Forbidden Island

Was in there the other day and had some really bad drinks.

Has anyone else experienced this or was it just me?

I understand they stop making their drinks from scratch and using mixes. What a shame, it was such a great place to drink.

Thank god we still have Smuggles Cove!

-Longboard

Say it ain't so! Been there plenty of times and had nothing but great drinks. I hope they haven't resorted to using mixes. Maybe you just caught them on a bad night.

I was hoping you were right about catching them on a bad night, Tikitonga.

But, just found out from another Tiki Freak that they shorten the drink menu and are using mixes to help out the Staff. Their claim is that it's hard to find or train knowable bartenders..

-Longboard

As owner of Forbidden Island, I can reassure you that this is a untrue! All of our drinks are made from scratch and the house syrups we use (not mixers) are the same ones we've always used! Longboard (I'll withhold his real name) is full of it. He sent me an e mail a while back, complaining that he ordered a Navy Grog without All Spice, but was told from the server that "All spice is in the mix" As I explained to him, All Spice is in the Navy Grog Mix, one of seven ingredients in the Navy Grog, but it does not mean that the drink itself is batched. If he had taken a moment to see the bartender actually making the drinks, he would know that our cocktails are in no way "batched"! Obviously, the reply went way over his head, because it was greeted by more insulting and unreasonable accusations!! Yes, over the years our menu had grown to an unmanageable 60+ cocktails and we cut that back a year ago to a more manageable 35! (still a huge number by any craft bar standard!) Hey I get it, Longboard like Smugglers's Cove, so do many of my friends and myself included, but none of us find the need to troll websites slandering other tiki bars! Get a life, buddy!! We have the highest yelp rating of ANY bar in the Bay Area and a huge facebook fan base! We stand behind our bar program, which is one of the most beloved in the Bay Area. We were one of the original Neo-Tiki Bars and has been imitated and copied through out the world. We exist for our fans and supporters. You don't like us, that's fine, stay away, but there's no need to spread lies and false accusation!

[ Edited by: Molokai Mike 2014-10-28 01:44 ]

As a watcher this is an interesting post:

Longboard is asking the question 'what do other people think' & it's fair for Forbidden Island to state their case.

Looking over a few of Longboards post, he hardly looks like the trolling type.

Obviously a bit of contact has gone one between Longboard & Forbidden Island prior to this thread being created but I think it's a bad move to react angrily to Longboard & call him for 'full of it' / tell him that he should get a life & stay away if he doesn't like it.

That doesn't fit tiki 'ohana' (even a pain in the ass customer can be charmed).

To my mind there are lots of ways this could have been sorted earlier:

I would expect the bartender would be able to be flexible enough to 'tweak' a Navy Grog to not include all spice if I wanted it to (other versions do exist eg DTB version with honey mix).

OR the bartender to say 'our house Navy Grog is always made with an all spice syrup because we think it's best like that, can I recommend ... instead' & suggest something else.

Anyway, there's no sense of 'sorry your drinks weren't up to scratch, please come back & try us again' just a 'we refute your position, go away if you don't like it'.

Hmmm...

Wow, what can say?

Thanks for defending me AdOrAdam, I really appreciate the support.

I'm only saying that scratch drinks aren't made from mixes. And, in my opinion Smuggles Cove does make better drinks than Forbidden Island.

Sorry, only being honest.

Also, I'm not hiding by using Longboard as my Tiki Name, that's just how we do it here on this site.

On 2014-10-30 01:49, AdOrAdam wrote:
I would expect the bartender would be able to be flexible enough to 'tweak' a Navy Grog to not include all spice if I wanted it to (other versions do exist eg DTB version with honey mix).

OR the bartender to say 'our house Navy Grog is always made with an all spice syrup because we think it's best like that, can I recommend ... instead' & suggest something else.

This. I've never had a Navy Grog made with Allspice myself - an Ancient Mariner, which is pretty close, sure.

I do believe the Navy Grog at Don the Beachcomber has Allspice Dram in the Don's Mix
one of the components of their version & one of the better drinks at Don's.

The Navy Grog is one of my favourite drinks I made again & again when I 'found' it :)

A good source as a newbie was the Webtender Wiki which features versions that I now think of Dons version (with honey mix) & Trader Vics version (with all Spice aka pimento dram).

A nice editions to try is Mai Kai's Yeomans Grog with Dons Spices #2 (vanilla & pimento).

Another is the Captains Grog with some good tweaks of curaçao / maple syrup / falernum / almond essence & vanilla essence.

Another good one is the Gill Man Grog which has maple syrup / falernum & pimento.

All in all, there are some common themes around the Navy Grog (lime / grapefruit) but they can vary widely.

Oh yes and the Ancient Mariner which has pimento & less rum.

So with 6 versions you've got a lot to choose from!

Also premixes aren't necessarily a bad thing:

Dons Mix is grapefruit juice & cinnamon syrup (which if you were going to use a lot it would make sense to premix) - if made fresh, it holds for the evening with no ill effects. If it was good enough for Don..

Dons Spices #2 is a premix of pimento dram & vanilla - the ingredients are 'stable' (eg don't go off easy) & you use small amounts for subtle flavour so premixing makes sense (although it isn't called for in many drinks).

POG juice is a premix of 3 juices (passionfruit / orange / guava) that once mixed is good for the evening - it's a good blend that you use as 'one flavour' so I see no danger in premixing.

Perhaps my favourite use of a premix is the Aku Aku Zombie mix (of equal parts curaçao / pernod / falernum / grenadine) - you use 5ml in the Zombie so it's a great way to combine some ingredients that could be difficult to add in small amounts.

With the complex combinations of citrus & sweeteners required by tiki drinks it doesn't make much sense to premix just for ease (eg a premix for a Mai Tai would be no use except in a Mai Tai, nor would a premix for any of the Navy Grog versions be any good except in that Navy Grog, etc etc).

I'm pretty sure the concern for the word "mix" wasn't about a batch as it was of an actual full on drink mix that you'd twist open a new bottle for, or rip over a powder packet for.