Yes, I know that we’re not far into 2025 but I wanted to acknowledge the excellent Mai Tai I had at Smuggler’s Cove last weekend and sort of put the stake in the ground as the gold standard for mainstream cocktail bar Mai Tais. Can other bars top it? Possibly, but the vast majority won’t even come close.
And Smuggler’s didn’t too shabby with the other cocktails in our order, all so well prepared and balanced just like we always experience there. A lot of places pay lip service to “craft cocktails” but few provide consistent excellence like the Cove. Kudos to the staff for continuing the tradition.
There was a nice crowd there at opening on Sunday, but not so many that you couldn’t find a seat to relax. I was also able to pick up the fabulous 15th Anniversary Mai Tai glass featuring eight colors and a really great design. The last thing I need is another Mai Tai glass but I have to salute owners Martin and Rebecca Cate, they really do have great taste and that fab design is a testament.
We popped into downtown San Francisco’s Kona’s Street Market to check out their Sippin’ Santa pop-up. We saw that the menu options were the same as our Sippin’ visit to Beer Baron, but the bartender mentioned that their rum blends were different due to availability reasons.
So, I tried the Sugar Plum Mai Tai and found this one to be significantly different. Much sweeter and forward with the plum mix, so much so that it didn’t really remind me of a Mai Tai. Which isn’t to say this one was worse, in fact I could see this one being favored by a lot of customers who might like a cocktail that isn’t as spirit-forward. They say the cocktails for these pop-ups vary by location a little, even within the same state, and this was most definitely true for Mrs. Mai Tai who found the Frosty the Merman cocktail to have a lot more flavor.
Each of these Miracle/Sippin’ Santa locations sets their own prices for the drinks and merch. Kona’s cocktails were understandably around $3 more than Beer Baron in Pleasanton, and their mugs were $20 more as well, though some of the glassware items were less expensive. Your mileage may vary.
We really enjoyed our visit to Kona’s Street Market, where the bar staff were super friendly and the decor was appropriately elaborate.
Congratulations to Smuggler’s Cove on 15 years, as it opened today in 2009. One of the finest run and cocktail bars anywhere. We thank owners Rebecca and Martin Cate for keeping up the quality throughout the years, even during the “canned cocktail and soup” era during the pandemic, and of course the Smuggler’s Cove crew who are so talented and gracious to customers.
First visit in 2015
The engaging space tells the story of tiki with nods to Trader Vic’s, Don the Beachcomber, and Tiki Bob’s, while the curated menu allows patrons to experience the history of rum and exotic cocktails through the ages. And the team builds on the tradition with their own amazing creations such as my personal favorite The Pampanito or the cult classic Dr. Barca’s Fluffy Banana. It is still home to one of the world’s best Mai Tais, and the best I’ve had there was made with the amazing Appleton 17 year old rum that Martin helped champion.
Mai Tai with Appleton 17
I’m proud to be a member of the Cove’s rum club, the Rumbustion Society. You can see my name on one of the many plaques in the bar and their rum program is so elevated that there are several people who’ve had over 2000 (!) rums here. There are a lot of fantastic benefits of being a member including special events and (shhh) secret stuff, so consider joining the program.
We have enjoyed nights at the Cove as a couple but it is better with friends, even those who are tiki newbies. The Cove continues to amaze first timers and even for veterans there’s always something new to see or discover, or just a new cocktail or rum to try.
Mrs Mai Tai and I were in the city on Wednesday to see Cher’s book tour event, so we stopped by the Tonga Room for dinner and drinks beforehand. The fortuitous night started with our exit out of the Powell BART station to find a nearly empty Cable Car ready to climb the hill. This saved us time and a great deal of effort and wasn’t much more expensive than a taxi ride, plus a lot of fun.
The Tonga Room is now taking reservations on Open Table, but weren’t sure when we’d arrive so didn’t make one and waited in the standby line. The doorman has the process down pat, offering patrons the ability to enter the bar (“drinks only, standing only, no food”), and then weaving in those with reservations and people without. We were seated shortly thereafter to enjoy the grand ambiance and attentive service that the Tonga Room is famous for. Rain showers followed, three in a 20 minute period. Food once again was the Poke Tostadas and the Grilled Salmon, leaning expensive but the taste was wonderful. We continue to wish the menu had a little more variety.
For drinks, they’re still using the same cocktail menu introduced in October 2023 and the overall quality remains strong. The Tiki Hunter is still the standout item for me, a rich cocktail with Jägermeister, rums, and spices. I also had the Mai Tai, a lighter leaning but still good 1944 version with light and aged rums from Puerto Rico. And check out the fine bouquet of mint, which was impressive but not nearly as amazing as the mint in Mrs. Mai Tai’s hand-shaken colada with huge leaves. That Colada isn’t bad at all, even with Cruzan Black Strap rum which I normally try to avoid due to its maple syrup flavor but which worked here. The Seafoam Espresso Martini features sea foam cream and black lava salt that really enhance the flavors.
We exited before the band started playing and the $15/person cover charge kicked in. Coming early to the Tonga Room is just so relaxing and those drinks taste great and have plenty of booze too (a LOT of booze, actually). This remains a special destination that we try to hit at least a few times a year for special occasions.
Tiki Hunter, Hand Shaken ColadaMai Tai, Seafoam Espresso Martini
One of the most popular Mai Tai riffs of the past decade is the San Francisco Mai Tai, a standard Trader Vic’s Mai Tai with a 151 float. This was inspired by the story that Martin Cate tells in the Smuggler’s Cove book about an elderly man who would ask for a 151 float back when Cate was bartending at the now-shuttered Trader Vic’s in San Francisco. This became known as the “Old Way” Mai Tai because the gentleman was, you know, old.
Never mind that Trader Vic’s in Emeryville used the “Old Way” term to refer to a Mai Tai made with original ingredients and not the Mai Tai concentrate that replaces the sweeteners. But that’s a different story for a different day.
The graphic used on some Trader Vic’s menus for this cocktail clearly shows Lemon Hart 151 being used, though these days you’re much more likely to get a combination of Trader Vic’s 151 rum and Trader Vic’s Dark Rum, both distilled in Puerto Rico and lacking the heavy flavors that Lemon Hart is famous for. I think that this version is a nice upgrade, and you get a lot more booze for an extra dollar, though the Emeryville location dropped this item when they redid the cocktail menu this spring.
It wasn’t busy when I rolled into the bar at Trader Vic’s Emeryville on a Sunday afternoon while Mrs. Mai Tai was at the nearby bead show, so I asked for a Mai Tai with Lemon Hart 151 as a float just to see if the old man knew his cocktails. Expertly prepared, indeed this is an elevated version and those classic smoky flavors really do add something to the cocktail and gives you something to kind of chew on while relaxing with your beverage.
Just like the old timer wanted it. Mai Tai – Roa Ae.
Just wanted to highlight this recently issued mug by Woody Miller for Zombie Village. The design pays tribute to Zombie’s cool private huts, and the glass float comes in a variety of colors. It’s really incredibly well done, among Woody’s best.
The initial release for this was August 24 and the first run is already sold out. But I believe more are in the pipeline.
It’s nice to see Zombie doing something to raise their profile and bring some new mindshare to their now well-established venue. People love excuses to revisit places, especially if the place isn’t totally local or if there are logistical challenges to visiting (cause, there are some with this location…). Our visit coincided with the Trader Vic’s Tiki Tai crawl but we’ve been to Zombie Village severaltimes the past year and they’re still making cocktails very well.
The San Francisco Rum Festival returned to SOMArts Cultural Center and filled the venue with rum producers from across the globe. Sunday of Labor Day Weekend meant that rum was flowing freely, especially during a sort of happy hour portion later in the day called DaiquiriMANIA where many of the vendors offered Daiquiri cocktails to allow attendees to sample the rum in a cocktail. This portion was accompanied by a DJ playing mostly 80s hits and was a good option when more “casual rum fans” enter the building. This was an interesting idea I hope they revisit, and I got a truly excellent Passion Fruit Vanilla Daiquiri made by Tiki Lindy at the Myrtle Bank Jamaica rum table.
Being an experienced rum drinker, I skipped a lot of the tables and focused on things new to me. I made a beeline to the Worthy Park table to taste their wonderful new Overproof expression, finding it to be a good middle ground option between market leader Wray Overproof and cult king Rum Fire. Speaking of overproof, Oakland’s Wright & Brown had several expressions and I found their unaged Overproof to be an excellent rum that shows this style of rum doesn’t always have to be Jamaican. I also finally got to taste El Dorado’s High Ester expression, a total flavor bomb that was right up my alley. Lemon Hart’s 151 has been reformulated and tastes great.
In terms of Industry news, it sounds like Rhum Barbancourt’s availability issues will be remedied in the coming months, perfect if you’ve looking for their amazing unaged Haitian Proof expression. Similarly, Saint Benevolence mentioned they’re made some improvements to their aging program that should see their amazing Aged Rum Clairin to be more available soon as well. Sadly, it doesn’t seem like the distribution situation for Diamond Reserve rums is going any better, which is too bad because they’re great cocktail rums.
I attended a couple of the educational sessions with Kate Perry and Arminder Randhawa. The first was a blind test of expressions from Perry’s La Maison & Vellier product line. These are mostly high end limited expressions from countries rare to find in America, such as Shakara rum from Thailand and various limited editions from Transcontinental Rum Line, and being not so familiar with the line I did poorly at guessing (I had a great time drinking great rum, though). A second session provided compare and contrast opportunities with rum samples comparing cane vs. molasses, still type, and aging type. This was super informative and I’d love to see this come back next year.
The patio featured a couple vendors plus Doc Parks and Julio Palacios serving some of Parks’ always amazing cocktails. This rum festival continues to be a highlight of the year and a great opportunity for anyone looking to learn more about rum.
Saint BenevolenceJulio and DocLemon Hart RumCheers from SF Rum Fest
