Re-remembering the family background of presumptive Democratic nominee Vice-President Kamala Harris made me think of making a tribute recipe for this Oakland native based on the Mai Tai, Oakland’s most famous cocktail. Harris’ parents are from Jamaica and India, so the rum ratios for a Mai Tai naturally fell into place.
Kamala Mai Tai by Kevin Crossman 1 oz Lime Juice ½ oz Orgeat ¼ oz Demerara Syrup ½ oz Orange Curacao 1 oz Oakland Rum (Wright & Brown) ½ oz Indian Rum (Amrut Two Indies) ½ oz Jamaica Rum (Worthy Park 109)
This was a really good Mai Tai, with the Jamaica rum presenting itself up front and a long finish with the barrel notes from the aged Wright & Brown from Oakland. I know most folks don’t have this rum, but if you want it to be authentic it has to come from Oakland.
This was a definite highlight of my visit to Kon-Tiki this week. Bartender Kriss Cucuy made a Mai Tai with a custom and interesting rum blend that included Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Blonde, Copalli White cane juice rum from Belize, Ak Zanj aged rum from Haiti, and Alma Finca orange liqueur from Mexico. The fresh flavors from the Copalli cane juice rum really worked with the aged rums from Haiti and Jamaica.
I asked Kriss if this blend had a name and maybe he’s got one now but if he’s behind the stick at The Kon-Tiki just ask nicely for this amazing blend and you’ll have a fab Mai Tai that’s among my top of 2024.
Made it back to The Kon-Tiki to partake in the Wednesday Ohana night. Always fun to see the Oakland Oahana regulars and the efficient and friendly Kon-Tiki crew.
We tried a couple new things. While Mrs. Mai Tai had the legendary Kon-Tiki Burger with fries, I tried the Shrimp Tacos that I’d never seen on the menu before. I was so glad I did because they were totally fabulous, so fresh with pico and jack cheese. I’m not sure if these will stick around but I’d encourage anyone to try them.
Pop Star
Mrs. Mai Tai also tried the Pop Star cocktail, with apple brandy, gin, Aperol, watermelon, hibiscus, lemon, and orange. This fruity drink had some welcome layered flavors and definitely wasn’t too sweet. I really liked it, just as I’ve liked most all of the entries on the current cocktail menu.
This cask strength Demerara rum from Guyana is one of my favorites. The famed Port Mourant pot still produces leathery and heavy rum that coats your tongue and lingers for hours. Always a key component of Navy Rum and Demerara rum blends, El Dorado released a cask strength bottle of Port Mourant as part of their Single Still series. Aged for a decade and issued at 56.7% ABV.
The Kon-Tiki in Oakland has several of these El Dorado expressions and so last night was Port Mourant night as I continue to work on the Kon-Tiki Expedition rum list. This rum is great just by itself but I almost always have rums at the Kon-Tiki in a Mai Tai since their base ingredients are so great that a fab Mai Tai is nearly a guarantee. Such was the case here, a bold flavorful Mai Tai that you can seemingly chew it’s so thick.
Expressions like this don’t last forever, so I recommend trying it if you’re in downtown Oakland or at another quality bar with this rum.
Always described as a gorgeous bamboo tiki bar, Oakland’s Kona Club hasn’t embraced the cocktail trends most tiki bars have. Famous for their sugary Macadamia Nut Chi-Chi, neighborhood bar clientele, and music that doesn’t lean exotic, Kona Club sometimes draws ire from hardcore tikiphiles. But, friends, I’m here to tell you that some updates to the cocktail menu mean that it may be time to revisit those assumptions and opinions.
There’s a new section of Select Classics on the menu which include a Saturn, Jungle Bird, and Three Dots & a Dash. Plus a ’44 Mai Tai made with Jamaican rum, fresh lime, Dry Curacao, and orgeat. Having had plenty of cheap but ultimately not very good Kona Mai Tais here in the past, it was nice to see an option without pineapple, guava, and amaretto.
The standard ’44 Mai Tai is still made with small cubes, but nonetheless is still way better than the old Kona Mai Tai (which remains on the menu, if that’s your jam). Kona Club actually has a pretty decent rum selection as well, and I ordered a second ’44 with Hamilton 86 Demerara Rum and that too was pretty good (though needed more shaking/dilution). While they do measure the ingredients, they’re doing the fresh squeeze of “juice of one lime” bit, so your mileage might vary on the balance.
’44 Mai Tai and Undertow
Mrs. Mai Tai ordered two highballs. These are prepared in the glass with minimal stirring, so this can be detriment to the cocktail. That said, we both thought the Undertow with platinum and coconut rum, guava, passionfruit, lime, and orgeat was pretty good. Fruity in a good way, but not stickily sweet like the infamous Chi-Chi. She also tried the Left Bank with gin, elderflower liqueur, lemon, and soda. She thought it needed more elderflower, and I guess I would agree. It definitely tasted better after additional stirring and a squeeze of the lemon wheel garnish.
Thursday evening around 8:30 was quite fun, with lots of people cycling through and having a great time. Music was better, more of a mix of instrumental/retro tunes and no hip-hop or classic rock. I’ve had service issues here many times, but this time the staff was super attentive and friendly.
Kona Club still isn’t “craft cocktails” but at least is now a lot better. Definitely a lot of fun in a good neighborhood where parking isn’t a problem. I’ll be back.
The Kon-Tiki Oakland has really been killing it with their special menu cocktails, including last Wednesday when Carlos and Kriss put together a special menu themed to Fallout. This franchise was new to me, but from I hear is very popular. There was a special menu for the night and even a few costumes that I’m sure made sense to viewers of the show or video game. Putting “East Bay” and “Wasteland” on the cover was appropriately pointed.
The Glowing One cocktail was a Zombie variant including irradiated melon, pineapple, citrus, honey, spices, and plenty of absinthe. This was absolutely fantastic, even with a heavy pour of absinthe that sometimes makes the flavors unbalanced. More than okay, this really made the drink.
Congrats to the Kon-Tiki team for continuing to try new things and most importantly to keep the quality of the exotic cocktails high. Keep checking their socials for upcoming special events.
Fun times on Monday with a rum tasting happy hour at The Kon-Tiki in Oakland, hosted by Bryan Inman as part of his Rum Curious Club event series. The rums available for tasting were from Hawai’i’s Kō Hana and Haiti’s Rhum Barbancourt.
This session was a little different than the typical rum tasting at Kon-Tiki where a rum rep usually sets up and is there for maybe a couple hours. For this one the tasting was limited to one hour as were the special $7 cocktails made with the sponsored rums. As such, it was quite the feeding frenzy to get in to taste the rums. I’m not sure this is a better format, but there’s no doubt there was a certain energy in the room, and the Kon-Tiki bar team certainly did a great job keeping up with cocktail orders.
I’ve tried the entire Kō Hana lineup before so I didn’t partake in the rum tasting, but I really loved the Kon-Tiki’s take on the Royal Hawaiian Cocktail made with Kō Hana rum, orgeat, pineapple, and citrus. It was absolutely delightful, featuring the flavorful sugar cane rum made on O’ahu very much in balance with the pineapple.
As for Rhum Barbancourt, I was interested in Haitian Proof, an unaged expression at 110 proof. This was noticeably different than the aged Barbancourt releases which to me don’t have that “sugar cane distillate” taste. Haitian Proof on the other hand definitely has that flavor that you get from other Haitian rums and clairins. Very interesting and retailing for around $30 plus or minus.
