Tag: TraderVics

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Recipe: Trader Vic’s Stinker

This cocktail was a highlight of Sunday’s happy hour special event at Trader Vic’s Emeryville  organized by some local tiki folks. We gathered in the Lanyu room and could order at that room’s bar for the cocktails on the special menu, plus food items from the regular lounge menu. We did see a few people go to the main bar to order other drinks, but it seemed like most people were happy with the varied options that included the Original Mai Tai, a Navy Grog, a Clarified Essence of San Juan, the classic Trader Vic’s Stinker.

The flame was quite impressive and I enjoyed this cocktail in any case, thanks to the Trader Vic’s Grog mix and a blend of spirits.

Trader Vic’s Stinker
1 oz Lime Juice
2 oz Pineapple juice
½ oz Trader Vic’s Grog Mix
½ oz Sloe Gin
2 oz Trader Vic’s Dark Rum
Flash Blend or shake and pour into a Menehune bowl or goblet.
Garnish with spent lime shell filled with 151 rum and ignite

The recipe for the Stinker was shown on Trader Vic’s now defunct Twitter account in 2020, adding “Squeeze half of a lime, save spent shell” but there’s no way they were using ~1½ oz of lime juice in this and eyeballing the recipe it seems like too much in any case.

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Sunset Drift is Hawaiian Punch for Adults

We’ve been to Trader Vic’s Emeryville a couple times this week and while I did indulge with a fruity Guava Tai, I decided to check out some of the newer items from the Emeryville Originals section. These cocktails typically use spirits or rums that are different from the classic mid-century build, appealing to those seeking more contemporary flavors.

Such is the case of the Sunset Drift, a collaboration between Vic’s VP Raquel Rodriguez and Emeryville’s restaurant/bar manager Carlos Valdez. The recipe started with Rodriguez’s idea of a coconut washed Campari, which Valdez paired with Kō Hana Hawaiian Agricole rum, banana, and pineapple. The end result seems similar to Hawaiian Punch to me, a rich mouthfeel and a combination of flavors that result in something completely unique where you can’t really pick up the individual components.

Sunset Drift is served over a large ice cube with an orchid and lemon peel. Depending on your preference you might want to give it a little extra stir for further chilling. The cocktail is very approachable for people who find Campari and agricole rum distasteful, but there are hints there for fans of those spirits. This is a really great option for those looking for something newer on the vast Trader Vic’s cocktail menu.

Emeryville Sunset and Guava Tai
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Recipe: The Space Needle

This vintage recipe recently popped up on the Make and Drink YouTube channel, where Derek described the vague history of this drink. It’s obviously a Mai Tai variant, notably substituting lemon juice for lime, but strangely Trader Vic did not take credit for the recipe in his books where the recipe was listed. Perhaps a crew member at the Seattle Trader Vic’s location did the riffing on the Trader’s behalf.

Space Needle by Trader Vic (?)
1½ oz Lemon Juice
¾ oz Orgeat
1 oz Orange Curacao
1½ oz Light Rum
1½ oz Dark Jamaican Rum
Flash blend with 1 cup of shaved ice, add to glass with additional shaved/crushed ice. Mint garnish optional.

I used a 50/50 blend of Clement Creole Shrubb and Grand Marnier for the orange curaçao.

This drink is not dissimilar to the original Hawaiian Mai Tai that Trader Vic introduced to Hawaii in 1953, including a blend of a light rum and a dark Jamaican rum. I used Coruba, as did Derek, though back in the 1960s the typical dark Jamaican rums were a bit higher in ABV. Nonetheless, the drink is plenty boozy with 3 oz of rum plus a full ounce of orange curaçao.

Indeed that ratio of orange curaçao is what makes this kind of a different drink than simply a Mai Tai with lemon juice. The overall character is sweeter and a bit more floral, though I felt it was richer than Menehune Juice, a Mai Tai variant made just with light Puerto Rican rum. In the case of the Menehune Juice it’s quite floral as the rum doesn’t add a lot of flavor, whereas with the Space Needle there are richer ingredients to taste and a heavier overall mouthfeel.

Derek said he thought this would be better with a little less orange curaçao, resulting in a drink that’s closer to a Mai Tai spec and better balanced. I disagree and totally loved the richness from the sweet orange liqueur.

The Space Needle is different from a Mai Tai and it’s great. I regret not making this sooner.

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Rock Candy Mystery Solved

Our trip to Vegas started at the San Jose Airport with some dinner and drinks at the Trader Vic’s Outpost. Our flight was delayed two hours so this wasn’t a bad place to spend some time (and turned out to be our only tiki bar visit that night due to the delay). Following Atlanta and Emeryville, this was our third Trader Vic’s location in 27 days – all on U.S. soil with three other stateside locations in development in Kona, West Hollywood, and Oakland Airport.

Navy Grog

The Mai Tai was good here as usual, as was the poke bowl. I decided to go a little off script by ordering a Navy Grog for the first time in forever. I like my Navy Grogs a little sweeter, so asked for extra Grog Mix syrup and it was really delicious and had a rich mouthfeel.

There’s some sort of story that the rock candy stick that comes with the Trader Vic’s Navy Grog can use used to sweeten the drink. Well, I stirred that thing for five minutes straight and it didn’t dissolve any appreciable amount. The reason Vic’s uses a rock candy stick for a garnish is because it takes five seconds to prepare vs. the Don the Beachcomber traditional ice cone garnish which takes considerably longer. But from several feet away they have the same sort of look. That tricky Trader!

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Hinky Dinks Speakeasy at Trader Vic’s Emeryville

Shhh.. don’t tell anyone.

Trader Vic’s Emeryville is normally dark on Tuesdays but on this rainy February night opened the Lanyu Room as Hinky Dinks Speakeasy. This event featured a special cocktail menu including some small bites, paying tribute to Trader Vic’s original restaurant at 65th and San Pablo Ave in Oakland that opened in 1934 (this venue was later renamed Trader Vic’s, as you might have heard). Era-specific standards from DJ Speakeasy Ray set the mood perfectly, as did the mood lighting. Artifacts from the now-closed Trader Vic’s London were also a focal point.

The speakeasy motif was in force as you entered via the side door and you had to say the password obtained by calling the Trader Vic’s telephone number. This was a fun way to start the evening, including torches and a bright red light.

Cocktails for this event were well-curated and blended classic recipes with modern ones. The clarified Mai Tai called Tiki-Easy was fat-washed in peanut butter and was the standout of the evening, but the clarified Essence of San Juan was nearly as good. I also liked the Hotel Nacional which had delicious fruity notes. PB2Y2 is a Vic’s cocktail from the 1940s and uses a common Vic’s build featuring two rums and three citrus juices – leaning a bit tart but overall quite good and plenty boozy.

We’ve been told that the cocktails may cycle in and out over the next few Tuesdays, with some other vintage recipes being considered for future dates. If this event is of interest we encourage you to attend in the next few weeks to keep up the momentum, and we do plan to return in a couple weeks ourselves. It’s really great to see Trader Vic’s paying homage to their history but doing so with some fresh cocktails and loungey atmosphere.

Tiki Easy, PB2Y2, Hotel Nacional, Essence of San Juan
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Mai Tais at Trader Vic’s Atlanta

Locals told us that Trader Vic’s Atlanta makes all Mai Tais using the Mai Tai Concentrate syrup unless you order by calling for a “1944 Mai Tai” so we put this theory to the test by ordering multiple Mai Tais over the couple nights we were in town. Hard work if you can get it, I know.

Original Mai Tai

Indeed, our order for an “Original Mai Tai” resulted in a Mai Tai that used the Concentrate rather than orgeat, orange curacao, and rock candy syrup from the original recipe. Thankfully the 1944 Mai Tai was made using scratch ingredients and is a wonderful representation of a Trader Vic’s Mai Tai. Our ’44 on Thursday was truly fantastic (apart from the tiny mint) and the one Friday was also very good, reminding us why we feel in love with the cocktail many years ago.

There you go Mai Tai nation. At least for now this is the practice in Atlanta and those in the know can choose their own adventure.

This Vic’s location has their own Mai Tai glass design (pictured above) that’s fantastic and pays homage to the Barney West carving on the back patio. I don’t need more Mai Tai glasses but I had to get it.

1944 Mai Tais at Trader Vic’s Atlanta