Passionfruit Vanilla Syrup
l oz Fortaleza Tequila Blanco
l oz Kō Hana Kea Rum
Shake with ice and dirty dump. I subbed El Jimador Blanco for the tequila.

This is a pretty good cocktail, especially if you like things that lean just a little dryer than you sometimes find in tropical cocktails. The combination of tequila and the lightly grassy Hawaiian cane rum really works great together and aren’t quite as assertive as something like Mezcal or Rhum Agricole might be. The grapefruit is fab in here, too – and as we know from Don the Beachcomber grapefruit and cinnamon pair very well. Save this refresher of a recipe for when you want to relive the summer.

Autumn is now here, but we’ll always have this cocktail to remember the summer of 2025. Cheers.

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The Best Mai Tai on Pier 39

After the quick visit into Luau Lounge it was time for our lunch reservation at one of our favorite Pier 39 restaurants, Fog Harbor Fish House. This restaurant is located on the second level, so we had some great views of Fisherman’s Wharf and the San Francisco Bay. Our lunch was enjoyable including some seafood-oriented entrees and some tasty sourdough rolls as a starter, along with great service. The venue was busy but everything came out promptly and correctly, and noice wasn’t an issue.

When I looked at the cocktail list I was pleasantly surprised to see a Mai Tai that features Kuleana Hawaiian rum, lime, orgeat, and orange curaçao. Even better was the finished product that I was so glad I ordered, as this was a rich but still approachable cocktail that was very well balanced and had a great presentation including the float. This was a Mai Tai any bar would be proud to serve, and certainly was the best we’ve ever tried on the pier.

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Mai Tai for Two at Pagan Idol

Was pleased to see that Pagan Idol was fairly busy on Wednesday night, though the venue’s reputation for having the highest backpack to customer ratio seems to still be intact. There were several groups having a great time and while there were ebbs and flows there were a steady stream of customers ordering at the bar.

We started with the Mai Tai that is made with Kō Hana Kea and Appleton Signature, which resulted in a bright flavor that leaned a little in the orange direction. If you’re a fan of Hawaiian rums or any lighter sugar cane spirits then this Mai Tai is a great option. Nathan and I both can be picky but we agreed this was really good Mai Tai.

Nathan didn’t want the night to end just yet and ordered another round including an amazing Daiquiri made with Rum Fire (supposedly “just a splash” but clearly more than that). It had been a while since I’d been in the back room at Pagan and forgot how many tikis are in this section, including two big ones that are still impressive. I didn’t love the Reggae-heavy music playlist, but overall this was a great visit and nice to see Pagan still doing well with the tiki thing in the Financial District.

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White Rum and Friends Trivia at Dr. Funk

Monday was a good night out in downtown San Jose, with Dr. Funk hosting Risky Quizness doing Friends trivia. This is Mrs. Mai Tai’s favorite show, and I expected her to a lot better than when we went to Office trivia and I didn’t really do very well (reminder: I used to cohost an Office podcast!). Unfortunately, the questions posted were, well, let’s just call them deep cuts and we didn’t do much better this time. Considering the level of difficulty, we’re not sure we’ll do more of these trivia events.

Nonetheless we did have a good time, thanks to more rums from the Dr. Funk Rum Asylum Level 1 list. As with my previous post about choosing a trio of easy sippers, this time I went thematic again with three white rums that show how diverse unaged rums can be.

The three rums are:

  • Wray & Nephew White Overproof Jamaica Rum
  • Kō Hana Kea from O’ahu
  • Rhum JM Agricole Blanc from Martinique

What a fabulous way to show how diverse rum can be with these three unaged rums. The Wray & Nephew is made from molasses and is a flavorful high-proof fruit bomb, whereas the Rhum JM is made from sugar cane juice and features grassy and vegetal notes. My favorite in this group was the very pleasant and mild Kō Hana Kea that has balanced flavors from the Hawaiian cane.

Meanwhile Mrs. Mai Tai knocked off another from her Rum Asylum list by having a Bacardi Ocho in the Daiquiri format. So clean and definitely more flavorful than the standard Bacardi.

Our sons enjoyed some classic Dr. Funk cocktails including the Shipwreck, Saturn’s Sunrise, and Phoenix Rising – plus some great Nacho Fries and Coconut Shrimp, but our entire table disliked Dr. Funk’s version of the Jungle Bird that uses the Cruzan Black Strap rum with its overbearing maple syrup flavor.

San Jose’s “hidden tiki bar” remains anything but, thanks to a thematic shamrock light display that all along San Pedro Square can see. Monday was pretty busy thanks to the trivia and also Dr. Funk’s stellar drinks.

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Rum Asylum Launch at San Jose’s Dr. Funk Tiki Bar

When downtown San Jose’s Dr. Funk opened in 2021 it came with the moniker “Rum House / Kitchen” but to date there hasn’t been a lot of emphasis on rum itself apart from a well-stocked back bar. That changed this week with the lunch of a rum club called the Rum Asylum.

Taking nods from the legend of Doctor Bernhard Funk, the club features thematic levels including the starting level called “Inpatient” that features twenty notable rums including one flight. The booklet that you keep with you includes a graphical map of your journey and places for the crew to stamp the spot after you order your item. Rewards and future levels are slated to be revealed soon.

Shockingly, Mrs Mai Tai decided to start the list herself, so we both ordered the rum flight that provides a nice intro to rum with Planteray Pineapple, Paranubes cane rum from Mexico, and Appleton 12 from Jamaica. Each rum on the list can be ordered as a Daiquiri for a $3 up-charge, and Kō Hana Kea was a big hit for Julie in format. Meanwhile, I went to “oak town” with Appleton 21 and Privateer Queen’s Share, each of which feature tons of wood aging notes.

This new program is just getting off the ground, but look for rum-related events and additional levels with some interesting and unique rewards to be announced soon. In the meantime, now is a perfect time to explore the initial list that includes a very nice variety of mainstream rums all under $50 for a 1½ oz pour (most substantially less). The list includes Dr Funk’s unique blend of Myers’s Single Barrel Select and rums from Martinique, Barbados, the United States, and more.

Thanks to Amanda Hastings for hosting the launch event and helping customers get acquainted. Note: nurse Amanda will not be appearing nightly.

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Penultimate Mai Tai at The Kon-Tiki

We thank bartender Kriss for indulging us with a little experiment, making a great Penultimate Mai Tai on our visit on Wednesday.

Based on the rums available we riffed a little bit but this is still a dark flavorful rum along with a Hawaiian rum. In this case 1½ oz of Diamond Reserve Dark and ½ oz Kō Hana Kea in a standard 1944 Mai Tai. A little less complex than our four-rum Ultimate Mai Tai blend but still really full of flavor.

The Kon-Tiki Burger and a Mai Tai is still my favorite thing in the town. Pretty busy on Wednesday, everyone keep it going and support our friends at The Kon-Tiki.

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Cane Juice Mai Tai from Mexico and Hawaii

We’ve got to thank Chris Parker for recommending this rum blend for a Mai Tai at The Kon-Tiki. It combines two cane-juice rums, one from Mexico and one from Hawai’i.

KōHana Kea is a 40% ABV rum from O’ahu, which we’ve had before and covered before. It is delicious and KōHana is greatly expanding the size of their sugar cane fields, poised to be the largest sugar cane grower on the island. Kea is their unaged expression and each bottle is made with a different cane variety, though I neglected to check which one on the label. I’ve yet to find any Kea that isn’t totally delicious.

Dokabend is a single varietal Aguardiente de Caña from Oaxaca, a pot still rum issued at 51% ABV. There’s a lot of very interesting cane spirits coming out of Mexico and this one comes from fields that are nearly 4000 feet high in the Sierra Norte mountains.

The end results was a very flavorful Mai Tai with traditional vegetal flavors but just a hint of smoke that I assume comes from the Dokabend, but not too smoky like the Mezcal from the same region. Definitely different than the cane rums I had from Haiti earlier in the evening and one of the best Mai Tais I’ve had at Kon-Tiki this year, which means it is the one of the best at any location.

This was my 100th visit to Kon-Tiki, which I guess maybe isn’t a lot since they opened in late 2017 but its more than any other tiki bar during this period. This visit was representative of why I love going here, being able to try different spirits neat or in a cocktail, fun retro-leaning music that isn’t always exotica but never Top 40, and great engagement with the crew.

That’s me on the wall