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Mai Kai - Favorite Drink? |
arriano
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 13, 2006
Posts: 1121
From: Birdland - San Diego
|  Posted: 2010-06-20 10:00 am Permalink
Has anyone been able to crack the recipe for the Yeoman's Grog? I gather that it's the same as Don the Beachcomber's Colonial Grog. On an old Beachcomber menu the following ingredients are listed: "Very Old New England Rums, Pimento Dram, Trinidad Bitters and Maple Sugar." Certainly sounds intriguing.
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Pittsburgh pauly
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 31, 2010
Posts: 323
From: Pittsburgh
| Posted: 2010-06-20 12:15 pm Permalink
So, it was only a couple of visits over Hukilau, but i'm willing to throw my two cents in the ring (wait, is that mixing metaphors?) The Zombie was so good that I wished I had it for every drink I had there (not really the tasting was fun). Granted I only had a handful of drinks and quite a few sips of others, but the Zombie was so much better than all the rest (Barrel o'Rum in second place).
Oh, and I think I had an allergic reaction to something in the Black Magic... anyone else?
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dewey-surf
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 27, 2009
Posts: 164
From: Clearwater, FL
| Posted: 2010-06-20 12:35 pm Permalink
I usually start with the Barrell O' Rum, then I get a Cobra's Kiss. Then a Mai Tai. After that....uhhhh
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SouthBamaTiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 09, 2006
Posts: 138
From: Mobile, Alabama
| Posted: 2010-06-21 6:34 pm Permalink
I guess I'm simple...I like the plain ol Mara Amu. I got it my first visit for the mug, and it's still my favorite drink. The Zombie and Barrel of Rum are way up there, though!
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Vince Martini
Grand Member (2 years) 
Joined: May 02, 2010
Posts: 266
From: Iki Pohaku, Arkansas
| Posted: 2010-06-21 8:13 pm Permalink
Barrel of Rum
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Hurricane Hayward
Grand Member (4 years) 
Joined: Jun 07, 2008
Posts: 389
From: 16 miles from The Mai-Kai
| Posted: 2010-06-27 11:34 am Permalink
I suppose it's time for a bunch of Post-Hukilau musings:
The wife and I revisited more than a dozen classic cocktails, some multiple times, over the course of three nights at the Mai-Kai and had the opportunity to order many of them from the preferred back bar, which tends to have the more experienced mixologists. (That's why sometimes the drinks seem better when you're at a dinner table. Not always, but on average ...). Our research yielded two stand-out drinks that I'll probably elevate to higher positions on my list: the Cobra Kiss (pictured below at left with the Special Reserve Daiquiri) and the Deep-Sea Diver. Both are very complex, flavor-packed medium drinks that never failed to deliver.
Chip, I made it a point to revisit both the Derby Daiquiri and Floridita Daiquiri and I'm afraid both continued to fail to wow me. Fine drinks, no doubt. Spectacular, no. However, I was able to make a Hukilau hook-up and landed some silver and gold Havana Club rum from Cuba, which both of the above were most likely originally made with. I suspect they use Bacardi now. My first home experiment with the Floridida Hemmingway recipe from Grog Log yielded some nice results using the 7-year gold, as suggested by Jeff Berry. Further experimentation with the Havana Club is definitely on the agenda. Many of the early Mai-Kai recipes were most likely made with this fine rum, before the embargo.
arriano: The Yeoman's Grog has been somewhat of a disappointment lately and that's the one drink I may lower on my list. I too was under the impression that it was based on the Colonial Grog but I just discovered at Hukilau from a reliable source that it's actually a descendant of Don Beach's Navy Grog (see Beachbum Berry's Grog Log). The Colonial Grog was actually a forerunner to the Samoan Grog, which is on the Mai-Kai's mild menu. Also a very good drink but not as strong as the Navy/Yeoman's.
Of course, most of the more complex Mai-Kai drinks are almost uncrackable. Only a few legitimate recipes are available. Most of what we have to go on are the Donn Beach originals that have been published. However, as documented in Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari, original Mai-Kai mixoligist Mariano Lucudine renamed and reformulated those classics into what is still served today using the same secret coding, in-house spices, syrups and secret ingredients that not even the people making the drinks can identify for sure.
Ah, the mystery and magic of the Mai-Kai ...
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Tikitackett
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Nov 15, 2002
Posts: 51
From: Davenport, Florida
| Posted: 2010-06-27 7:53 pm Permalink
I'm gonna say the Mara Amu...anything that comes in a tiki mug you can take home with you is fine by me!
For the sake of choosing a deliciously powerful grog, though...I would probably say a Shrunken Skull.
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TikiPug
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 14, 2003
Posts: 778
From: Den of Sin / Pug's Pair-A-Dice
| Posted: 2010-07-01 08:55 am Permalink
Barrell O' Rum, hands down
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arriano
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 13, 2006
Posts: 1121
From: Birdland - San Diego
| Posted: 2011-07-12 8:01 pm Permalink
Quote:
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And, finally, here's my list of Beachcomber/Mai-Kai drinks that I've yet to find a recipe for. Cocktail sleuths, this is your cue:
- Hot Buttered Rum
- Martinique Milk Punch
- Special Reserve Daiquiri
- Colonial Grog (Yeoman's Grog)
- Don's Swizzle (Mai-Kai Swizzle)
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Perhaps this is the recipe for the Martinique Milk Punch?
http://www.saveur.com/article/Wine-and-Drink/Martinique-Milk-Punch
Since it's from at 1949 book, seems certainly plausible.
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Hurricane Hayward
Grand Member (4 years)
Joined: Jun 07, 2008
Posts: 389
From: 16 miles from The Mai-Kai
| Posted: 2011-07-14 8:41 pm Permalink
Thanks arriano for the recipe. We'll certainly put it to the test. That drink was probably standard on many cocktail menus of the era. What's cool is that The Mai-Kai is like a time capsule and you're able to almost transport yourself back just by walking in the door.
This also gives me the opportunity to plug my new blog, which features an expanded version of the list that was first posted on this thread:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/mai-kai-cocktail-guide/
I'm in the process of reviewing every drink on the menu (plus a few that aren't), one per week through next June. Each review will feature photos, drink history, trivia and recipes. Comments welcome.
Okole maluna!
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4806
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2011-10-20 09:00 am Permalink
A bump up here for Jim's blog. His last post on the Rum Julep got me to make it last weekend and it was a crowd favorite. It goes into the rotation as a top contender. Never tried it at the Mai-Kai, but I will next time! Another great DtB drink preserved for you to try that likely is not served anywhere else on the planet Earth, and has been being made there since 1956 and probably Mariano was making it at Don's back to 1940... You just can't touch that legacy.
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pablus
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 23, 2003
Posts: 2146
From: www.crazedmugs.com
| Posted: 2011-10-22 09:32 am Permalink
My new favorite is the Shrunken Skull but the 151 swizzle is a VERY close second.
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hattorihonzo
Member
Joined: Jan 11, 2009
Posts: 8 | Posted: 2011-10-23 2:39 pm Permalink
Went for the 1st time in September and was enormously impressed. Of the three I had, I'd place them in this order:
1- Black Magic
2- Yeoman's Grog
3- Barrel O' Rum
Everything was so much better than I expected. Why does it have to be SO far away? 
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Hurricane Hayward
Grand Member (4 years)
Joined: Jun 07, 2008
Posts: 389
From: 16 miles from The Mai-Kai
| Posted: 2011-12-12 7:30 pm Permalink
We're now at 28 reviews down, 24 to go. Just posted: the Yeoman's Grog. Take the Navy Grog (1941 Don the Beachomber version) and add pimento dram, and you'll come very close.
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/12/12/mai-kai-cocktail-review-even-landlubbers-can-appreciate-a-strong-ration-of-yeomans-grog/
Also recently added, our theory of Zombie evolution, a tribute recipe and why this is our No. 1 drink:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/11/01/mai-kai-cocktail-review-the-theory-of-evolution-of-the-zombie/
Coming soon: An exclusive behind the scenes tour of The Mai-Kai's bars with manager Kern Mattei. Check out our interview with Kern here:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/11/12/take-5-mai-kai-general-manager-kern-mattei/
Okole maluna!
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Featuring The Mai-Kai Cocktail Guide
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Bongo Bungalow
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 20, 2007
Posts: 1226
From: Indiana
| Posted: 2012-02-17 2:39 pm Permalink
Threads like this are why I love Tiki Central! I'm planning a trip to the Mai-Kai and am all the more excited from reading the enthusiasm for really good cocktails!
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