Tag: Oahu

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Kō Hana Distillery on O’ahu

One of the highlights of the Tiki in Waikiki weekend event was a tour of the Kō Hana rum distillery in Waipahu. We took comfortable buses our about an hour out of Waikiki and were greeted by the friendly folks from Kō Hana.

The tour includes four components, with about ten minutes in each spot. Our group started with the distilling area with the pot and column stills, where we learned about how they take the wash and turn it into fine Hawaiian rum. Our next stop was the aging room where we saw that some of Kō Hana’s expressions are aged in a variety of barrels including a few made with native Hawaiian wood. There’s a lot more capacity in that aging room, where I hope we’ll get even longer aged expressions of Kō Hana rum in the future.

We also learned about the sugar cane and the dozens of varietals that Kō Hana is using. These varietals are on the grounds of the distillery for reference, but the farms are on the north end of O’ahu. At each stop the experts in each field were available for detailed questions about Kō Hana’s production process. A breezy tour for rum newbies and super cool for the rum nerds to dig into the details.

The last stop was the tasting room where we got to sample three Kō Hana expressions: the unaged Kea, the aged Koho, and the Kokoleka which is made with Kō Hana rum along with pure cacao and raw honey. This liqueur is bottled at 30% ABV and Mrs. Mai Tai was such a big fan that we walked home with a bottle. There’s also samples of Kō Hana’s fine bottled cocktails and some other branded items available for purchase.

Kō Hana is becoming one of my favorite rums thanks to the myriad excellent cocktails I’ve been having lately that are made with this fine spirit. I honestly don’t love their unique square bottles but they’re quite distinctive on the shelf and traveled well in our suitcase.

Big thanks to the team Kō Hana who were super informative and also provided us with a great deal of hospitality during our visit. Mahalo, team.

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House without a Key at Halekulani Hotel Waikiki

We wanted to revisit House without a Key, having been able to score walk-up seats the pool bar on our last trip but wanting to sit closer to the performances that start at 5:00. Our reservation was for 5:30 and we saw that “drinks only” guests were seated up front in the sun and many used the provided umbrellas to shade themselves. When we were seated for dinner, we opted to sit in the shade under covering.

The performers sing a variety of Hawaiian songs and at 6:00 a former Miss Hawaii comes out to dance. This is a very nice and relaxing locale and once you’re in shade a little is quite pleasant, so consider a slightly later reservation.

I ordered the Mai Tai, made to a 50s style Hawaiian Mai Tai spec (no pineapple) but with a dark rum float. I normally love these but found it to be flat this visit, and they’re probably still not using Lemon Hart 151 for the float, a rum that I think is essentially for adding a lot of flavor. It most definitely not Bacardi 151 per the menu, since Bacardi stopped making that years ago and for sure the float had more of a smoky flavor (I’m guessing it was Myers’s). We enjoyed the rest of our dinner and desert with the Halekulani’s famous coconut cake.

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Skull and Crown Trading Co.

During our two nights were were convinced that Skull & Crown is one of the best tiki bars on planet Earth. We already discussed the amazing Mai Tais, but the craft cocktail experience at Skull and Crown is top notch.

Mrs. Mai Tai loved the Koloa Colada, a Pina Colada riff with Spiced Rum, Coconut Rum, Pineapple, Lemon, and Coconut Cream. Topped with a flower and Toasted Shaved Coconut. This was excellent both times we visited and is a wonderful example of the care the S&C team put into the cocktails. Toasting the Coconut shavings really added another aspect to the cocktail.

I also tried the Trader Noa’s Old Fashioned, a great Hawaiian Agricole cocktail. So very flavorful.

Koloa Colada and Trader Noa’s Old Fashioned

We must salute S&C’s dynamic duo, Trader Noa Laporga and Angelina Khan. We felt so welcomed to see these special people for the first time in months. Noa play host and welcomed us and introduced us to some fellow tikiphiles. Noa shared some historical cocktail recipes he uncovered, and we liked seeing Noa behind the bar as well. And Angelina made sure that the service was prompt and totally set us up for a relaxing experiencing. Mahalo.

Trader Noa

Food is available at S&C, and we enjoyed our food. We’d have preferred forks be issued rather than just chopsticks, but that was our only gripe. During our second night we celebrated Skull & Crown’s third anniversary with some live music from Don Tiki’s Kit Ebersbach (Perry Coma) along with local favorite Starr Kalahiki on vocals. Simply fantastic.

Skull & Crown is a jewel.

Making Friends
Skull & Crown’s Mermaid
75 year old tiki
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Skull and Crown Trading Co. Mai Tais

We had the pleasure of visiting the best tiki bar between San Francisco and Tokyo twice during our visit. Skull and Crown is located in Honolulu’s Chinatown and is a treasure, such a welcoming and immersive space that transports you to historic Hawai’i. The vintage elements and decor helps you feel like the bar opened in 1920 and never closed.

There are three Mai Tais on the menu, so we had to sample all of them.

Dagger Mai Tai
Developed in conjunction with Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco, this is a Mai Tai featuring some exotic spices and… well, that’s all we know. All the ingredients are redacted on the menu. Quite good.

‘Awa’Awa Mai Tai
Featuring KoHana Hawaiian Rum Agricole, Campari, Grand Mariner, Lime, Orgeat, and Lilikoi, this bitter Mai Tai is served flaming and is quite wonderful. The Campari for sure is the forward tasting note but this is still approachable even if Campari isn’t your thing.

Maunakea Mai Tai
Featuring Appleton 12, Clement Select Barrel, Smith & Cross Jamaican Rum, Dry Curacao, Lime, Orgeat, and Demerara Syrup. This was by far my favorite Mai Tai on the list, and obviously hews most closely to the classic 1944 Mai Tai recipe. It is so wonderful, a flavorful Mai Tai that allows you to savor the ingredients. Doesn’t make me sad that this leans into the Jamaican rums. I liked this Mai Tai in 2019, but love it this time. One of my Top 5 Mai Tais served anywhere. Really. This is truly excellent.

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Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai with Best Views in Waikiki

Swung by the Mai Tai Bar at the Royal Hawaiian and managed to grab the best seat in the house and maybe the entire beach. Ground zero for the Hawaiian Mai Tai, when Trader Vic included the cocktail on the menu in 1953. That original ‘53 was pretty close to the ‘44 and needless to say today’s RH Mai Tai is quite different. But I must say I really liked the taste, much better than the Vic’s ‘44 we had earlier in the trip. The sweet blend of flavors worked for me on this visit. And you can’t beat the view of Diamond Head.

We ended up having dinner here, including the pancakes that were perfect. Service was pretty good too, though I’m sure the waitress was simply happy to deliver one or two drinks at a time compared to the typical table full of drinks.

The Royal Hawaiian is such a charming hotel, with a few cute stores and little passageways. And somehow insulated from the hustle of nearby Kalakaua Ave.

The Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai Recipe

Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai (Classic Recipe from 1972)
½ oz Lime Juice
¼ oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
1 oz unsweetened Pineapple Juice
¼ oz Sugar Syrup
¼ oz Orgeat
¼ oz Orange Curacao
1 oz Demerara Rum
1 oz Dark Jamaican Rum
1 oz Light Rum

Garnish with a Pineapple finger, Sugar Cane stick, Orchid, and Mint Sprig.

Today, the Royal Hawaiian provides the “secret recipe” for their “Original” Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai, and it differs considerably from the older recipe originally published in Drinks of Hawaii. Purists will note the use of Amaretto rather than Orgeat, and a mere 1½ ounces of rum.

Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai (Modern Recipe)
Build in shaker with ice:
1 oz Bacardi Rum
1 tsp Cherry Vanilla Puree
½ oz Amaretto di Saronno
½ oz Cointreau
1 oz Fresh Govinda Orange Juice
2 oz Fresh Govinda Pineapple Juice
½ oz Whaler’s Dark Rum Float

Roll the shaker, pour in a large “bucket” glass. Float with Whaler’s Dark Rum, garnish with a parasol with cherry, pineapple and lime wedge.

Learn more the Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai’s Evolution

The original Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai was very different from the two recipes shown above. Learn more about how this classic cocktail evolved.

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Arnold’s Beach Bar – Hidden Waikiki Gem

Arnold’s Beach Bar is an under-looked gem of a bar in Waikiki. We were impressed on a previous visit and can confirm they’re still doing well.

The Mai Tai isn’t craft but at only $10 is really great. The ingredients are Calypso Virgin Islands White rum, Triple Sec, Amaretto, a splash of OJ and Pineapple, and a float of Dark Rum. A good shake means this Mai Tai is mixed well and chilled, better than many Mai Tais I’ve had this trip.

This is by far the best dive bar in Waikiki, with a friendly bartender and cheap booze. Plus some nice tiki decor. I enjoyed the visit and had two rounds.

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Halekulani Mai Tai

The House without a Key was booked but we eventually figured out there is an adjacent pool bar that serves the full menu and even had a great view of the performance stage.

Our salads were good but expensive. A much better value was the Halekulani’s famous Coconut Cake. So light, with a cream frosting that I loved. Don’t skip it if you come.

The Mai Tai was good, not great (didn’t stop me from having two, though). The mix is batched and placed into glasses where they are procured when ordered and ice is added, then the dark rum float. No shaking or stirring, which makes the first sips less than satisfying. A little self stir rectified things.

According to the Halekulani’s published recipe, the float is supposed to be Lemon Hart 151, but we only saw Myers’s being used. Not a terrible choice but for sure lacking the requisite oomph we previously found to be this cocktail’s most important ingredient.

Nonetheless you’d be hard pressed to find a better Mai Tai in Waikiki. We continue to recommend this.