Tag: SanJose

Posted on

Less Assertive Rums

Working my way through the Dr. Funk “Rum Asylum” Level 1 list and popped over for a quick visit early on Saturday. This seemed like a good opportunity to compare and contrast some of the lighter leaning rums that can be used in cocktails but also offer a good sipping experience. Being a veteran rum drinker, I typically like to sip higher proof expressions so I can really get a lot of flavor, but that can be a turnoff for those new to sipping rum.

The three rums are:

All are pretty good in this format, and since I’ve tried them all before I asked for shorter pours just to not have to drink so much in one sitting. The Bacardi and Santa Teresa have small amounts of sugar added, not uncommon in column still Spanish heritage rums, but neither is overly sweet, thank goodness. Santa Teresa uses Solera style aging so is probably less overall age than the Bacardi, resulting in less overall character. Very approachable, though, and as much as I dislike Bacardi Superior white rum I do enjoy the Ocho when I’m looking for something that isn’t a gigantic flavor bomb. Very pleasant flavors from both.

The Barbancourt is a little different and in this group leaning more into an assertive flavor profile. Made from sugar cane juice, the aging means that you don’t really get those vegetal notes common in rums from that source product. Instead, it is a flavorful and rummy taste that works especially well over an ice cube.

Dr. Funk’s Level 1 rum list presents a great introduction to the variety of popular and consistently available rums.

Posted on

Rum Asylum Launch at San Jose’s Dr. Funk Tiki Bar

When downtown San Jose’s Dr. Funk opened in 2021 it came with the moniker “Rum House / Kitchen” but to date there hasn’t been a lot of emphasis on rum itself apart from a well-stocked back bar. That changed this week with the lunch of a rum club called the Rum Asylum.

Taking nods from the legend of Doctor Bernhard Funk, the club features thematic levels including the starting level called “Inpatient” that features twenty notable rums including one flight. The booklet that you keep with you includes a graphical map of your journey and places for the crew to stamp the spot after you order your item. Rewards and future levels are slated to be revealed soon.

Shockingly, Mrs Mai Tai decided to start the list herself, so we both ordered the rum flight that provides a nice intro to rum with Planteray Pineapple, Paranubes cane rum from Mexico, and Appleton 12 from Jamaica. Each rum on the list can be ordered as a Daiquiri for a $3 up-charge, and Kō Hana Kea was a big hit for Julie in format. Meanwhile, I went to “oak town” with Appleton 21 and Privateer Queen’s Share, each of which feature tons of wood aging notes.

This new program is just getting off the ground, but look for rum-related events and additional levels with some interesting and unique rewards to be announced soon. In the meantime, now is a perfect time to explore the initial list that includes a very nice variety of mainstream rums all under $50 for a 1½ oz pour (most substantially less). The list includes Dr Funk’s unique blend of Myers’s Single Barrel Select and rums from Martinique, Barbados, the United States, and more.

Thanks to Amanda Hastings for hosting the launch event and helping customers get acquainted. Note: nurse Amanda will not be appearing nightly.

Posted on

Monday Trivia at Dr. Funk

We had a pretty good time at a romance themed Office trivia event at Dr. Funk and hosted by RiskyQuizness a couple weeks back. RiskyQuizness seems to have a regular gig on Mondays, in addition to hosting pop culture themed trivia events at bars throughout the South Bay. Mondays also coincides with Mai Tai Monday at Dr. Funk, where their excellent Mai Tai is only $8!

RiskyQuizness runs their trivia via a web app, which means they can offer both write in questions as well as multiple choice. Each team has about a minute to answer each question but you get extra points if you submit the correct answer faster. I’m of mixed mind on this format and having to do this on a device meant that one player at a table kind of needs to be doing most of the work. Questions were pretty reasonable – some hard and some easy. Some that were easy but we missed anyway. Alcohol was involved.

Trivia events start at 7:30 and run for about 90 minutes with two large rounds of questions. We didn’t place, even though this writer used to cohost an Office podcast, thanks to neither of us watching and rewatching episodes constantly. We’ll do better when it is Friends trivia and Mrs. Mai Tai will be my ringer.

In addition to the Mai Tai I got to try the Worthy Park Overproof rum which I found to be excellent. I’m looking forward to Dr. Funk’s upcoming Rum Asylum checklist, starting February 27. See you there.

Posted on

Dr. Funk Valentine’s Affair

The Beetlejuice and Grinch pop-ups at Dr. Funk must have done great, because downtown San Jose’s premier tiki bar is dipping into another themed menu and decor for Valentine’s Day. The pop-up launched on Saturday and runs through February 22nd.

The interior is a symphony of reds and pinks, with some nice lighting on the backbar so that you can actually see the rum and premium spirits, plus a cool lighting package on the outside of the bar that draws you into the theme (as an aside, can we please stop calling this a “hidden tiki bar”, Dr. Funk?). There’s even a “kissing booth” that’s designed for social media.

We felt that previous two special cocktail menus were only okay, but the crew did a wonderful job with the specialty cocktails this time. Most come with a strawberry-based garnish to remind you of a heart and some conversation heart picks.

Our favorite was the Lovebird, made with the same Jamaican rum blend as Dr. Funk’s Mai Tai, strawberry-infused Aperol, and juices. This rich and bold cocktail has a ton of flavor and isn’t too sweet.

Shot to the Heart was less sweet than you might have expected from the ingredients including a sugared rum and honey, but instead the light touch of passionfruit meant this was balanced well and had a great mouthfeel.

Heartbreaker is essentially a Painkiller with lighter rum and some raspberry added, still not overly sweet and a great option for tiki newbies who want something approachable.

The most crushable of all the cocktails was the Mad Love that has gin, vanilla liqueur, strawberry, and juices. This was very, very easy to drink but still has a lot of flavor.

I was impressed by the special cocktail menu, though I do hope to someday visit Dr. Funk when it is just a plain old regular tiki bar. We also had dinner last night and the staff couldn’t have been nicer and were very attentive even though it was fairly busy. We even caught a bit of DJ Ship Rex’s set as we were leaving.

Lovebird
Mad Love and Shot to the Heart
Heartbreaker
Posted on

Tipsy Putt On the Green

The cocktail shows that this isn’t our usual haunt, but we had a great time doing the mid-week suburban drinks and golf thing in downtown Sunnyvale. Tipsy Putt has a nine-hole traditional mini golf setup, plus a nine-hole 1-2 Putt tabletop format. It’s all indoors and there is a large selection of beer and cocktails on tap, plus pretty good bar food too. There are several Tipsy Putt locations in Northern California and there are leagues and trivia events as well.

The On the Green cocktail seemed appropriate and it was nicely matching my ball, too. It contains Midori, of course, plus vodka and lemonade and turn out to be not too bad and certainly helped me get into the mood. Thanks to Michael and Holly for invite, Tipsy Putt was a lot of fun.

Posted on

The Best Sippin’ Santa Cocktails This Season are at 55 South in San Jose

Mrs. Mai Tai and I were in downtown San Jose for a show and stopped by 55 South for dinner and drinks. This is the fourth year that 55 South is participating in the Sippin’ Santa popup, and we’re still not sick of holiday bars so this seemed like the natural place to be.

Sippin’ Santa Cocktail

Having visited two other Sippin’ Santa locations this year we were both extremely impressed by the quality and taste of the four cocktails we tried, each of which exceeded our expectations and compared better to the other sites. For example, my Sugar Plum Mai Tai was not overly sweet and had a truly delightful mouthfeel and long finish, so much that it was by far my favorite holiday Mai Tai this season.

I finally tried the Sippin’ Santa cocktail this year, the longstanding menu entry with aged Demerara rum, Amaro, citrus, and gingerbread mix. This had just the right amount of holiday spice flavors and remained balanced as I drank the cocktail. The Choquito also had a great balance of flavors and didn’t have any of the syrupy coconut consistency you sometimes find with a Coquito, nor did it lean too much in a chocolate direction from the Créme de Cacao. Mrs. Mai Tai’s Holiday on Ice was another standout, featuring creamy coffee flavors.

Our food and service were great at 55 South, consistent with previous visits. We arrived around 4:45 pm and the place was festively abuzz thanks to two work groups having holiday parties, so the atmosphere was delightful. Sippin’ Santa runs through New Year’s Eve at 55 South.

Choquito
Holiday on Ice
Sugar Plum Mai Tai
Posted on

Dr Funk’s The Grinch Takeover

After a successful Beetlejuice overlay for Halloween, Dr. Funk has a Grinch theme for Christmas. The big guy is there to welcome you and there are fun thematic elements sprinkled about. Not quite as much of a “Christmas explosion” as some of the Miracle/Sippin’ Santa pop-up locations for better or worse, but it is nice that you can still this is a tiki bar.

We attended the Third Anniversary event that included an official launch of Dr Funk’s nice mug and a fantastic bundle with their formidable Grog that we think is a fantastic version of a Navy Grog. They were also doing a raffle to support Family Giving Tree, plus DJ Ship Rex spinning tunes. Lots of fun and nice to see the venue embracing a little bit of history and building traditions.

The special Grinch cocktail menu is overall a lot better than the one for Beetlejuice. The Mean One is similar to the aforementioned Grog and the wonderfully creamy and decadent Whobilation Libation features chocolate notes from the Kōloa Kauaʻi Cacao rum and dark chocolate coconut cream. The Cindy Lou-Apple has several overproof rums and it leans lighter than you might expect because the spirit focus is from the Laird’s Apple Brandy, nonetheless there’s still plenty of flavor and this should be really appealing to the diverse downtown San Jose audience.

Cindy Lou-Apple

While you’re in downtown you can also check out Nuvo Hospitality’s other bars for more festive holiday pop-ups. O’Flaherty’s Irish Pub next door to Dr. Funk is themed to Home Alone and Five Points around the corner is doing everyone’s favorite Christmas movie – Die Hard.