Tag: StarWars

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Cell 2187 (Ankle Breaker)

Happy May the Fourth: Star Wars Day.

The vessel is the Death Star. The drink is a modified version of the Ankle Breaker. Put them together and it is Cell 2187, the cell that Princess Leia was jailed in.

The original recipe calls for a 151 Puerto Rican rum. I do have some Don Q 151 but it is buried in the back of my liquor cabinet and I thought maybe switching it up would be an improvement. Indeed, replacing that potent rum with two others proved to be even better than the original. Much more flavorful with rums that can stand up to all that powerful Cherry Heering liqueur.

Cell 2187 (Ankle Breaker)
1½ oz Lemon Juice
¾ oz Simple Syrup
1½ oz Cherry Heering
1 oz Plantation OFTD Rum
½ oz Wray & Nephew Overproof Jamaica Rum
Shake with ice. Add “dark side of the Force” light-up cube.

The Geeki Tiki Death Star is a pretty nice mug.

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Oga’s Cantina for Quinn’s 21st Birthday

Our son Quinn turned 21 on Saturday during our Disneyland trip so Oga’s Cantina was an intended destination. We completed some early park touring and landed in Galaxy’s Edge and tried the online checkin for Oga’s and found it was only a ten minute wait.

Inside we were seated at a table, which aside from being more relaxing was a welcome change since the four previous times I’ve visited Oga’s they’ve always “sat” us in the same place all the way at the end of the bar on the left. Nice to have a different perspective.

Oga’s isn’t a bad place for someone to have their first cocktail, since these are made for easy drinking. Quinn ordered the Takodana Quencher with Bacardi Dragonberry rum, Blue Curacao, and juices. Like I said, easy drinking.

They are now serving a Pretzel Knot with Hawaiian Black Sea Salt and a nice cheese sauce, a welcome addition of something substantial to be served alongside the drinks. And this pretzel knot was pretty damn good. Or so I thought after my Jedi Mind Trick cocktail at 9:30 in the morning.

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Mai Tai Fighter

I had one of these at the special “May the Fourth” event at Sessions last year, when Smuggler’s Cove did some special cocktails and also did rum tastings. It was a really great event, my first time seeing some old friends in a long time. And for one, the last time.

I attempted to reverse-engineer the Mai Tai Fighter, which was a SC Mai Tai with a Demerara Rum float (Smuggler’s Cove used OFTD). Not sure how much to float; I may have used too much, but it tasted great.

Mai Tai Fighter
Standard Issue SC Mai Tai
1½ oz Denizen Merchant’s Reserve Rum
Float with 1 oz Lemon Hart 151 – Red Label Sith Edition

Such a great cocktail that Grogu barely shared any. Next, I’ll try to get that metal ball from him.

Happy May the Fourth to all that celebrate.

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Oga’s Cantina

Disney has an interesting and useful new way of getting into standby lines at dining locations at Disneyland. If you’re in the vicinity of the location you can tap on the location in the Disneyland app and request to be added to the walk-up waitlist. This worked great for us on an evening last week when we got into Oga’s Cantina after just a short wait.

Looks like they’ve refreshed the cocktail offering at Oga’s, though everything still leans super sweet (even for me!). I quite liked the Coruscant Cooler with Maker’s Mark Bourbon, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur, Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth, Cranberry Juice, Lime Juice (left in photo), and thought that Mrs Mai Tai’s Tarkenian Night Flower with Gin, Elderflower Liqueur, with flavors of Ginger and Huckleberry, garnished with Sweet Hibiscus Flower was also quite nice (right in photo). Our son had the non-alcoholic Jabba Juice, Simply Orange with Pineapple, Kiwi, Cantaloupe, and Blueberry Flavor-filled Boba.

Less good was the Takodana Quencher with Bacardi Dragonberry Rum, Bols Blue Curaçao, Simply Orange with Pineapple, Kiwi flavors. Sickly sweet and the fake OJ really made this taste like it came from a large jug at 7-11.

I’ve come around on Galaxy’s Edge. We did enjoy our visits this last trip, perhaps greatly influenced by me being a pilot on the Millennium Falcon ride. There were a lot of character interactions that we saw, including R2-D2, Rey, Chewbacca, and Kylo Ren with Stormtroopers. Having the characters makes the whole land seem much more alive and organic, and gives you something to do while drinking Blue Milk or stumbling out of the cantina.

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Blue Milk at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

Disney has been chasing the rabid following of Universal’s Butterbeer at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for years. I didn’t really care for the Apple Freeze at Cars Land, though I thought the Berry Freeze at Fantasyland was better. But for sure none of them were universally hailed as Butterbeer.

Star Wars fans have dreamed of tasting Blue Milk ever since it appear in 1977’s Star Wars movie. And with a Star Wars themed land being added to the parks in 2019, Blue Milk is available for purchase. But the beverage actually doesn’t contain any dairy. The concoction is described as being a “plant-based blend of Coconut and Rice Milk with alluring fruity characteristics.” There’s also Green Milk that is described as “plant-based blend of Coconut and Rice Milk with zippy citrus and tropical characteristics”. Plus, I’m sure, some food dye.

While Blue Milk doesn’t quite match Butterbeer, I have grown to like it a lot and make it a key stop on my visits to the Star Wars land at Disneyland. It is cold and refreshing and easy to drink, with a mild flavor that I find pleasant. Even better is the Blue Milk with Rum option at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida. 

I didn’t care for the Green Milk, but Mrs. Mai Tai likes the Toydaria Swirl, which is Green Milk swirled with savory Fruit Sauce, Mango Jellies, and topped with Chili Lime Seasoning. Sort of like a spicy Lava Flow, so it is right up her alley.

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May the Fourth Special Event in SF with Smuggler’s Cove

What a fabulous time in San Francisco yesterday for the special event at Sessions restaurant on the Lucasfilm campus. The special “May the Fourth” event was a partnership with Smuggler’s Cove and featured some special Star Wars themed cocktails on the menu and the inclusion of Smuggler’s Cove merch, silent auction items, and rum tasting alongside the merchandise and wine tasting from Lucasfilm and Geeki Tikis.

We really enjoyed our meal at Sessions, so much that we’re planning to come back. The patio dining suited us just fine.

Mai Tai Fighter and Blue Harvest

As for the cocktails: we need Princess Leia to give gold medals to the bartenders from Smuggler’s Cove. I started first with the “Mai Tai Fighter” which is a standard 1944 Mai Tai with a “dark side” float of OFTD. Oh, such an amazing Mai Tai. By far the best so far in 2021.

Equally impressive was the “Blue Harvest,” a riff on SC’s Captain’s Grog. Blue Harvest was the codename for the original Star Wars movie and the inclusion of Rum-Bar Silver replacing the dark Jamaican rum was a huge plus for this cocktail. I will feel no shame ordering this at the Cove, it’s just that good. The “Rebel Pilot” was a stand in for a Jet Pilot and was quite excellent, as was the Kessel Run with rum, bourbon, and coffee liqueur.

Rebecca Cate and Martin Cate from Smuggler’s Cove

Additionally, it was so nice to see familiar faces at the event. We had a great time socializing (wearing masks) after dinner. We are now really looking forward to Smuggler’s Cove’s reopening (in June?).