Downtown Oakland’s Kon-Tiki is looking great for Halloween, thanks to a very cohesive set of Beetlejuice-related decor. It really looks great and festive for the best season of the year.
Some fun times last night hanging out with a Jeff and Dave, a couple Oakhana regulars, and Kon-Tiki owner Christ. Carlos, Kriss, and Daniel were efficient and helpful with drink orders and rum suggestions.
The amazing Kon-Tiki Burger only seems to be tasting better lately (change in beef supplier) and plenty of great vintage 70s and Yacht Rock tunes playing in the venue. Love you, Kon-Tiki.
Mrs. Mai Tai and ventured to Oakland to check out the new cocktail menu at The Kon-Tiki. This is a major overhaul and we wanted to try some of the new cocktails. We also saw that the interior of Kon-Tiki is receiving a “space” themed overhaul to coincide with the new menu’s theme. This is not really to our taste, especially when accompanied by some sleepy 60s jazz songs. Things felt a lot better once a selection of 70’s-80s deep cut space-rock songs were being played (Alan Parsons, Neu!, Japan), which at least had a bit of pep and reminded us of the Kon-Tiki’s heyday as a Yacht Rock place.
We tried four of the new cocktails.
Heyerdahl Maneuver and Pale Blue Dot
Pale Blue Dot This Blue Hawaiian riff features St. Lucian and Jamaica Rums, Blue Curacao, Coconut, Pineapple, Lime, Orange, and Peychauds Bitters. We both felt this needed more coconut. Just so-so.
Heyerdahl Maneuver Better was this cocktail with Aquavit as a base, along with Pisco, Charanda, Lavender, Banana, Honey, Grapefruit, and Lemon. Tastes lighter than the blend of ingredients might indicate and features a really interesting and unique taste. Totally worth trying – it might be your favorite.
Lunar Camel and Event Horizon
Event Horizon This was an absolutely fabulous cocktail. Using aged Charanda, Coffee Liqueur, Vanilla, Angostura and Cacao Bitters, this has a wonderful taste and a perfect blend of bitter and sweet along with a very approachable Mexican rum base. We both thought this was truly excellent.
Lunar Camel Far and away my personal favorite and Mrs. Mai Tai thought it was great as well. The Lunar Camel has Barbados Rum, Apple Brandy, Tamarind, Lemon, Amaro, and Angostura Bitters. This felt like an alien version of a rum barrel and features a truly satisfying blend of ingredients. Perfect mouthfeel. I can’t wait to try this again, it’s that good.
Here’s a welcome return to the food menu at Oakland’s venerable Kon-Tiki.
The Crab Rangoon dip features crab and bay shrimp, melted cheese, and sweet chili sauce. Served with savory wonton chips that stand up to the dip. It’s pretty good and probably best if you’re able to share with others.
The crew from the Los Angeles-based lifestyle brand Vatos Who Tikiwere up in the Bay Area last weekend and did a takeover at Oakland’s Kon-Tiki after Rum Fest. Having the Kon-Tiki’s legendary cheeseburger after drinking rum all day seemed like a no-brainer. The takeover included some great tunes from DJ Oran and El Nova and a special cocktail menu.
DJ El Nova
I very much enjoyed the Oaxacan in Jamaica, the Vatos’ Mai Tai blend that includes Oaxacan and Jamican rums. I’ve loved all the Oaxacan rums I’ve tried so this one was a great combo especially when paired with my cheeseburger.
Very nice to talk to El Nova in person after years of online discussions. The Vatos Who Tiki merch lineup for this event was full of great items including glasses and stickers – and you can buy shirts in their online Etsy store. Check it out.
We great to see Doc Parks in the house and to visit with Christ from Kon-Tiki.
I don’t know if anyone else cares about this at all, but I’m always interested when one of my favorite places updates a menu. And since I have the older menus, it is interesting to see what’s coming, going, and staying. I’ve done this each time they’ve changed menus but as you’ll see below this time was quite a bit easier. There are 22 items on this menu, including sharables and “low/zero gravity” cocktails, compared to a total 27 on the last one.
Most notable for us is the continued presence of an ultra-premium Mai Tai on the menu. We are saying goodbye to the $44 Samaroli Mai Tai which is being replaced by the $38 Captain’s Reserve Mai Tai made with Kon-Tiki’s fantastic private barrel Worthy Park Jamaica rum. I’ve had Mai Tais with this rum and it is a big improvement.
Only four cocktails are carrying over to the new menu, all of which were on the original menu when the Kon-Tiki opened in 2017. The menu’s design and the cocktail names are leaning into a Sci-Fi theme which I find… well, unexpected. I’ve loved the graphical design of the Kon-Tiki’s menus, cocktails, and website. This is something altogether different.
Be sure to try some of the new cocktails the next time you visit.
Original Menu Holdovers The Kon-Tiki Grog The Kon-Tiki Zombie Uma Uma Virgin’s Sacrifice
New Exotic Drinks Cadet’s Grog Captain’s Reserve Mai Tai Cherry Coco-Naut Cosmo Ship Yamato Cotopaxi Caldera Crater of Excalibia Event Horizon Heyerdahl Maneuver Leviathan Lunar Camel Multipass Nova’s Nexus Pale Blue Dot Pop Star Princess of Mars SR-138 Sunset of Risa Zenith
Thanks for the memories Blush Crush Coca-Coconut Donnie’s Element Golden Gong Golden Snitch Haitian Hi Ball Island Old Fashioned Ma Kua (for 2 or 4) Mai Tai Martinique on Fleek Mezcal in the Banana Stand Plantation Stiggins Fancy Pineapple Rum on Nitro Draft Phoenix Bowl Ring of Fire Rum and Spice Rum Club Cooler Samaroli Mai Tai Saint Lucia’s Fox Sea Shandy Sea Shandy Jr. Stormy Keone The Kon-Tiki Spritz Virgin Painkiller
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
One of the highlights of my visits to The Kon-Tiki is to check out their rum selection and to try something new. Such was the case on Wednesday when I tried two varietals of Kō Hana Kea Hawaiian Agricole Rum. These rums are distilled from the crushed cane juice from different types of sugar cane, providing each expression with unique and interesting flavors.
First was Kalaoa, harvested in December 2020. I tried this neat and found it to be similar to the Kea varietal I have at home but a bit more mild and less briney. Very satisfying to sip.
Next was Lahi from June 2019 and for this varietal I had it in Kon-Tiki’s excellent Mai Tai. This rum is so flavorful that it really punches through and makes for a fantastic cocktail. You can taste the savory flavor profile from the Kō Hana Rum, and no grassy aftertaste like sometimes get with this style of rum distilled from sugar cane juice.
The Kon-Tiki had a nice collection and we thank Carlos for the suggestions.
We’ll be visiting the Kō Hana distillery next week on O’ahu when we attend the Tiki in Waikiki event. There’s a lot of focus on local businesses and cultural activities for this tiki weekender event, including some fundraising for Maui relief efforts.
