Updates to The Mai-Kai Cocktail Guide on The Atomic Grog - Tiki Drinks and Food

HH Hurricane Hayward Grand Member (1 year) 16 miles from The Mai-Kai Joined: Jun 07, 2008 Posts: 1905	HH Hurricane Hayward Posted posted on Tue, Apr 7, 2015 10:47 PM Some more news to report: With the annual Miami Rum Fest Cocktail Week coming up, details are emerging on the annual Tiki Night at The Mai-Kai on Tuesday, April 14. The sponsor rum for the evening is Fwaygo, a new rum from Fort Lauderdale: http://www.southfloridadistillers.com/spirits/ A bus will bring a large group of Rum Fest guests, who will enjoy dinner in the showroom and a complimentary Fwaygo Rum specialty cocktail. I stopped by The Molokai bar on Saturday and got to sample the rum and the cocktail, the Grapefruit Julep: The rum is surprisingly rich and funky for a white rum. It reminds me of The Real McCoy's white rum, or Plantation 5 Stars. The cocktail spotlights the rum nicely. I'll have more details on the drink after sampling a few more on Tuesday. Of lesser interest to us cocktail geeks but something I should mention is the new menu of "cocktail specials" that was introduced on Friday. I also got a look at this on Saturday, though it's really nothing to get excited about: It's geared toward the tourists and those who may be intimidated by the classic cocktail menu. I put this in the same category as the martinis that were added to the menu last year. If it brings more folks into the bar and helps them turn a profit, that's all the better. And perhaps they'll be curious about those mysterious cocktails in the big menu and give some of them a try. I had to try one of them, so I gave The Real McCoy Swizzle a whirl: It was very much on the sweet side, with the rum not very prominent. It's similar to the mild Mai-Kai Swizzle. Nothing to get too excited about. They've always offered different vodka variations on the Rum Barrel out of necessity. Some people just need to have their vodka. A friend tried the Rainbow Vodka Barrel and thought it was decent enough. If you're averse to rum for some reason, this is a decent option. Flavored Rum Barrels have also been offered before, but reviews have not been as good. I would avoid those. The Coconut Rum Moonkist Coconut is interesting, so I may try that at some point. Perhaps the Mai Tai as well. I just wish they'd use Koloa Rum, but I understand they need to schmooze Diageo and Captain Morgan. But we certainly shouldn't waste too much time bemoaning these. As manager Kern Mattei told me, some people come for the classic drinks while others want stuff like this. It's two different audiences.

Some more news to report:

With the annual Miami Rum Fest Cocktail Week coming up, details are emerging on the annual Tiki Night at The Mai-Kai on Tuesday, April 14. The sponsor rum for the evening is Fwaygo, a new rum from Fort Lauderdale:
http://www.southfloridadistillers.com/spirits/

A bus will bring a large group of Rum Fest guests, who will enjoy dinner in the showroom and a complimentary Fwaygo Rum specialty cocktail. I stopped by The Molokai bar on Saturday and got to sample the rum and the cocktail, the Grapefruit Julep:

The rum is surprisingly rich and funky for a white rum. It reminds me of The Real McCoy's white rum, or Plantation 5 Stars. The cocktail spotlights the rum nicely. I'll have more details on the drink after sampling a few more on Tuesday.

Of lesser interest to us cocktail geeks but something I should mention is the new menu of "cocktail specials" that was introduced on Friday. I also got a look at this on Saturday, though it's really nothing to get excited about:

It's geared toward the tourists and those who may be intimidated by the classic cocktail menu. I put this in the same category as the martinis that were added to the menu last year. If it brings more folks into the bar and helps them turn a profit, that's all the better. And perhaps they'll be curious about those mysterious cocktails in the big menu and give some of them a try.

I had to try one of them, so I gave The Real McCoy Swizzle a whirl:

It was very much on the sweet side, with the rum not very prominent. It's similar to the mild Mai-Kai Swizzle. Nothing to get too excited about. They've always offered different vodka variations on the Rum Barrel out of necessity. Some people just need to have their vodka. A friend tried the Rainbow Vodka Barrel and thought it was decent enough. If you're averse to rum for some reason, this is a decent option. Flavored Rum Barrels have also been offered before, but reviews have not been as good. I would avoid those. The Coconut Rum Moonkist Coconut is interesting, so I may try that at some point. Perhaps the Mai Tai as well. I just wish they'd use Koloa Rum, but I understand they need to schmooze Diageo and Captain Morgan.

But we certainly shouldn't waste too much time bemoaning these. As manager Kern Mattei told me, some people come for the classic drinks while others want stuff like this. It's two different audiences.

Post #740915 by Hurricane Hayward on Tue, Apr 7, 2015 10:47 PM