Mixing from 'Grog Log' & 'Intoxica'

Aloha people-

Just wanna report on some extensive experimenting with ye old Grog Log & Intoxica books. First off as you may already know, these books are mucho exellent-o. good recipes and damn amusing. Drinks I have mixed so far are the Zombie from page 89 of GL (Damn thing is powerful!!). The Apple Jack and powdered sugar give it a really interesting taste. I also mixed the Tonga Zombie from Intoxica (with passion fruit syrup) which was also cool but not as interesting as the one from Grog Log. 'Planet of the Apes' is also a fun and tasty one one.

'Trade Wind Cocktail' from GL also wasn't bad. While it's probably not the most appetizing looking by reading the recipe (it includes an egg white), it's still pretty cool, and tastier than you would think.

'Trader Vic Grog' also from GL isn't as sweet as the others but has a real distinct kinda mellow flavor. Same goes for the 'Fog Cutter' and the 'Tropical Collins'. The 'Hawaiian Room' (love that name) from page 40 of GL has a real tangy flavor .

Overall, it's a blast (no pun intended) mixing these! There's a ton more I'm interested in mixing, just don't have all the ingredients. Next up are 'Suffering Bastard', 'The Waikikian', and the other versions of 'Zombie'.

Getting to the point where I can mix these by feel. Anybody wanna give me a bartending job?? (I'm not kidding!)

Hey all you professional & novice bartenders...wondering which versions of the Zombie you're making out there in tiki bar land. Also wondering what your most popular/requested cocktails are.

Aloha! :drink:

[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2003-04-15 23:48 ]

One of the favorites at my bar is a concoction I cooked up one night when my stock was limited to weird stuff:

Thirstin' Haole

Shake with crushed ice:
3 oz Coconut vodka
1/2 oz curacao

Pour into chilled double martini glass. Serve with pineapple spear lanced with a cherry.

Try it sometime - it's basic but good, and the name alone is worth putting on your drink menu...

[i]On 2003-04-15 23:43, donhonyc wrote:[/i
Hey all you professional & novice bartenders...wondering which versions of the Zombie you're making out there in tiki bar land. Also wondering what your most popular/requested cocktails are.

We made Coconauts (coconut cream, lime juice and dark rum) at my party last weekend and we all thought they were yummy. The recipe is in the Grog Log.

--cyn :drink:

Hey Donhonyc,

There's no turning back now!

I am a pure amateur mixer, but using the Grog Logs makes me feel like a pro and gives me an appreciation for the masters.

In addition to the traditional drinks like the Mai Tai, Chief Lapu Lapu, and Scorpion Bowls, I have two that are Stentiki favorites.

Try the SPINDRIFT (Grog Log I pg. 78) but be sure to carefully measure the vanilla. One wrong move and your drink will taste like vanilla lotion!

At a recent party I threw in December, I made Trader Vic Punch (Grog Log I p. 91) and it was a hit! Pretty labor intensive but worth the extra effort.

If you come across anything in Grog Log II, let me know. I haven't finished studying that one yet!

Hey people-

Thanks for all the input so far. Stentiki-no turning back indeed. Apreciation for the masters, no doubt. These guys really had their sh*t together! Making the drinks is certainly an art in itself. Tried the Chief Lapu on your recomendation. Nice call! Also tried the Rum Lift. Nice also.

Also noticed the 'Test Pilot' in Grog Log. Mai Kai has something called a 'Jet Pilot' on their drink menu that's not mentioned in Grog Log or Intoxica. Anybody know if these two drinks are the same??? :drink:

[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2003-04-16 19:58 ]

I am working on my merit badge for making every drink in the Grog Log. So far, one of my favorites is the Blue Hawaii. It's very potent though. Watch it!

I have found that I half or less all lime juice amounts. I cheat and use the Key Lime juice in the bottle. It's very good and easier than squeezing. But for our taste, there is at least twice as much lime as is needed.

I have been lucky and found that my neighborhood liquor store always has the Martinique Rum and Basement Kahuna has found a Demarara Rum source so we are trading.

This might not be a good idea for Hukilau. Those flying might have more trouble, but I am thinking some could bring their items for trade

Hey Swanky...

How 'bout a merit badge for anybody who can make AND drink all the recipes in Grog Log......in one night.

WAHOO!!! Now THAT deserves merit, and a big bottle of asprin. :sheckymug:

Just made the "Puka Punch" from the Tiki Ti (in Intoxica) last night. Wow! Superb taste sensation!! There's something like 10 or 12 ingredients in it and it sure packs a wallop.

I've seen a lot of tropical drink guides hit the market lately. Probably due to the mainstream trend. Flavor of the month to the populace, I guess.

I have sworn by the old "Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide", Doubleday Company, 1947. I was a bartender at the old Bahooka restaurant (West Covina) back in 1974, and although we used a series of stock mixers for cost control, made ahead of time and combined to produce whatever tropical concoction, I occassionally fetched ingredients off the backbar to create an original libation. Trader Vic's guide, in my opinion, was absolutely the best reference at the time (I still have a beat-up copy in my tiki bar at home).

On 2003-04-27 02:44, Squawker wrote:
I've seen a lot of tropical drink guides hit the market lately. Probably due to the mainstream trend. Flavor of the month to the populace, I guess.

Squawker, I agree that Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide is a great resource. Many of us here have a copy as well. However, Beachbum Berry's Grog Log in my opinion, is a comparable, if not better, resource because it contains drink recipe's not only from Trader Vic's restaurants but from the other greats as well - Don the Beachcomber, Kon-Tiki, etc. The Grog Log and it's companion Intoxica, is a compilation of such recipes once unknown to the public because of their secrecy. Tikiphiles swear by these books because of their authenticity in recreating a true cocktail from the Polynesian Pop era.

**Poly-Pop ***

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2003-04-27 08:54 ]

I like the zombie from the book: Hawai'i, Tropical rum drinks & Cuisine by Don the Beachcomber.
It was finally published last summer by Pheobe Beach and it's a long awaited goldmine of authentic tiki recipies by the master of tiki drinks himself.

I also like the zombie from Beachbum Berrys groglog.
It not really an authentic zombie, but the Zombie 2000 from the Tiki Tones is pretty tasty too.

For a while I was tasting a new drink every night from the Log and then we started moving and nothing has been on track since. But here are my notes on what I have made:

Aurora Bora Borealis: Rather sweet

Beachcomber's Gold: Only had Italian Vermouth. Strong, unusual taste

Beachcomber's Punch: Grade: B Can really taste the Brandy (which I am not a fan of) but it tastes better as you drink.

Blackbeard's Ghost: Grade A- Tart.

Blue Hawaii: Grade: A very tastey and strong

Blue Reef: A+ Very good tasting 1/2 ounce lime juice

Cheif Lapu Lapu: tart and sour

Coconaut: B Yummy! Mix your cocnut cream in a small container to get the oil smoothed through. And put it in last before the mixer to get it all blended.

La Florida: B

Pieces of Eight: F Sour!

Soon to make the Astro Aku Aku. I am saving it for company so that all the juices don't go to waste making just a couple for us.

On 2003-04-27 08:51, PolynesianPop wrote:
Squawker, I agree that Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide is a great resource. Many of us here have a copy as well. However, Beachbum Berry's Grog Log in my opinion, is a comparable, if not better, resource because it contains drink recipe's not only from Trader Vic's restaurants but from the other greats as well - Don the Beachcomber, Kon-Tiki, etc. The Grog Log and it's companion Intoxica, is a compilation of such recipes once unknown to the public because of their secrecy. Tikiphiles swear by these books because of their authenticity in recreating a true cocktail from the Polynesian Pop era.

While the Trader Vic's guide includes many of the truly classic tropical drinks. such as the Zombie, Planters Punch, Singapore Sling, and Fog Cutter, there are many drinks that are not in Vic's guide which are now considered classics, such as the Mai Tai, Suffering Bastard, and Navy Grog. For these recipes one needs the Grog Log.

On 2003-04-27 19:43, thejab wrote:
...there are many drinks that are not in Vic's guide which are now considered classics, such as the Mai Tai, Suffering Bastard, and Navy Grog. For these recipes one needs the Grog Log.

The Mai Tai NOT in Trader Vic's Guide?? Of course it is - Vic INVENTED the Mai Tai!! What guide are you looking in?

On 2003-04-16 19:55, donhonyc wrote:

Also noticed the 'Test Pilot' in Grog Log. Mai Kai has something called a 'Jet Pilot' on their drink menu that's not mentioned in Grog Log or Intoxica. Anybody know if these two drinks are the same???
[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2003-04-16 19:58 ]

They are not the same, as far as I can tell. The Jet Pilot I had last night at the Mai Kai tasted like it had a little bit of tomato juice in it. I liked it quite a bit.

But I also dig the Test Pilot in the Grog Log, so maybe I'm not hard to please.

If anyone has the Mai Kai's recipe for the Jet Pilot, please post it!

Swanky - F for pieces of eight?
Wow, we have very different tastes...

My favorites from Grog Log and Intoxica:
Pieces of Eight
Trader Vic's Grog
Mai Tai (it tasted good only with real lime juice, though)
Chief Lapu Lapu
Don the Beachcomber Zombie (from Intoxica) - but without 151 Demerara (did not have any, so I used Myers's).

I tried a whole bunch of other drinks, but these were the best IMHO.
I really like the books as they are very accurate comapred to ther books I've seen.

From the Land of the $27 Myers's

[ Edited by: kick_the-reverb on 2003-04-28 02:20 ]

[ Edited by: kick_the-reverb on 2003-04-28 02:23 ]

On 2003-04-27 21:15, Doctor Z wrote:

The Mai Tai NOT in Trader Vic's Guide?? Of course it is - Vic INVENTED the Mai Tai!! What guide are you looking in?

I am aware that he invented it but the Mai Tai is not in any of the Trader Vic recipe guides that I have including:
Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide, First Edition, 1947
Trader Vic's Book of Food and Drink c.1950s
Trader Vic's Kitchen Kibitzer c.1950s
Trader Vic's Pacific Island Cookbook c.1960s

My theory is that he wanted to keep the original recipe a secret until it was settled in court that he originated the Mai Tai, which happened in the early 70s.

I am curious, Doctor Z, which Trader Vic recipe book you have that includes the Mai Tai. Perhaps it's from the 70s as I don't have that one that came out then.

Interestingly, the Suffering Bastard recipe he gives in the 1960s Pacific Island Cookbook is actually a Mai Tai recipe and is nothing like the SB recipe in the Grog Log. The Suffering Bastard / Mai Tai discussion occured in this past thread:

https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=2750&forum=1

On 2003-04-28 02:19, kick_the-reverb wrote:
Swanky - F for pieces of eight?
Wow, we have very different tastes...

My favorites from Grog Log and Intoxica:
Pieces of Eight
Trader Vic's Grog
Mai Tai (it tasted good only with real lime juice, though)
Chief Lapu Lapu
Don the Beachcomber Zombie

You must like the sour and tart, which I do not. I cut the lime juice in every recipe in half at least.

Jab--
Indeed, I am referencing the 1972 'revised' edition - your explanation seems more than plausible! The Mai Tai recipe is prefaced by a full page account of the "...dirty stinker!" story. This edition also features the recipe for 'Menehune Juice', a drink IDENTICAL to the Mai Tai as far as ingredients and proportions, the only diference being Puerto Rican rum instead of Jamaican/Martinique rums.

KTR--
The 5 drinks you listed are the EXACT same 5 drinks that Z Girl and I mixed last Saturday! I agree - the Pieces of Eight is quite good, and 1/2 the lime usually tastes better. Tastes great strained instead of blended, too... Don's Zombie is good with just Bacardi 151, although the demarara does give it a smokier flavor it requires. Doubling up on the brown sugar gives it a nice flavor as well... But the Mai Tai - well, what can I say about Vic's Mai Tai that I haven't said already, eh?

On 2003-04-27 21:34, TheMuggler wrote:
If anyone has the Mai Kai's recipe for the Jet Pilot, please post it!

I don't know if this is the same as the Mai Kai's but I found this version:

http://www.webtender.com/db/drink/3070

On 2003-04-25 13:21, thejab wrote:
Just made the "Puka Punch" from the Tiki Ti (in Intoxica) last night. Wow! Superb taste sensation!! There's something like 10 or 12 ingredients in it and it sure packs a wallop.

Wow! No kidding, Jab- this is my first "Post-Puka-Punch-Post". What a fantastic drink. The rum quantity frightenesdf me at first buyye a
sgl; but it's good . lg=]ae mmm...puka.

-oh my.

-mardpgh gtin

listening to my fellow amatures and having just come from bahooka after a tasty but still improper scorpion, when your head begins to swell with your new found talent, just hop a plane to the tiki ti in silverlake and your swollen head will deflate and you will go crawling back to the bar for much more serious mixing. and as far as jeffs books go, back off the lime by half is correct!. what he was using and what i get are 2 very different things!. his books and "the great tiki drink book will put you in the hunt and you will be able to make good drinks, but once you taste the masters(mike sr. and jr)versions, you will understand why JEFF BERRY drinks there!.need i say more.

Just picked up Intoxica at the Banboo2U get together yesterday. I'm still checkin' it out. So far the Volcano looks interesting. I think anything I might attempt to make here is going to require a trip to Beverages & More. A well stocked bar is a must.

On 2003-05-04 22:07, twowheelin'tiki wrote:
as far as jeffs books go, back off the lime by half is correct!. what he was using and what i get are 2 very different things!.

I think this has to do with the method of squeezing citrus. If you scrape the rind when extracting, your juice will be much more bitter, so balance that desire to get every last drop out of the lime with a delicate touch on the juicer and you might see a difference.

-Mug