One of the new offerings we tried during our recently visits to Smuggler’s Cove is a new cocktail and mug pairing featuring one of the Cove’s signature crate mugs paired with a new cocktail from Dane Barca (of Dr. Barca’s Fluffy Banana fame). The Flotsam Fizz and mug combo is only $25 and you can choose your mug from those still available.
The Flotsam Fizz contains “potent rums,” lemon, coconut, passionfruit, pineapple, and cola. It has a wonderful fruity taste and a nice foamy head, garnished with an orchid and lemon twist. I really loved this cocktail, with some of the spices from the cola working very well with the tangy fruit flavors from the passionfruit. Honestly, I wouldn’t have felt ripped off if the cocktail itself was $25, but to get a mug alongside means this combo is a steal!
Our friend Kristi also ordered one and we both chose Demerara as our mug of choice from those available.
Additionally, the good Dr. Barca also mentioned he has a new drink he’s been working on called Fool Me Once… That’s the one pictured with the Hibiscus Rum Punch and the details of the evening are hazy, thus I’m not certain what’s in it but it sure tastes fantastic, so ask Dane next time you’re at the Cove and you’ll be in for a treat.
During our staycation weekend we had two late visits to Smuggler’s Cove, finding it full but not overly packed to enjoy the myriad cocktails the venue is famous for. We tried some old favorites including the Hibiscus Punch and a Mai Tai of course.
I don’t exactly take precise attendance but we do take mental notes on what people are drinking when we go out. Often it is the venue’s signature cocktail or it might be the latest cocktail fad (hello, Espresso Martini), and at a tiki bar it’s often the Mai Tai. But during our visits to Smuggler’s Cove it was easy to see which drink it seemed like everyone was drinking, and it wasn’t the Mai Tai.
The memo is out in San Francisco, and sure seems like SC’s most popular drink is Dr. Barca’s Fluffy Banana.
Dane Barca‘s original cocktail featuring cachaca and banana has moved from cult favorite to mainstream awareness because every “normie” we saw seemed to be carrying one of them around. Mrs Mai Tai always gets this and joined the crowd both nights, and it’s easy to see why everyone loves the rich flavors and foamy head, especially when Barca himself makes it for you. It’s fantastic and if you’re one of the few who haven’t tried it, well, you know what you need to do.
The International Bartenders Association (IBA) was founded in the U.K. in 1951. The trade organization is made up of chapters in over 60 countries and through the decades has hosted cocktail and bartending competitions.
The IBA publishes an officially codified cocktail list, first compiled in 1961, with the intent to provide an authoritative recipe for 102 of the most important cocktails. The official list of cocktails expanded every few years starting in 1987 when the Mai Tai was added.
The Mai Tai is a somewhat curious entry, since it calls for both Jamaican and Martinique rum but also specifically describes the Martinique rhum as coming from molasses, a recipe nominally similar to the Trader Vic’s 2nd Adjusted formula where Martinique rhum is used. The idea of this rhum being molasses distillate came from the 2016 publication of the Smuggler’s Cove book where authors Martin Cate and Rebecca Cate question the type of Martinique rhum used and suggesting that then common use of the sugar cane juice-based Martinique Rhum Agricole in a Mai Tai isn’t historically accurate.
There seems to have been a recent attempt to bring this recipe up to contemporary standards, yet they learned the wrong lesson from the Cate’s book because rather than just call for an aged rum or a Jamaican rum they instead went back to the version published in Trader Vic’s books in the 1970s where Jamaican and Martinique rums were paired. They tried to please the Beachbum Berry camp by including both types of rums and the Cate camp omitting an Agricole – and therefore essentially painted themselves into a corner.
As it stands this IBA official recipe is basically impossible to make, because molasses-based Martinique rhum is not widely available. Even worse, in the IBA’s glamour video demonstrating how to make the cocktail they simply use a Rhum Agricole anyway.
IBA Mai Tai 30 ml Amber Jamaican Rum 30 ml Martinique Molasses Rhum* 15 ml Orange Curacao 15 ml Orgeat Syrup (Almond) 30 ml Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice 7.5 ml Simple Syrup Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a double rocks glass or an highball glass. Garnish with pineapple spear, mint leaves and lime peel.
* The Martinique molasses rum used by Trader Vic was not an Agricole Rhum but a type of “rummy” from molasses.
I found myself in SF on Wednesday for some rum drinking and socializing at Smuggler’s Cove. After finishing some rum I decided to go the cocktail route with two tiki classics and to see how well Smuggler’s Cove interpreted the originals, and it should be no surprise that both were excellent renditions. Because you can’t always have the Mai Tai, even if it is one of the best anywhere.
Navy Grog
The Navy Grog had plenty of rum as you’d expect but it is so well balanced you’d hardly notice. Taking inspiration from the Trader Vic’s version of this classic, Smuggler’s uses Allspice Dram as the key sweet and spice component to great effect.
Planter’s Punch
Even better was the Planter’s Punch that features Appleton 8 Reserve blended rum from Jamaica, with small measures of Allspice Dram and Angostura Bitters. I really loved the richness of this cocktail, including the Appleton rum that serves as an excellent backbone.
I must say it was great to see the Cove being pretty busy on a Wednesday, not so much that you couldn’t find a seat but more than enough to demonstrate the appeal of the city’s best exotic cocktails midweek. Two guys noticed the aloha wear a couple of us were wearing and peppered us with questions about the appeal of tiki bars. I don’t know if our answers were completely cogent (alcohol was involved, after all) but we did our best to extol the virtues.
Had a great visit to Smuggler’s Cove on Saturday, arriving at around 7:30 and able to enter right away ahead of a large group that got in line behind us. We were directed to go downstairs to the Boathouse to order but were told we could sit anywhere. That large (and increasingly obnoxious) group followed us into the Boathouse shortly thereafter, so we took our drinks upstairs where it was totally relaxing and quiet enough to have a great conversation.
The cocktail pairing was our usual, a Mai Tai for me and a Fluffy Banana for Mrs. Mai Tai, but the end results were no less impressive with rich and bold flavors that hit all the right notes. The ongoing cocktail quality at Smuggler’s Cove remains truly impressive thanks in part to the experienced bar staff such as Melissa Garcia who has been at the Cove since basically day one and remains a stellar mixologist who made our cocktails perfectly.
These interesting mugs were launched late last year but I finally got around to ordering. They’re based on the crate tables that are scattered throughout Smuggler’s Cove and designed by Aaron Seymour. Each mug was scanned and reproduced and the lid includes a rubber gasket so you could display them on the side or use them for actual storage. The mugs were produced by Beeline Creative with a large but limited run of 500 mugs per design with all designs currently still available.
The mugs ship in a gorgeous box by Tidbit Design with details about the mugs and the collection, and the mugs are tightly placed into styrofoam for safe shipment. My mug of choice was “Ship to SF” and there are ten designs to choose from. While these mugs aren’t ideal for carrying around at a party, they do feel nice and look even better.
Smuggler’s Cove did a special last month that was a two-for-one sale if you bought the “Sugar” mug. They’re now doing the same thing with the “XXX” mug, so these are much more affordable if the $70 price was a barrier to entry. Get them now before they’re gone by visiting Smuggler’s Cove or going to www.smugglerscovesf.com/store.
Had a great time visiting the City on a chilly Wednesday evening to participate in a special discount program at Smuggler’s Cove. “Raid the Cove” meant that all rum pours were 20% off, a sizable discount especially for some of the Cove’s legendary rare (and, yes, expensive) rums.
The event ran smoothly considering the need for staff to gather all the rare and obscure bottles from within the tight confines of the venue. The staff really worked hard to fill orders and I saw many of the Rumbustion Society members working hard to add more rums to their checklist and saw numerous bottled drained!
I took the opportunity to try Appleton Joy for the first time, finding it quite good and definitely a lot more rich and funky than some of the other longer aged Appleton rums (especially Appleton 21). I compared Joy to Appleton 15 and definitely thought it was so much better, thanks in part to this blend of rums all being aged 25 years or longer.
We also took the opportunity to order a couple of Smuggler’s Cove’s famous original cocktails. Mrs. Mai Tai had Dr. Barca’s Fluffy Banana and I had the Rongo Rongo, both so rich and full of flavor (and booze!). Thanks to Melissa for making great cocktails despite all the chaos.
This probably wasn’t the best night for newbies to visit but for experienced rum nerds who are participating in the Rumbustion Society it was quite a good night for some less expensive rum pours.
