Tiki Central / Tiki Drinks and Food / Updates to The Mai-Kai Cocktail Guide on The Atomic Grog
Post #795726 by Hurricane Hayward on Sun, Jun 16, 2019 9:02 PM
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Hurricane Hayward
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Sun, Jun 16, 2019 9:02 PM
Friday got off to a fun and informative start with the "Everything You Wanted to Know About Tiki Mugs" symposium and a rare treat to see five great artists together sharing experiences and answering questions ...
From there, it was a quick dash through the opening of the pool party to sample as many cocktails as possible ... ... before stopping by Georgi Radev's Tiki on the Thames cocktail class, then back over to the symposiums for a very important meeting of the rum minds ...
Due to the overlapping schedule, I'm sorry I missed Ron Ferrell's "Home Tiki Bars" symposium but I made sure to stop by the Tiki Mayhem class with Daniele Dalla Pola, Georgi Radev and Ian Burrell ... Mrs. Hurricane and I then met up with Professor Remsberg to head over to The Mai-Kai for dinner and discuss our class agenda for Saturday. It was great to see Stephen again and catch up on our recent activities while enjoying a few cocktails along with the wonderful Mardarin Pressed Duck ... But more importantly, we met with manager Kern Mattei and gave Stephen a long-awaited tour of the back bar ... Stephen wanted to try a few, so of course we did, though Kern was careful not to open any previously unopened bottles. It's sometimes hard to tell since even the bottles that are still sealed will lose quite a bit of liquid over the course of a half century. The Special Reserve 12, which has been off the market since the early '70s, tasted rich and complex, arguably better than today's Rare Blend even in its deteriorating state. Luckily, Stephen brought an unopened bottle with him to be shared Saturday with the entire class! The older 15-year, along with the Myers's, were on The Mai-Kai's original 1956 rum list that I planned to share with the class. These exact bottles may not be 62 years old, but they're probably close. It's also worth noting that Special Reserve is the descendant of Wray & Nephew's famous, holy grail of rums: The 17-year used by Trader Vic in the original Mai Tai. The other rum we tried Friday night was a huge surprise ... This old bottle of Ron Rico (likely from the 1960s) was unlike any Puerto Rican rum I've ever tasted. Full of pot-still funkiness, you'd swear it was a Jamaican blend. Before column stills became ubiquitous, even the mid-level distilleries in Puerto Rico relied heavily on pot stills, Stephen told us as we savored the rich brown elixir. It was time to get out of the way and let these unsung heroes do their job ... But before we left, I made sure to grab our pre-arranged supplies for Saturday: Six half-gallons of Rum Barrels and six half-gallons of Mai Tais, pre-mixed without rum for our students to blend with rums of their pleasure. We also grabbed a couple gallons of Black Magics (rum included) for Swanky's symposium. As tempting as it was, I took nary a taste and delivered the goods straight to the heavily guarded cooler deep in the bowls of Pier 66 where they would be safe overnight. Then it was off to the High Tide Party for a night of great surf rock from Surfer Joe and The Intoxicators, along with many other cool bands. The cocktails were flowing from bars near (Suffering Bastard) and far (Dirty Dick) as we perused all the rare items in the silent charity auction. I later found out that someone bid $170 for the privilege of attending our Sunday back-bar tour at The Mai-Kai. After having just had that experience, along with a taste of rum history, I'd say that's a great deal. Events, music, art, cocktails, culture [ Edited by: Hurricane Hayward 2019-06-16 21:03 ] |
