SanFrancisco – Page 7 – The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai

August 26, 2024August 26, 2024

Trader Vic’s Tiki Tai Treasure Hunt Crawl

The second event of Trader Vic’s 90th Anniversary weekend started off with a reception for three-day passholders. We had a reception in the Captain’s Cabin room and were treated to a Mai Tai and a half ounce pour of Appleton 17 Legend Rum. Where Trader Vic’s found three bottles of this I’ll never know, but it was nice to try this fabulous rum once again. Some bites were also part of this reception.

For anyone willing to participate, Trader Vic’s provided a map of nearby tiki bars. You were encouraged to visit these bars and have a featured cocktail that payed homage to Trader Vic’s cocktails of the past. For those not on the three day pass that would start at Vic’s with a cocktail. For teams able to get through all eight locations, they could upload a photo of their stamped map to possibly win a prize.

The participating bars were Smuggler’s Cove, Pagan Idol, Zombie Village, and Last Rites in San Francisco, plus Alameda’s Forbidden Island, and Kon-Tiki and The Barbary in Oakland. These were good choices, though Last Rites tries to pretend they’re not a tiki bar, and The Barbary isn’t tiki either but at least the owners are former Vic’s bartenders.

We heard Smuggler’s Cove was opening early for passholders, so Lyfted over and entered the doors at 4:08 pm to find four empty seats at the bar, practically unheard of. I totally loved the Eastern Sour riff that used fresh lime and orange along with quality Jamaica rums. I also had the Cove’s legendary Mai Tai.

Our next stop was Zombie Village right at opening where we enjoyed the Kapua Swizzle and Mrs. Mai Tai’s favorite the Coco Pandan. After some socializing we headed over to Pagan Idol and loved their Fogcutter riff called the Apple Crank. I really dug this, and also had an excellent Jungle Bird. We took a break for dinner across the street at Cafe Tiramisu.

We were starting to run out of steam, and regretting not sharing more of the cocktails. We finished at The Barbary, a bar new to all of us that has a tropical and nautical vibe. We liked the decor, though it was really warm inside. But none of really enjoyed the cocktails, with the off-menu Mai Tai being pretty terrible.

A salute to the teams who completed all the stops. This was a fun event that once again demonstrated the respect and admiration the various tiki bars have for each other and how Trader Vic’s remains the beating heart of the genre.

August 18, 2024August 18, 2024

San Francisco Rum Festival and Congress Presentation

Coming on August 31, I’ll be presenting at the San Francisco Rum Festival and Congress alongside Matt Pietrek of RumWonk.com and CocktailWonk.com fame. Our seminar covers rums of the Mai Tai, including some historical details rarely seen or discussed.

Rums of the Mai Tai – Secrets Revealed

Few cocktails highlight rum better than the Mai Tai, the king of tiki cocktails and created by Trader Vic 80 years ago. Join Kevin Crossman and Matt Pietrek for a look at the evolution of the rums used in the Mai Tai through the decades, including deep dives into historic rum expressions.

“NOTE: These sessions are restricted to Rum Congress (Aug 31st) ticket holders and require an additional $ to attend. Very Limited seats available – ORDER HERE“

July 30, 2024July 30, 2024

Disco Banana Dip

It isn’t just a fabulous cocktail, one of our favorites. It comes with a Banana Chip and you can use the cocktail as a dip!

Our drinks on Saturday at Zombie Village were just as great as we’ve come to expect, including that blended Disco Banana with cinnamon and potent rums. The place was medium busy around 9:30 and in addition to the Disco Banana Mrs. Mai Tai also had the Coco Pandan that comes with an ube popsicle.

Meanwhile, I tried the Over the Garden Wall from the seasonal cocktail menu. This has Indonesian rum, elderflower, absinthe, coconut, citrus, and spice. I will say this leaned very close to being too spicy hot for me, but overall I liked the complex flavors. It was pretty good, but I should have ordered the Disco Banana.

July 29, 2024July 29, 2024

The World’s Dirtiest Tiki Bar

Like clockwork, every five years it is time to revisit Hawaii West, a dirty tiki bar near the border of North Beach and Chinatown in San Francisco. This venue has a long history but the years have not been kind, so much so that even experienced tikiphiles have never heard of this place. Part dive bar, part tiki bar – this is definitely not the bar for everyone.

We entered at 9:00 pm on a Friday to find the place dimly lit and a mature lady sitting alone at the bar watching TV and having a snack. An awkward pause ensued. The staring contest ended when I asked if she worked here, at which point she dropped her fork and worked her way back behind the bar. I scanned the back bar, trying not to focus on the softcore photo prominently displayed back behind the bar. I also looked for a menu, missing the large sign off at the end of the bar.

The good thing about being on the Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai is that few bars won’t know how to make one, especially one with a few tikis scattered around. The orange and red cocktail soon appeared I handed the lady a twenty. Just $8 came back, meaning that this Mai Tai was only a couple bucks cheaper than the world class Mai Tai at Smuggler’s Cove – but Hawaii West is a place that seems like it was from a different universe. As grenadine laden Mai Tais go, I’ll have to admit it wasn’t half bad.

A trio of young people entered and must be semi regulars, chatting with the bartender. While waiting for our Lyft, we found that the toilet wouldn’t flush and reminding us our friend had a bad bathroom experience on our last visit. Reading the Yelp reviews, it appears food is sometimes available here which strikes me as … unappetizing.

I don’t object to tiki dive bars that appeal to a local clientele, such as with Trad’r Sam across town. Though, I’m not sure who Hawaii West is for.

July 28, 2024July 28, 2024

Bamboo Hut Revisited

We were in San Francisco’s North Beach on Friday for an evening of bar hopping and dinner, including a stop at Bamboo Hut right at opening. Described as a neighborhood tiki bar, Bamboo Hut has been around since 2000 and proudly avoids the trappings of the craft cocktail movement that are embraced by many of the Bay Area’s tiki bars.

The cocktail menu was refreshed in 2019 to be a little bit more upscale, including a 1944 Mai Tai. Back then they used Real McCoy rum from Barbados, but now the featured rums are Planteray 5 Barbados and Zaya (both with added sugar). Three people in our group ordered the Mai Tai and none of us were particularly impressed, each citing weird flavors from the rum or orgeat. At $15 this is not a good deal compared to other Mai Tais in the City.

We had a better time with some other drinks, including the Surfin’ Monkey which is a blended banana daiquiri style cocktail that has a lot of flavor and actually wasn’t totally over-sweet. The Zombie was served in a Hurricane glass but did feature some spicy notes that we like in a Zombie.

Inside the music was reggae and the service was quite efficient and pretty welcoming as well. This place can turn very clubby later in the evening if that’s your thing. We did enjoy the vintage tiki head that dates from the 1940s but as a neighborhood bar immersive decor isn’t really what Bamboo Hut is going for.

July 26, 2024July 26, 2024

Smuggler’s Cove Mai Tai

Dropped into Smuggler’s Cove earlier in the week to see what’s new and to reacquaint myself with their legendary Mai Tai. Indeed the SC Mai Tai is still going strong, a very approachable yet very flavorful cocktail that seemed mild at first but definitely packed a punch by the end. Still one of the best Mai Tais in the world.

Smuggler’s Cove is celebrating their 15th Anniversary this year and their new swizzle stick is a monster. I’ve never seen such a gigantic swizzle. I ordered a Pampanito and SC usually puts a swizzle in it but couldn’t because this thing is just too large for the glass!

May 20, 2024May 20, 2024

Hula Hoops Tiki Passport

South San Francisco’s Hula Hoops recently introduced a tiki passport / cocktail checklist. This tiki bar and restaurant has been doing Hawaiian food and fine cocktails for over five years, with the quality of the cocktails being far better than you’d expect for a suburban location that’s more restaurant than bar. They started strong with a couple Doc Parks cocktails and the Buz-Tai from local luminary Buz Deadwax, along with cocktails that pair well with the food offering such as the Ube Martini.

The Tiki Passport is a checklist of 15 cocktails, including the aforementioned Buz-Tai and two other Mai Tais. Plus some tiki favorites and a few that lean creamy such as the Coco Banana. Once you complete all 15 you get a Hula Hoops branded King Kong mug that includes a basketball carrying Wahine that’s a nod to the venue’s logo. The mug is made by Tiki Farm and looks pretty nice as long as gorilla mugs are your thing. You can see a version of this mug in Hula Hoops’ tiki room where it was made into a lamp.

The Lilikoi Tai is pretty great and nicely balanced, if you like passionfruit cream topping on your Mai Tai. Certainly better than the famed Monkeypod Mai Tai since the topping at Hula Hoops is sweeter.

Hula Hoops seems to be doing very well with business since it has been busy every time I’ve visited the last couple years, especially for brunch on the weekends. Reservations are recommended.