Tag: SanJose

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Elevated Cocktails at Alter Ego in Downtown San Jose

Alter Ego is a dimly lit speakeasy style lounge with cocktails and small bites located inside Still O.G. on First Street in downtown San Jose. Reservations for two-hour seatings are essential later in the evenings, but we arrived promptly at opening and it didn’t really fill up until about 90 minutes later.

Cocktails at Alter Ego lean on classics, though there is a little bit of something for those who enjoy tropical cocktails or cane/agave spirits. I thoroughly enjoyed the vibrant flavors of the Easytiger served on crushed ice with “Amaro, Railla, Allspice, Almond, Lemon, and Tobacco Bitters.” I followed up with the Paper Plane riff called Dogfight that is made with Bourbon, Amaro, Aperitivo, Lemon Essence, and Orange Bitters and comes with a little paper airplane as a garnish.

Easytiger
Dogfight

Mrs. Mai Tai’s Annabel Lee features a smoke bubble and the Pisco Sour riff has Bolivian Brandy, Pommeau, Aperitivo, Smoked Pineapple, Chili, Tamarind, Egg White, and Lime – plus a stencil on top that reveals itself when the bubble bursts. Julie loves coffee drinks so the Kyushu Coffee was right up her alley and very rich, featuring Shochu, Coffee, Kuromitsu, Black Sesame, Heavy Cream, and Salt. You can see these look great and use a lot of really interesting ingredients. We saw several other cocktails with inventive garnishes and glassware.

Annabel Lee

Alter Ego also serves gastronomical small plates, quite well executed and featuring a symphony of flavors well beyond typical bar fare. I loved the rich Guinea Fowl with truffles and the Scallop dish with just the right amount of chili spices.

The elegant vibe inside Alter Ego is relaxing and dark, and there’s no sound bleed from Still O.G. on the other side of the curtain. Our cocktails were fantastic and the staff did a wonderful job preparing everything and being responsive for additional orders. Nice to see old friends Ken and Paul still doing the amazing cocktail thing at a different venue in downtown San Jose.

Annabel Lee
Kyushu Coffee
Scallops
Guinea Fowl
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Sunday Rum Tasting: Jamaica Rum is the Best Rum

We dropped into Dr. Funk near opening on Sunday for a chill time relaxing with some rums from Jamaica that are on the Rum Asylum Level 1 list.

I compared two rums that have different approaches to the market, choosing Dr. Funk’s allocation of Myers’s Single Barrel Select rum and Worthy Park 109 dark rum. Both are affordable and approachable expressions, the Myers’s best for sipping and comparable to some of the lower aged Appleton rums. Worth Park is my go-to for cocktails when a “dark Jamaican rum” is called for and tastes a lot better in a glass than Pusser’s which I also tried during the sitting.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Mai Tai tried Planteray Xaymaca in the Daiquiri format and it turned out really great. Very drinkable and so much more flavorful than a cocktail made with light rum.

A portion of Dr. Funk’s Rum Collection

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Daiquiri and Big Rock at Dr. Funk

We rolled into Dr. Funk on Friday around 6:30 for more Rum Asylum Club rum tastings, plus a cheat day with Nacho Fries.

When working through the Rum Asylum list you can have the rum in a Daiquiri for $3 more. I wisely decided this was a great perk for the Denizen White (to up) 5 Year, a crisp lighter leaning rum that’s perfect in this format when expertly prepared and balanced like it was during our visit. I then chose Planteray Xaymaca Jamaica rum with an ice cube, so Dr. Funk dropped in a big ol’ rock in there and it tasted great.

Crowd wasn’t too bad when we got there, apart from the chick at the table next to us who had an extremely high pitched laugh that was constantly irritating us even we went around the corner to the restroom. There were also plenty of people enjoying the heat lamps out on the patio and music was on point as well.

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Trader Bob’s Mai Tai at District

This is a very serviceable Mai Tai that would be a pretty good destination if not for the fact that it is four doors down from Dr. Funk on San Pedro Square in downtown San Jose.

Trader Bob’s Mai Tai features the excellent Smith & Cross Jamaica rum, but whereas Dr. Funk pairs Smith & Cross with Appleton 12 year, District pairs it with the underwhelming Planteray Original Dark. So, this is just an okay rum blend. The lightly garnished cocktail also features homemade Orgeat plus Falernum, though I thankfully didn’t get a ton of spice notes that you sometimes get from Falernum. Overall, the flavor profile leans light and something a bit more than mild, and it is well balanced.

District seems to have a lot of focus on wine but also has a nice cocktail menu including this 1944 style Mai Tai. It is another quality destination in downtown San Jose.

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White Rum and Friends Trivia at Dr. Funk

Monday was a good night out in downtown San Jose, with Dr. Funk hosting Risky Quizness doing Friends trivia. This is Mrs. Mai Tai’s favorite show, and I expected her to a lot better than when we went to Office trivia and I didn’t really do very well (reminder: I used to cohost an Office podcast!). Unfortunately, the questions posted were, well, let’s just call them deep cuts and we didn’t do much better this time. Considering the level of difficulty, we’re not sure we’ll do more of these trivia events.

Nonetheless we did have a good time, thanks to more rums from the Dr. Funk Rum Asylum Level 1 list. As with my previous post about choosing a trio of easy sippers, this time I went thematic again with three white rums that show how diverse unaged rums can be.

The three rums are:

  • Wray & Nephew White Overproof Jamaica Rum
  • Kō Hana Kea from O’ahu
  • Rhum JM Agricole Blanc from Martinique

What a fabulous way to show how diverse rum can be with these three unaged rums. The Wray & Nephew is made from molasses and is a flavorful high-proof fruit bomb, whereas the Rhum JM is made from sugar cane juice and features grassy and vegetal notes. My favorite in this group was the very pleasant and mild Kō Hana Kea that has balanced flavors from the Hawaiian cane.

Meanwhile Mrs. Mai Tai knocked off another from her Rum Asylum list by having a Bacardi Ocho in the Daiquiri format. So clean and definitely more flavorful than the standard Bacardi.

Our sons enjoyed some classic Dr. Funk cocktails including the Shipwreck, Saturn’s Sunrise, and Phoenix Rising – plus some great Nacho Fries and Coconut Shrimp, but our entire table disliked Dr. Funk’s version of the Jungle Bird that uses the Cruzan Black Strap rum with its overbearing maple syrup flavor.

San Jose’s “hidden tiki bar” remains anything but, thanks to a thematic shamrock light display that all along San Pedro Square can see. Monday was pretty busy thanks to the trivia and also Dr. Funk’s stellar drinks.

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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.

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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.