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.
Seemed like old times in downtown Oakland for some rum tasting and special cocktails at The Kon-Tiki. Michael Goldman was on hand to share the new lineup of Monymusk rums from Jamaica, including two aged expressions and a very interesting Overproof blend.
Michael Goldman
The Monymusk Classic Gold aged for five years is a wonderful rum that’s perfect for cocktails, with the 10 year Special Reserve being affordable enough for cocktails but better suited as a sipper. There’s plenty of traditional Jamican flavor in these two expressions, but as a 40% ABV blend of pot and column-still distillates are perhaps more approachable than some of the overly funky Jamaica rums. Compare to Appleton, not Smith & Cross.
Meanwhile, Monymusk’s Overproof is definitely within the range of White Jamaican Overproof rums you’ve seen before but leaning a little lighter due to a pot/column blend. The funky flavor is there, just a bit rounded out.
Park Lane Special
Kon-Tiki had a special menu of cocktails and I was completely blown away by the grapefruit forward highball cocktail called Park Lane Special. This featured Monymusk Overproof along with a dazzling Grapefruit punch cordial. Kon-Tiki’s Carlos Jimenez really has a winner with this one. I also tried the Jamaican Bee with Monymusk Gold, lemon, and honey – a nice daiquiri riff that shows how the Monymusk rums work well in cocktails.
It was really interesting to try the updated Monymusk product line and to see their new labels. Look for these to be available in California and other states very soon.
Cocktail SpecialsJamaican BeeKon-Tiki’s Vast Rum Selection
I’m late in posting about the amazing event held at Oakland’s Kon-Tiki that served as the first event of Doc Parks’ 2024 Encore Tour. The former Zombie Village and Wilfred’s Lounge GM took over the Kon-Tiki with a custom menu featuring some fabulous cocktails. The Kon-Tiki was packed and it was all hands on deck including guest bartender Julio Palacios.
Doc Parks
Music was provided by DJ Woody Miller who opened the venue with a mellow set of tunes that gradually increased the tempo in advance of Oakland surf band The Greasy Gills who started their tight and groovy set a little after 6:30. The three-piece band played energetically and pulled in a number of fans who crowded the makeshift dance floor in the center of the Kon-Tiki space.
The star of the show for us were the cocktails provided. I started with the Banana Afterlife, recently featured on the Make & Drink YouTube show, including three rums, juices, banana liqueur, and Doc’s signature Passionola. This isn’t actually that banana-forward but is another killer cocktail from the good doctor, featuring an incredible lantern garnish from the Kon-Tigo Tiki Bar. Meanwhile, Mrs. Mai Tai was enthusiastic about the Unicorn Tears, a milk punch with coconut and ube that are two of her favorite flavors.
Mister, Might I…
Mister, Might I… was a great variant of our favorite cocktail including Denizen Merchant’s Reserve and Tanduay Gold as a base, with a touch of Passionola and a Worthy Park 109 float that was doctored with spices and liqueurs. In a brilliant stoke, this Mai Tai was served with a side of pineapple juice for you to choose your own adventure. Do you add it to the drink? Or do you take it as a shot? I love this idea and this will be on my year-end Mai Tai list for sure.
The Gong Show was my final cocktail and included seven rums (yes, seven), plus cinnamon, black tea, spices, lime, and grapefruit. And served on fire, because of course it was. Totally amazing cocktail and such a great night at The Kon-Tiki.
I’ve been fortunate to check out a couple of these Doc Parks tour stops and if you have the opportunity be sure to take it if you’re a fan of amazing cocktails.
This is one the “zero gravity” drinks on The Kon-Tiki‘s recent Sci-Fi themed cocktail menu. It has Watermelon, Hibiscus, Oolong, Honey, and Lime and is well garnished for $8. You can “choose your element” by adding a called spirit for just $6 more.
This is a wonderful drink just by itself but does work very well with a variety of rums and other spirits. Would go great with Tequila and Vodka, and I can attest it works for Rhum Agricole and Clairins too. The juicy flavors and the tang from the watermelon really work for me.
I like this for tasting rums from the Kon-Tiki’s large selection. I have the rum by itself and I try some of it neat, then pour into the Multipass to see how the rum works in a cocktail. It’s a great option when you’re doing the tiki thing in downtown Oakland.
