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

H heylownine Grand Member (1 year) Agoura Hills, CA Joined: Oct 05, 2008 Posts: 978	H heylownine Posted posted on Sat, Mar 26, 2016 2:41 PM On 2016-03-17 09:54, Hurricane Hayward wrote: Adam: They seem to be fine without cinnamon syrup, so I don't think it's as big a deal to The Mai-Kai as it is to some of us :>0 The question I would like to answer is whether this has been the case since Day 1, when the Don the Beachcomber cocktails were reformulated by Mariano Licudine and Bob Thornton. Or were the recipes streamlined some years later? From what I understand, owner Dave Levy keeps Marino's notebook containing the original recipes locked in his office. He often refers to it when making sure the cocktails are being made correctly. However, he probably has Mariano's notebook from 1979, when he retired. The recipes may have been different in 1956. And, of course, they're all in code. I've heard talk of older notebooks in possession of the Licudine family. So perhaps one day we'll have more info. That's not to say that small changes aren't made to certain recipes. I just ran across another significant tweak that I'll be posting here soon. But a change like removing cinnamon syrup from a dozen recipes was probably done decades ago (under Mariano's watch), or maybe it was never there to begin with. The Week in Tiki * Mai-Kai Cocktail Guide The official blog of The Hukilau [ Edited by: Hurricane Hayward 2016-03-17 09:59 ] Yeah, I agree - while the "no cinnamon syrup is used today" is interesting, the question of whether it ever was used at the Mai Kai is arguably more interesting. It's well-established that these guys tweaked their recipes often. And with such a direct link to Don's original recipes, I'd love to know if Mariano left cinnamon out when he originally reformulated the recipes for use at the Mai Kai. kevin

On 2016-03-17 09:54, Hurricane Hayward wrote:
Adam: They seem to be fine without cinnamon syrup, so I don't think it's as big a deal to The Mai-Kai as it is to some of us :>0

The question I would like to answer is whether this has been the case since Day 1, when the Don the Beachcomber cocktails were reformulated by Mariano Licudine and Bob Thornton. Or were the recipes streamlined some years later?

From what I understand, owner Dave Levy keeps Marino's notebook containing the original recipes locked in his office. He often refers to it when making sure the cocktails are being made correctly. However, he probably has Mariano's notebook from 1979, when he retired. The recipes may have been different in 1956. And, of course, they're all in code. I've heard talk of older notebooks in possession of the Licudine family. So perhaps one day we'll have more info.

That's not to say that small changes aren't made to certain recipes. I just ran across another significant tweak that I'll be posting here soon. But a change like removing cinnamon syrup from a dozen recipes was probably done decades ago (under Mariano's watch), or maybe it was never there to begin with.

The Week in Tiki * Mai-Kai Cocktail Guide

The official blog of The Hukilau

[ Edited by: Hurricane Hayward 2016-03-17 09:59 ]

Yeah, I agree - while the "no cinnamon syrup is used today" is interesting, the question of whether it ever was used at the Mai Kai is arguably more interesting. It's well-established that these guys tweaked their recipes often. And with such a direct link to Don's original recipes, I'd love to know if Mariano left cinnamon out when he originally reformulated the recipes for use at the Mai Kai.

kevin

Post #761480 by heylownine on Sat, Mar 26, 2016 2:41 PM