The newish YouTube channel Bamboo & Bitters welcomed me to The Fo’c’sle, the home bar and lounge of Pete and Andrea who serve as the hosts and producers of the channel. The channel covers a wide variety of tiki-related topics including cocktails, events, and spirits.
For the latest episode dropping today, I was the guest and made an Ultimate Mai Tai with Pete. We discussed the background on my version of Vic’s most famous cocktail and Mai Tais in general. Pete’s interest and enthusiasm is infectious and we had a blast hanging out in their fun basement lounge.
Busy weekend for me planning and executing the cocktails for a party featuring BG Reynolds Circus Peanut Syrup. I made a welcome punch and then had a menu of four cocktails made to order. This was my first time doing bartending for a party, and yes I did make a few Ultimate Mai Tais as well.
Thanks to hosts Brenda and Glen who made it really easy to work behind the bar, and helped with some of the rum and ice for the party. And thanks to Jason Alexander and Rodney Stanton for the recipes for four of the five cocktails I served alongside my Hurricane riff.
Welcome punch: Honey Glazed Nut Punch
Cocktails: Barnum & Bailey Planters Punch, Djumbo Grog, a Clown Got Us Into This, and Hurriclown
Honey Glazed Nut Punch by Jason Alexander ¾ oz Lime juice ¾ oz Grapefruit juice ¾ oz Circus Peanut Syrup ¾ oz Honey Mix ½ oz Cinnamon syrup 2 oz Demerara rum
Barnum & Bailey Planter’s Punch by Jason Alexander 1 oz Lemon juice ¾ oz Circus Peanut syrup ¼ oz Don’s Spices 1½ oz Dark Jamaican rum ½ oz Demerara 151 rum 1 Dash Angostura Bitters 1 Dash Absinthe
A Clown Got Us into This by Rodney Stanton 1½ oz Lime Juice ⅞ oz Circus Peanut Syrup ⅛ oz Grenadine ½ oz Creme de Banana 1½ oz Kuleana Rum Works Nanea ½ oz Overproof Jamaican Rum 2 Dashes Orange Bitters
Djumbo Grog by Jason Alexander ¾ oz Lime juice 1½ oz Grapefruit juice 1 oz Circus Peanut Syrup ¼ oz Cinnamon Syrup ½ oz Falernum 1 oz Plantation 3 Star 1 oz Plantation Original Dark 1 oz Plantation OFTD
Hurriclown by Kevin Crossman 1 oz Lemon Juice ¼ oz Passionfruit Syrup ¾ oz Circus Peanut Syrup 1½ oz Dark Jamaican Rum ½ oz Overproof Demerara Rum
Apologies to our friends at Kuleana Rum Works for not holding the bottle to show the label. Rookie mistake.
Had the pleasure of being hosted by Stephen Curran at his home bar called the Rocking Jellyfish Lounge in Gig Harbor. It’s a nicely appointed space with a double sided seating bar and some lounge seating. Stephen has traveled to Papua New Guinea and so there’s plenty of authentic and inspired-by PNG artwork. He did a presentation about his travels to Papua New Guinea at the Seattle Tiki Fest a couple weeks ago and it was a truly interesting and compelling presentation. Be sure to catch his seminars if they pop up in the future.
Stephen made me his house Mai Tai which was very good, but then presented a new version he is trying made the Ferrand Dry Curacao Yuzu, Latitude 29 orgeat, along with Appleton 15 and Appleton 21 rums. This was an extravagant and indulgent Mai Tai due to the premium rums, but the combo of curacaos from yuzu and orange really made this cocktail shine. It was absolutely fantastic and one of the best of the year so far.
The name of the cocktail should be resonate with those familiar with Joe Pesci’s 1990s filmography.
As part of the silent auction component of the Oakhana Summer Swizzle / two home tiki bar crawl in August, one of the auction items I contributed was a private tasting event with three Mai Tais for up to 8 people and hosted by Jeff Hall at the Dragon’s Den in the Oakland hills. Nav Singh was the high bidder and we had the event this past weekend.
What a great time, thanks to Nav and some of the Sacramento Ohana she brought along for the ride. A few quality questions about the Mai Tai’s ingredients and components and some about its key ingredient (that would be rum, folks). We also had a great vibe at Jeff’s place and some tasty food provided by Jeff. I brought the rum and the cocktail ingredients.
Auction winner Nav Singh
We had three Mai Tais:
First was a Trader Vic’s Mai Tai made with either Khukri rum from Nepal or Santiago aged rum from Cuba. One of these countries has a great reputation as a rum producer, but both are unusual and have a lighter column-still production method. Either one of these produced a fine Mai Tai.
Second was a Mai Tai made with Hampden Great House 2020, a cask strength flavor bomb from Jamaica. The difference between our first Mai Tai and this was greatly evident, and even with a super boozy rum the cocktail is still very approachable. This shows how different rums produce a very different Mai Tai.
We ended with a Blue Mai Tai, made with high quality Giffard Blue Curacao and a rum blend featuring Charley’s JB Overproof rum that’s available only in Jamaica. I’ve done different variants of this over the years and it still impresses; people expect it to be sweet like a Blue Hawaii but the boozy Jamaican rum gives it a good balance.
Thanks again to Jeff for hosting and to Nav for the winning bid.
An epic day in Oakland for the inaugural Oakhana Summer Swizzle home tiki bar crawl and fundraising event. This was a very well-run event, so we thank the entire organizing team, bartenders, and all the event volunteers.
The day started at The Dragon’s Den, Jeff Hall’s house. We enjoyed the dark ambiance and some cocktails and pupus. The drinks were done well, featuring Tanduay and Rum Fire rums, and bartenders Carlos and Christian kept up with demand like the pros that they are. I especially liked the Mai Tai that was even made with Latitude 29 Orgeat (Rum Fire is great in a Mai Tai). Groovy music was provided by DJ Wiley Coyote.
We then moved over to Pearl’s Hideaway, hope of Laura and Woody Miller. DJ Ship Rex switched music with a couple tight sets from the Reefriders – including an incredible version of “Taboo.” Drinks were from Doc Parks and he and Julio also did great including a blended cocktail with banana. I liked Doc’s spin on a Jungle Bird using Rum Fire to counterbalance the Campari. We also had dinner here, and many enjoyed swimming in the pool.
The event featured a silent auction to raise money for Oakland’s Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, and bidding at closing time got a little crazy. We did win a couple items and look forward to delivering the Mai Tai Happy Hour experience that was an item in the auction. There was also a second fundraiser, a raffle of new and used items that people brought to the event, and the funds there are going to Maui.
We can’t thank Laura, Jeff, Woody, and all the Summer Swizzle planning team and volunteers enough for putting on such a great event. Let’s doing it again!
Mai Tai at Dragon’s DenDJ Wiley CoyoteChristian and Carlos at Dragon’s DenPeacock chair with Mrs. Mai TaiDoc Parks at Pearl’s HideawayReefriders at Pearl’s Hideaway
A small charity focused tiki bar crawl is happening on Saturday, organized by the Oakland-based Tiki Ohana – the Oakhana. This two bar crawl has limited capacity and tickets are sold out, but even if you’re not attending you can get into the action by participating in the silent auction. There are some great items available, with proceeds going to Stephen and Ayesha Curry’s Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation.
In addition to tiki mugs, gift cards, books, and fashion items, there are a couple experiences available. I’m pleased to include an Ultimate Mai Tai Happy Hour at Jeff Hall’s Dragon’s Den home tiki bar in Oakland.
Ultimate Mai Tai Happy Hour: 3 hours, from 4-8 attendees
Taste three different Mai Tais to appreciate how different rums and other ingredients can help you develop your own personal ultimate Mai Tai. The Mai Tai was born with a long-aged rum from Jamaica, and Kevin will be bringing some rare and potent rums to demonstrate the variability when using different rum styles.
Depending on who wins the auction, we can customize the rums being brought and definitely will prepare something awesome for the attendees.
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.
