The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai
Traveling the Bay Area and beyond to find the best Mai Tai in the world! Tiki, cocktails, and adventures by Kevin Crossman
Had a nice lunch on the patio at the Tangaroa Terrace at the Disneyland Hotel when we arrived in Anaheim.
This included an off-menu Planter’s Punch that was really quite good. I really like how off-menu orders are usually accommodated at Trader Sam’s/Tangaroa, and typically executed very well.
Our newest Disney treasure.
Mrs. Mai Tai really liked this bag, which features the HippopotoMai-Tai mug as one of it’s design elements. There’s a nice pattern on the inside too. It looked very nice at the bar next to a Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum.
I collect what I like and I’m not really a completist. So I don’t have every edition or release.
My favorite here is the blue HippopotoMai-Tai. That’s a color you don’t often see and I think it pops nicely. Bone or green glass are nice too, but blue is better.
Just behind and to the right is a B-Rex glass set we got a couple years ago during one visit to Club 33. 😉
The Shag goblet is from the 40th anniversary of the Enchanted Tiki Room.
I’m a sucker for Disney attractions posters so the Enchanted Tiki Room plate is a favorite too.
When Mrs. Mai Tai and I were finished with lunch at Tangaroa Terrace, it was about 3:10 pm. The way that indoor seating at Trader Sam’s is working right now is that there’s a line that forms at the check-in station in from of the Terrace and that’s the order to get in. With Sam’s opening at 4:00 pm, there were only about five people in line, so I thought hey, I can wait this out for less than an hour while Mrs Mai Tai does some shopping in Downtown Disney. At around 3:30, the hostess starting taking names and party numbers, which allowed me to browse the Disneyland Hotel gift shop and also to go inside out of the sun.
Inside, it was the same Sam’s we’ve all grown to love. Everyone was so excited to be inside the immersive environment. So many things to look at, and we enjoyed the show offered when the Krakatoa Punch and Shipwreck on the Rocks were ordered. I noticed they still have a few additional rums on the shelf, so I ordered a Mai Tai with Hamilton 86 Demerara Rum. That was a pretty good Mai Tai (and they didn’t even charge me extra). Mrs. Mai Tai had the coconut-forward Piranha Pool and that frozen drink was a hit.
I even got to take the de rigueur Trader Sam’s Bathroom Selfie. So nice to be back.
1944 Mai Tai with Appleton Reserve at Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar (Anaheim, CA)
The date was March 8. Less than 10 days later everything would be shut down, but on this day I wandered into Trader Sam’s after a great Sunday morning at Disney California Adventure park. Unlike the evening two days earlier, Sam’s wasn’t at capacity and I was able to relax with a cocktail. It’s to the credit of the Trader Sam’s bartenders that they are eager to accommodate, especially when things aren’t crazy inside. Skipper Will made me a traditional 1944 Mai Tai made with simple syrup rather than the Sam’s standard agave syrup, along with Appleton Reserve Jamaican rum. This was the best Mai Tai I’ve ever had a Trader Sam’s.
