Most spirits aficionados are aware that many rums contain added sugar. During my visit to Dr. Funk I chose two that are most noteworthy in this practice.
Planteray/Plantation 20th Anniversary XO has a base of aged Barbados rum and then adds a heavy dose of sugar, making this very easy to sip with hints of coconut. This wasn’t nearly as sweet as I remember, though still very far afield of typical Barbadian rums.
XO has a rep for being really high on those added sugar lists, but was practically dry compared to Papa’s Pilar which tasted basically like maple syrup it was so sweet. That one I didn’t finish.
Having a neat pour of rum can give you insights to the brand and understand the diversity of the rum category. Some expressions are those you return to again and again. And there are others you don’t.
Had an impromptu visit to Dr. Funk to knock out a few more runs from the Rum Asylum rum list. These were pretty good, even the Havana Club which tasted a bit more rounded than I remember.
I’d probably rank them like this:
Coruba
Flor dr Caña
Rhum Barbancourt
Diplomatico
Havana Club
I need to get busy and finish the level II list before the next quarterly meetup in March.
Well, this isn’t exactly an exhaustive quest to find the best version of the 2020s viral cocktail sensation, but Mrs. Mai Tai had a couple great ones on our excursion Friday night in San Jose so I thought I would share.
Espresso Oasis at Dr. Funk
Replacing the vodka with a more flavorful spirit such as rum isn’t unique to tiki bars, but Dr. Funk leans into traditional exotic cocktail flavors by also including falernum and orgeat syrups to add sweetness. The rum blend features Planteray Cut & Dry Coconut and OFTD Overproof rums and these work great with the coffee flavors.
Espresso Oasis at Dr. Funk
Pumpkin Spiced Espresso Martini at Haberdasher
We tried another twist on the standard cocktail at Haberdasher, featuring a house-made pumpkin-spiced syrup to pair with more traditional ingredients vodka, Mr. Black coffee liqueur, and coffee. Those mild spice flavors add additional depth and sweetness that work great.
Pumpkin Spiced Espresso Martini
We really enjoyed our Haberdasher visit that also included a Pink Squirrel from a specialty cocktail menu, plus some great service from the staff. I learned a bit about their popular whiskey club as well.
With extended visits to many Halloween and Holiday themed bars, travel to Europe, and family visits, it has been a long time since we visited downtown San Jose for some rum tasting from the Rum Asylum rum list at Dr. Funk Rum House.
The three rums this time including Cruzan Hurricane rum, an 137 proof firebomb that’s best tried in a cocktail. Better for me were Batiste Agricole and Damoiseau VSOP, two cane juice rums from French departments Martinique and Guadeloupe respectively. These were much more interesting and tasty to sip on.
Dr. Funk recently announced they’re doing a “Fortune Meets Romance” theme for February, incorporating both Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day. These pop-ups are fun, and popular with the downtown San Jose cocktail crowd, though I’d love to see Dr. Funk be known more for just being a great tiki bar.
We also heard the long-anticipated food menu revamp is coming soon, so stay tuned for updates.
We knocked out a few more Christmas cocktail pop-ups and here’s the summary.
Kona’s (SF) – We arrived around 8:00 on the 23rd for Sippin’ Santa and was enjoying it until they played “Last Christmas” knocking me out of Whamageddon just 28 hrs before winning. The cocktails were pretty good here, though notably their “Mock Tai” was $18 and the mugs were all $40 when other places have them for around $20.
Kona’s in San Francisco
Courage Anyone (SJ) – It wasn’t crowded on Sunday but the staff were welcoming in this newly opened bar doing Sippin’ Santa. I didn’t realize it until after ordering but the Sippin’ Santa cocktail now includes ginger syrup in addition to gingerbread mix, and this one was quite ginger forward. The other cocktails were much better including the Wreck the Halls and Sugar Plum Mai Tai. A regular menu is launching in January.
Courage Anyone in Downtown San Jose
Highlands Sports Bar (San Carlos) is also new to the popup game, hosting Miracle. My Snowball Old Fashioned leaned sweet and was served over cubed ice but still was pretty good, but even better was the decadent Coconut Hot Chocolate. Our other cocktails weren’t as good. but it was good first attempt, if you like sports on TV along with the drinks.
Highland Sports Bar and Grill – San Carlos
Faith & Spirits (San Carlos) is doing Sippin’ Santa and cocktails there were really great. The ginger in the Sippin’ Santa cocktail was much more subdued and my Sugar Plum Mai Tai was the best of all the ones I tried this season. The Frost Bite cocktail featuring tequila was also good, so I asked for an off-menu Kingston Negroni that was delicious. The lounge was well-appointed and has music/dueling pianos some days, so check their calendar.
The Miracle Christmas cocktail pop-up franchise has been active for more than a decade and seems to expand locations each year. Founded by Greg Boehm, there are Miracle locations across the globe and a companion pop-up focusing on tiki drinks also running under the Sippin’ Santa brand. The cocktail offerings at Miracle are a little more varied and tend to work better across the different venues hosting the pop-up.
Sunday afternoon we went to Brewster’s in Petaluma, a large beer garden style venue. I went with an old favorite, “Yippee Ki Yay Mother F****r!”, the cocktail with several rums with ube and coconut orgeat. This isn’t too sweet, thanks to acid-adjusted pineapple juice. Brewster’s does pretty good with this, and their super friendly staff really go out of their way to make things jolly. I sampled some of other cocktails at our table and found them to be well prepared.
Miracle at Brewster’s
We ventured to San Jose later that night to check out Miracle at MiniBoss, an arcade themed bar. Mrs. Mai Tai had been to the sister bar Paper Plane earlier in the week and we thought we’d give MiniBoss a try. The drinks here were really good, including the Miracle Mouse that comes in a cute mug and features bourbon, vermouth, strawberry, citrus, and pamplemousse liqueur that likely inspired the name of the cocktail. This wasn’t too sweet and I thought it was delightful. Slightly less good was the Snowball Old Fashioned that our son ordered, just not quite sweet enough, though Mrs. Mai Tai’s Koala LaLaLa was a very refreshing highball with tequila. Cheery Cherry Chocosaurus is more of a desert cocktail but if that’s your thing you’ll love it.
Miracle Mouse
On Festivus Tuesday we battled the rain to check out Pacific Cocktail Heaven in San Francisco. This place is so popular they even charge a $10 cover just to enter. But the skills of the bartenders are evident that the Yippe Ki Yay and Koala cocktails were even better than the other places we tried. Candy Cane Lane is served in a unicorn mug and was a little less sweet than at Brewster’s. PCH was even able to make a pretty reasonable off-menu Mai Tai with Kō Hana rum at my request.
Each of these Miracle locations sets the prices for the cocktails and the mugs/glassware for sale. While the cocktail prices only vary a little, we were shocked to see the mugs at PCH going for $40 which is double what Brewster’s and MiniBoss were charging. It’s a Festivus Miracle!
Miracle hours and dates vary by location but usually run up to New Year’s or a little bit past.
Downtown San Jose’s cocktail scene is really hitting its stride, and there are tons of holiday offerings so Dr. Funk is doing another holiday pop-up to blend their tiki bar with a themed overlay. This year’s theme is Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, including some fab decor and special menu items.
Worm’s Wort, What’s This, and Deadly Nightside
Given that this movie franchise has roots in both Halloween and Christmas, the team at Dr. Funk smartly leaned into the Christmas side for this particular pop-up and as with previous efforts the decor team create an immersive space that looks great and is a lot of fun. There are five specialty cocktails, plus a brownie and ice cream desert.
Consistent with previous Dr. Funk pop-ups I felt that these cocktails were good overall, with no stinkers in the bunch. Deadly Nightside is basically a Mai Tai with activated charcoal and it’s fine but doesn’t really hold a candle to Dr. Funk’s regionally famous Mai Tai that’s always great. But this is a nice change of pace, especially if you find the Dr. Funk’s Mai Tai to be too assertive.
By far the best of the cocktails is the Hot Buttered Rum riff called Dr. Finklestein’s Creation. This hearty and spice-forward cocktail has several overproof rums to help warm you during those cold San Jose nights, and the large portion was served in a great mug. I know the character in the movie is called “Finklestein” but one wonders if “Dr. Funklestein” would have been more appropriate.
Nightmare Before Christmas runs through December 31, reservations highly encouraged.
