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
Killed two birds by making a Tequila-based Mai Tai that Trader Vic named the Pinky Gonzales and serving it in a Death Star mug.
Pinky Gonzales
1 oz Lime Juice
½ oz Cointreau
⅔ oz oz Orgeat
2 oz Tequila
Shake with crushed ice. No prison labor was involved.
This turned out quite light, thanks to Jimador tequila and the Cointreau that is lighter in body than Grand Marnier or Orange Curacao. Quite delicious and very, very close to a Margarita.
Had a nice visit to the bar at Trader Vic’s Emeryville on the way to pick up Mrs. Mai Tai at the airport, where coincidentally my exploration of the vast cocktail menu led me to a new drink called the Island Glider. This is a Paper Plane variant developed by Mika who was actually my bartender for the evening.
The Island Glider features dark rum, Aperol, and Pineapple Amaro and is served up. This is a dry leaning but still flavorful cocktail and a good option for those looking for spirit-forward options, though the use of the Trader Vic’s Dark Rum means that the rum doesn’t quite hold up to the other ingredients as much as you’d want. I appreciate what Mika was trying to do here, and the constraints to use Trader Vic’s branded rums, but this is a case where a bolder rum really would have benefitted this cocktail. The garnish includes nods to hang gliders and is a really nice touch.
Later, Mika demonstrated how the Vic’s bartenders keep up with all those Mai Tai orders by building eleven Mai Tais at one time and keeping them on hand for orders so that all they need to do is add ice, shake, and garnish.
Ray suggested checking out Seattle’s “almost tiki bar” Inside Passage, so we popped in around 9:00 on Thursday to find a few spots at the bar and a couple open tables. As I scanned the menu I saw they have Kiki’s Premier Mai Tai, made with a symphony of rums including house barrel-aged Rivers Royale, Appleton 15, Chairman’s Reserve 1931, Rhum JM Terroir Volcanique, and Saint James 110 – plus two orange liqueurs. This premier Mai Tai has a premium price, $26, though the quality and price of the rums used means this is still a great value.
Having previously loved the Rumba Mai Tai that’s in the same venue as Inside Passage, I was looking forward to trying this monster and it exceeded my expectations in every way. So rich and flavorful, a Mai Tai that’s worth savoring every sip. I was very impressed.
I decided to order a Rumba Mai Tai to do a head-to-head comparison and the sister cocktail was delivered in short order. The richness of the Premier wasn’t present in the Rumba Mai Tai that really leaned into Martinique Agricole as the predominant flavor. The menu says this includes aged Rhum JM and a house barrel aged Wray & Nephew, but I didn’t taste oak or Jamaican notes as I would have expected. The overall mouthfeel wasn’t as great as I remember and I kind of ended up being disappointed with the Rumba Mai Tai.
So, sadly, we’re going to remove the Rumba Mai Tai from our list of Top Mai Tais in the world – to be replaced by the Inside Passage’s Premier Mai Tai! Sometimes you have to pay a little extra to get a lot better Mai Tai and Inside Passage really delivered.
Inside Passage remains impressive on the eyes, with nods to Seattle landmarks such as the World’s Fair and the old Trader Vic’s, even though it technically isn’t a tiki bar. Lots of fun and nice to see you might not absolutely require a reservation.
Mrs. Mai Tai is joining me in Tacoma for the weekend and we got things started over dinner and drinks at Trader Vic’s San Jose Airport. In our case we went with the standard Original Mai Tai for me and the Guava Tai for Mrs. Mai Tai, both wonderful.
I was intrigued by the Angry Bastard cocktail which is described as being “A spiced concoction with coconut, orange and pineapple” which sounds like a Painkiller. Our server Maria said it wasn’t a Painkiller and indeed it was anything but with some very pleasant and sweet fruity flavors (guava, likely) to go along with that coconut. Really great, nicely served in the classic Suffering Bastard mug.
Trader Vic’s was really busy at dinner, so the extra seating they added last year really came in handy. The Spam Musubi and the Vic’s Chicken Salad were prepared very well and we enjoyed some exotica music playing in the bar too. I looked at the back bar and spotted a Mount Gay 1703 but sadly SJC is unable to make an alternate rum Mai Tai.
TV SJC remains the greatest airport bar in this writer’s opinion, and we are so looking forward to the Vic’s location at the Oakland Airport supposedly coming later this year.
We had a great dinner at sunset over at Trader Vic’s Emeryville on Saturday, including a great view of the harbor. I enjoyed my all-time favorite Crab Rangoon plus a Trader Vic’s Salad with salmon so tasty. There were at least four tables with people celebrating birthdays, and the staff led the venue in multiple “Happy Birthday” rounds and a bowl of ice cream.
Mrs. Mai Tai got the seating going in style, ordering a Smoke Show that provided a wonderful unveiling experience and a smoky flavor to the clarified cocktail.
Meanwhile, I went a little off script by choosing one of the Tropical Tais from the menu, choosing the passionfruit version. That little extra passionfruit is nice in that it does not overpower the cocktail but provides a different flavor from a traditional Mai Tai. I’ve also enjoyed the guava and Mango versions in the past.
Had a fantastic cocktail at Trader Vic’s Emeryville, where I’ve often called a different top-shelf rum for a Mai Tai to great result. This time, I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day two days early by having a “Dublin Tai,” a Mai Tai with Jameson Irish Whiskey replacing the rum.
Irish Whiskeys tend to be lighter in overall character than Scotch or Bourbon, and in this case the cocktail was not unlike the light rum variant of the Mai Tai called Menehune Juice where the less assertive rum turns the cocktail into brighter and fruitier variant. Such was the case of the Dublin Tai where you could taste the whiskey but it was an accent flavor and not up front.
The lounge in Trader Vic’s was hopping on Saturday but our friends were lucky to snag a hi-top just in time so we could have a drink before our dinner reservation. Always nice to see things busy at Trader Vic’s and to still have a fabulous cocktail.
We recently popped by Cosmo Alley / Trader Vic Alley in San Francisco.
This was the location of the then-flagship location of Trader Vic’s when it opened in 1950 and eventually became so famous that the Queen of England dined with President Reagan and had her first meal in any restaurant. This Vic’s location closed in 1994 before I got into tiki, so was never able to visit. The restaurant’s successor Le Colonial closed a while back and recent news indicates there’s a desire to transform the area from a parking lot into an urban park.
This is across the street from the old Tiki Bob’s location, now the Honey Honey cafe. We also noticed there’s a Vic’s Cleaners around the corner and wondered if this business might date from the days when Trader Vic’s was one of the leading restaurants in the city.
