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: 1867	HH Hurricane Hayward Posted posted on Wed, Mar 16, 2016 9:55 PM I promised a blockbuster announcement many months ago, so without further ado ... The Mai-Kai DOES NOT USE CINNAMON SYRUP in any of its cocktails. Manager Kern Mattei revealed this to me shortly after The Hukilau last June, and I've been holding off on posting any updates until I had a chance to revise all the reviews and recipes. But it's been dragging on too long so I thought I'd get the news online now so everyone can discuss this mysterious development while I post updated tribute recipes a few at a time. First, the quick backstory: I had heard this rumor several years ago, but I dismissed it. I had spent years sampling the cocktails and comparing them to the Don the Beachcomber originals, most of which featured Don’s Spices #4 (aka cinnamon simple syrup). They seemingly tasted the same. It wasn't unusual to hear folks mention it, or to see posts here on TC that referred to cinnamon in the cocktails at The Mai-Kai. Then, last year at The Hukilau, Kern rolled out a special cocktail for Rhum Barbancourt featuring cinnamon syrup. This, I figured, would debunk those rumors. The 1862 Rhum Punch was an excellent cocktail that showcased Rhum Barbancourt 5 Star, and also featured lime, grapefruit and Kahlua. Check out the recipe here: http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2015/06/30/the-week-in-tiki-june-15-28-2015-summer-events-in-full-swing-with-the-hukilau-ohana-luau-at-the-lake-more/#1862-rhum-punch I use past tense in referring to the drink because The Mai-Kai quickly stopped serving it a week after The Hukilau. When I questioned Kern, he said they "ran out" of cinnamon syrup. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Don't you use it in a bunch of other drinks?" His reply: "Oh, no. I just made a batch at home for the Barbancourt drink. We don't have any cinnamon syrup in the bar." Of course, I panicked. Immediately I knew that 11 of my tribute recipes were essentially incorrect, so I had to scramble. I started re-tasting all of the cocktails and set about re-examining the recipes to figure out how we could have missed this. Were we all hoodwinked? First up, I'm posting some of the more simple recipes that were easy to adjust. The 1/8 ounce of cinnamon syrup that I had slipped into the Shark Bite was easy to replace with extra simple syrup. This one was my own doing. I had never seen a Shark's Tooth recipe with cinnamon. It just was such a great drink, and the tiny bit of extra spice worked so well in the tribute that I just went with it, to a small amount of fanfare. Here's the updated recipe with more notes on the cinnamon saga: http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/08/17/mai-kai-cocktail-review-what-makes-the-shark-bite-so-jawesome/#tribute Note that as these recipes are revised, I'm leaving the previous version on the page for reference. I know many folks will want to continue to add cinnamon when they make the drinks at home. It certainly doesn't hurt. Next up is the Bora Bora, which does have a large dose of Don's Mix (2 parts grapefruit juice to 1 part cinnamon syrup) in its Donga Punch ancestor recipe (from Sippin' Safari). The mind does play tricks on you when you assume what you're tasting is one thing and it's actually not. However, by replacing Don's Mix with a combination of grapefruit juice and simple syrup, then adding a few extra dashes of bitters, the revised tribute recipe was pretty darn close to the original: http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/08/31/mai-kai-cocktail-review-bora-bora-is-not-for-the-timid/#tribute The lesson to be learned: Reverse engineering tropical drinks is not an exact science. Many factors, including ancestor recipes, can conspire to deceive the taste buds. Several drinks merely feature a cinnamon stick garnish, not actual syrup, causing the nose to interfere with the taste buds. In others, I might have been fooled by the combination of honey and allspice liqueur. I'll try to post updated reviews and recipes every week or so as I work though the rest of the cocktails that include cinnamon syrup in the tribute recipes. I invite everyone to make both versions at home and compare them for yourself. Feel free to post your comments here and chime in on The Mai-Kai's mysterious phantom cinnamon syrup. Okola maluna!

I promised a blockbuster announcement many months ago, so without further ado ...

The Mai-Kai DOES NOT USE CINNAMON SYRUP in any of its cocktails. Manager Kern Mattei revealed this to me shortly after The Hukilau last June, and I've been holding off on posting any updates until I had a chance to revise all the reviews and recipes. But it's been dragging on too long so I thought I'd get the news online now so everyone can discuss this mysterious development while I post updated tribute recipes a few at a time.

First, the quick backstory: I had heard this rumor several years ago, but I dismissed it. I had spent years sampling the cocktails and comparing them to the Don the Beachcomber originals, most of which featured Don’s Spices #4 (aka cinnamon simple syrup). They seemingly tasted the same. It wasn't unusual to hear folks mention it, or to see posts here on TC that referred to cinnamon in the cocktails at The Mai-Kai.

Then, last year at The Hukilau, Kern rolled out a special cocktail for Rhum Barbancourt featuring cinnamon syrup. This, I figured, would debunk those rumors. The 1862 Rhum Punch was an excellent cocktail that showcased Rhum Barbancourt 5 Star, and also featured lime, grapefruit and Kahlua. Check out the recipe here: http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2015/06/30/the-week-in-tiki-june-15-28-2015-summer-events-in-full-swing-with-the-hukilau-ohana-luau-at-the-lake-more/#1862-rhum-punch

I use past tense in referring to the drink because The Mai-Kai quickly stopped serving it a week after The Hukilau. When I questioned Kern, he said they "ran out" of cinnamon syrup. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Don't you use it in a bunch of other drinks?" His reply: "Oh, no. I just made a batch at home for the Barbancourt drink. We don't have any cinnamon syrup in the bar."

Of course, I panicked. Immediately I knew that 11 of my tribute recipes were essentially incorrect, so I had to scramble. I started re-tasting all of the cocktails and set about re-examining the recipes to figure out how we could have missed this. Were we all hoodwinked?

First up, I'm posting some of the more simple recipes that were easy to adjust. The 1/8 ounce of cinnamon syrup that I had slipped into the Shark Bite was easy to replace with extra simple syrup. This one was my own doing. I had never seen a Shark's Tooth recipe with cinnamon. It just was such a great drink, and the tiny bit of extra spice worked so well in the tribute that I just went with it, to a small amount of fanfare.

Here's the updated recipe with more notes on the cinnamon saga:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/08/17/mai-kai-cocktail-review-what-makes-the-shark-bite-so-jawesome/#tribute

Note that as these recipes are revised, I'm leaving the previous version on the page for reference. I know many folks will want to continue to add cinnamon when they make the drinks at home. It certainly doesn't hurt.

Next up is the Bora Bora, which does have a large dose of Don's Mix (2 parts grapefruit juice to 1 part cinnamon syrup) in its Donga Punch ancestor recipe (from Sippin' Safari). The mind does play tricks on you when you assume what you're tasting is one thing and it's actually not. However, by replacing Don's Mix with a combination of grapefruit juice and simple syrup, then adding a few extra dashes of bitters, the revised tribute recipe was pretty darn close to the original:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/08/31/mai-kai-cocktail-review-bora-bora-is-not-for-the-timid/#tribute

The lesson to be learned: Reverse engineering tropical drinks is not an exact science. Many factors, including ancestor recipes, can conspire to deceive the taste buds. Several drinks merely feature a cinnamon stick garnish, not actual syrup, causing the nose to interfere with the taste buds. In others, I might have been fooled by the combination of honey and allspice liqueur.

I'll try to post updated reviews and recipes every week or so as I work though the rest of the cocktails that include cinnamon syrup in the tribute recipes. I invite everyone to make both versions at home and compare them for yourself. Feel free to post your comments here and chime in on The Mai-Kai's mysterious phantom cinnamon syrup.

Okola maluna!

Post #760987 by Hurricane Hayward on Wed, Mar 16, 2016 9:55 PM