Grog Log/Intoxica: a personal update.

Seems like the mixological journey of Grog Log and Intoxica is endless, in a good way that is. I guess I have been mixing from both for about a year now, and may fave drinks thus far are:

Trader Vic Grog. Why? It's easy to make and there are no limes involved which is cool because even if you stock up on limes and don't use them right away, they dry up. So the no-lime aspect is an attractive feature of this one. In fact I am drinking one right now from one of my no-longer-issued Mai Kai tiki god mugs.

The other fave is the Tonga Zombie. Same thing, this is easy to make. Yeah a fresh lime is required, but other than than it's just pinapple juice, Passion Fruit syrup and... oh I forgot, but it's easy. Don't get me wrong, I like the more complex drinks, like the Zombie on pg 89 of Grog Log. But if you aren't prepared for that one with the Apple Jack, 151, and powdered sugar your sunk. Plus if you have a friend or two over and you want to whip up a nice drink for them, the Tonga Zombie does it.

Of course the Hurricaine is great and some of the other Coconut drinks. Planet of the Apes is also very tasty. The ones I haven't done so far are the non-rum drinks. I tried the Fog Cutter, but it seemed to dry to me. I also wasn't crazy about the Rum Lift or the Planters Punch.

There are a ton more I want to try.

On my last visit to Trader Vic's Atlanta, Joel the bar manager was good enough to write don the recipe for the Zombie they serve there:

1 oz gold rum
1 oz light rum
1 oz orange curacao
squeeze lime
dash OJ
dash lemon juice
dash grenadine
('dash' =1/4oz)

I tried this at home and it wasn't like the one I had there. I think maybe because Bacardi rum kinda sucks(?). any suggestions?

Also I have put a temporary embargo on Mai Tais around here. Why? Because when I mix them they kinda suck. This is probably because when I was originally mixing them by feel, or to be clearer, BAD feel, they were way sweeter than the recipe in GL. I liked the ones I was making, but I wanted to be drinking the real deal. Not a really sweet one that I was half-assing that technically wasn't even a Mai Tai just a donhonyc "Manhattan-Tai" (I just made that up). The other reason why I thought mine blew was because the Mai Tais at Vic's are made with the Mai Tai concentrate that isn't available to consumers. When I told Joel that I can never replicate the taste at home, he was like 'you won't be able to....besides we need to draw people in somehow'. Makes sense and made me feel better because I then knew that it wasn't me F'ing them up at home. What I really want to do is mix the recipe featured in Tiki Road Trip that is preffered by "Mai Tai expert Kevin Crossman". The one on page 260 that uses TV's Mai Tai mix in addition to some of the other traditional Mai Tai ingredients. I just have to order some of the mix online.

Now if you have made it all the way to the end of this post, I'd like to offer a 'Mystery Drink' recipe that Joel at TV's Atlanta wrote down for me. I still haven't tried it so it is truly a mystery to me. If you mix it up let me know how it is. It sounds good:

1oz Absolut Vanilla
3/4oz Apple Pucker
1oz grapefruit
3/4oz passionfruit

Aloha! :drink:

[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2004-08-12 21:40 ]

I highly recommend the Surf Room Mai Tai in Intoxica. I like it much better than the original version. I look forward to trying the TV Atlanta Zombie you've posted. Mahalo. :drink:

[ Edited by: Kono on 2004-08-13 04:01 ]

DHNYC,
I completely agree with you on the Trader Vic's Grog. Great drink, but simple enough for me to memorize and be able to whip up in a flash. Sadly, I've run myself out of passion fruit syrup an am resisting the mail order route (for now).
I recommend you try Blackbeard's Ghost for the same reason you like TV's Grog. No lime juice, but OJ, which is a lot more versatile. Hell, you can drink the stuff straight if you're desperate enough. All the ingredients are easy to find, but I do recommend Marie Brizzard apricot brandy, if you can find it.
Thanks so much for providing the recipes. It never occurred to me to ask Joel for them. Duh.

JTD

I'm extremely fond of the Oceanic Punch - snappy and tart, so good. Tim hates it, but most of my friends love it. I think there's a general split of opinion, maybe because of the grapefruit juice. Kind of a PITA to make, so we're getting a set of stor 'n' pours for the mix when we have people over. Also - best bar tool(s) ever: citrus squeezers! Can't live without them - knocks out the lime juice in a flash.

That said, I ran out of Cruzan (horrors!) and made it with Bacardi... yes, donhonyc, Bacardi sucks. Has the same nasty oily taste that cheap gin does. Thank the gods that Trader Joe's carries Cruzan these days!

[ Edited by: LAWebChick on 2004-08-13 08:35 ]

IF you have the TV Navy Grog mix, that's a nice easy drink. Just add a splash of grapefruit juice and sugar syrup to make it Trader Vic's right. The recipe on the bottle is not complete. And a mint sprig.

Thanks for the reponses people. I'll certainly try all the ones you suggested. Blackbeard's Ghost seems pretty cool as does the Oceanic Punch. Just gotta visit the stro this weekend to get the other stuff.

On 2004-08-12 21:35, donhonyc wrote:

Now if you have made it all the way to the end of this post, I'd like to offer a 'Mystery Drink' recipe that Joel at TV's Atlanta wrote down for me. I still haven't tried it so it is truly a mystery to me. If you mix it up let me know how it is. It sounds good:

1oz Absolut Vanilla
3/4oz Apple Pucker
1oz grapefruit
3/4oz passionfruit

Mixed this one up as a volcano bowl drink for TikiBird, UtopianDreem & DolphinTiki the other night - VERY GOOD! Subbed Stoli for the Absolut and blended with 2 cups ice, but otherwise the same proportions. I'd also mixed up on the rocks prior to 'test' it out - EVEN BETTER! Nice combo of flavors, and a chance to break away from the rum for a while. Pass on our compliments to Joel! Still no name for it, however...

I finally tried the TV Atlanta Zombie and it's very good. I used Rhum Barbancourt for the dark rum, Cruzan for the light and Fees Bros American Beauty grenadine. Great drink but too small. I'll double it up next time and get schnockered. I don't know what a squeeze of lime equals but I used 3/4oz. Great!

On 2004-08-12 21:35, donhonyc wrote:
What I really want to do is mix the recipe featured in Tiki Road Trip that is preffered by "Mai Tai expert Kevin Crossman". The one on page 260 that uses TV's Mai Tai mix in addition to some of the other traditional Mai Tai ingredients.

This one is my favorite Mai Tai recipe so far. It's sweeter than the more traditional ones, but the rum still comes through and the flavor is nice and complex. Good kick, too. I've also made pitchers of it when entertaining guests, and it's held up reasonably well (just be sure to stir it each time you pour - the syrups will sink to the bottom if it's been sitting for a while).

I am glad someone revived this thread as I had not made the Trader Vic Grog until tonight. Two people said that this is their new favorite, lol.

One thing I did different is to use actual Passionfruit syrup, Ingredients = Passionfruit and sugar
The stuff is much thicker than the Trader Vic's syrup, and it actually tastes like passionfruit. I got it at a local asian market, and it is made in Taiwan.

My 2 cents for this evening...:drink:

On 2004-08-13 03:59, Kono wrote:
I highly recommend the Surf Room Mai Tai in Intoxica. I like it much better than the original version. I look forward to trying the TV Atlanta Zombie you've posted. Mahalo. :drink:

[ Edited by: Kono on 2004-08-13 04:01 ]

Mmm - Surf Room Mai Tai is very tasty! The Bali Hai version is also a favorite of mine. Easy to put together and very good going down. Only problem, it requires orgeat syrup. I mail ordered the big bottle from TV about 4 months ago and still have about half of it left.

On 2004-08-12 21:35, donhonyc wrote:
What I really want to do is mix the recipe featured in Tiki Road Trip that is preffered by "Mai Tai expert Kevin Crossman". The one on page 260 that uses TV's Mai Tai mix in addition to some of the other traditional Mai Tai ingredients.

That "expert" label comes from James Teitelbaum, not me.

That recipe with the Vic's mix is embarrassing today. Maybe the Mai Tai mix from the late 1990s is different than what you get today. Or more likely my palette has evolved.

This is my current favorite recipe:
½ oz Appleton Reserve
½ oz Koloa Dark
½ oz El Dorado 12 year
½ oz Denizen’s Merchant Reserve
¾ oz Orange Curaçao
½ oz Orgeat
½ oz Simple Syrup
Juice from 1 lime