Post #784775 by Snapper_RIW on Wed, Mar 7, 2018 7:29 AM

Roa, sorry I didn't reach out to link up. Made it to Houston last week after a few long days. Caught a quick nap at the hotel and then hopped an uber over to the Lei Low. Everyone was right, Thursday night was a great night to come in. I missed Russell by a few minutes, but Caitlin and Bella were working. The bar wasn't terribly busy so I had the chance to talk with both for a while about their history with the bar and tiki.

My view of the Lei Low back bar from my perch. It has a nice thatched outcropping in the center.

I started with the Mai Tai because several folks at the bar seemed to be enjoying them. The Lei Low has them ready to go on tap and they do a very good job with them. Later in the night I saw one of the bartenders switch out 5 gallon keg for that system giving it a healthy shake and roll before hooking the new one up.

Lighting by the entrance bathing a few Lei Low Go-ers in a cool light.

I was interested in having the bartenders try a few things out on me so I tried their Crescent City drink and a Kingston Rum Fizz that had a great passion fruit egg white finish that gave off a wonderful odor and taste as you consumed it.

Caitlin took off for the night and was replaced by Ben who shared a drink with me he had created for negroni week last year. It was a mix of Rum Fire (they are big fans of this at the Lei Low), Carlsbad Becherovka and Banane du Brésil. He calls it the Self Destruct Button. It was great. A simple cocktail inspired by the negroni theme yet with all of the flavor complexity and kick you would hope for with a name like that.

POV - Staring down the Self Destruct Button.

I rounded out the night with a Chai Diver. A play on the pearl diver with a strong Chai spice profile. I enjoyed this one because I'm a chai fan and enjoyed seeing the change up from the allspice you normally get with Don's Gardenia Mix in the traditional recipe.

They have a good rum list and I had a few half-pours from it. I reproduced one page of it below. Feel free to PM me for the whole list if you want it. My apologies for the shadows (photo-shopped away some of them). There isn't much I hate to do more than upset the lighting vibe of a tiki bar by using a flash repeatedly.

7 pages worth of good things

I was blown away by the number of Blue Hawaiians I saw ordered. That seemed to be the drink of the night after Mai Tais. I enjoyed talking to all three of the bartenders that night. All were friendly and happy to share their bartending stories leading up to working at the Lei Low. Good characters rotated in and out of the bar all evening. Up to and including the British guy who sat a few seats away religiously drinking beer while his countrymen and women worked their way through the tiki menu.

The vibe was great and the staff was great. For me it was the best way to kick off my weekend stay in Houston. I had one of my two favorite drinking shirts on, nowhere to be that night and uber at my disposal. Can't think of a better set of conditions to enjoy the Lei Low. Sorry I missed the anniversary party a few days later.

-Rick

Ben, Bella and I. I just noticed one of my favorite Munktiki mugs (pink elephant shriner) is right behind me.