Lost cocktails of the Bali Hai, San Diego

Awhile back I came across two cocktail menus for San Diego’s Bali Hai Restaurant online that I believe are from the 1950s. I was intrigued by the fact that they included some cocktails no longer on the restaurant’s menu. Although no recipes are listed on any of the menus, they do usually list most of the ingredients. And from those descriptions one can usually deduce recipes that are probably fairly close.

Of the 13 cocktails listed on the first menu, nine are still being served at Bali Hai. However, of those, it seems only the Singapore Sling has remained relatively unchanged. The current Bali Hai cocktail menu lists 21 tropical cocktails, plus five “Coladas or Daiquiris.”

So I thought I'd try my hand at recreating some of these older cocktails. Here are the two early menus I speak of:

"I am Lono!" -- Hale Ka'a Tiki Lounge

[ Edited by: arriano 2013-05-03 15:00 ]

I started my project with the cocktail that has intrigued me the most. The Shelter Island’s Whaler’s Punch is a cocktail that appears on older Bali Hai menus, but is no longer served. And that intrigues me because it means I can resurrect a lost cocktail. But in doing so there had to be some guess work. The menus list the ingredients as Jamaican rum, cognac, cherry brandy and California fruits. California fruits? OK, one is bound to be orange juice. But since the description is “fruits” I presume there has to be at least one more. Glancing through the ingredients of all the cocktails on the menus that include this cocktail, four juices are listed in total: orange, lime, cherry and pineapple. Pineapple would never be considered a “California” fruit. Oranges, cherries and limes are all grown in California, but since cherry brandy is one of the ingredients, would you also include cherry juice? Seems unnecessary. Therefore, I think there were probably two juices and they were orange and lime.

With that out of the way, here’s the cocktail I came up with:

SHELTER ISLAND'S WHALER'S PUNCH
1 oz Jamaican Dark Rum
½ oz Cognac
½ oz Cherry Brandy
2 oz Orange Juice
¾ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup

Shake ingredients with crushed ice and pour into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry speared to an orange slice.

I did not have Cognac, so I used regular brandy. I used Appleton for the rum. I thought this was a really good, tasty drink. Very well balanced. So far so good.

"I am Lono!" -- Hale Ka'a Tiki Lounge

[ Edited by: arriano 2013-06-03 11:08 ]

[i]On 2013-01-31 10:31, arriano wrote

With that out of the way, here’s the cocktail I came up with:

1 oz Jamaican Dark Rum
½ oz Cognac
½ oz Cherry Brandy
2 oz Orange Juice
¾ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup
Ari, That was delicious, although I omitted the simple syrup. Can't wait for the next one.
Just so you know I'm not looking for a free ride, I'm ' fiddlin with the ingredients for their "Cup of GOLD"
My wife and I were at Humphreys last week end and we made several forays to the B H's bar. Olivia is our favorite bartender there and I polished off a couple Mai Tai's made by her then we killed a bottle of champagne back at Humphrey's.
Next day at lunch I backed off a little and had the barkeep make us a Hurricane and a Cup of Gold. My wife liked the C o G better so I finished the Hurricane (too sweet) and ordered a C O G as I thought it quite tasty. Fishing for proportions,I asked the bartender How much rum was in this drink. He said 1 and 1/2 0z. I had him make me one with just 1 oz. Almost a Pina Colada with a little Orange Julius thrown in. I Liked it.
Cheers

---

"I am Lono!" -- Hale Ka'a Tiki Lounge

[ Edited by: arriano 2013-01-31 10:37 ]

On 2013-01-31 12:39, nui 'umi 'umi wrote:
Ari, That was delicious, although I omitted the simple syrup. Can't wait for the next one.
Just so you know I'm not looking for a free ride, I'm ' fiddlin with the ingredients for their "Cup of GOLD"
My wife and I were at Humphreys last week end and we made several forays to the B H's bar. Olivia is our favorite bartender there and I polished off a couple Mai Tai's made by her then we killed a bottle of champagne back at Humphrey's.
Next day at lunch I backed off a little and had the barkeep make us a Hurricane and a Cup of Gold. My wife liked the C o G better so I finished the Hurricane (too sweet) and ordered a C O G as I thought it quite tasty. Fishing for proportions,I asked the bartender How much rum was in this drink. He said 1 and 1/2 0z. I had him make me one with just 1 oz. Almost a Pina Colada with a little Orange Julius thrown in. I Liked it.
Cheers

Yeah, it's interesting. I think the Cup of Gold (or Cup o' Gold as it was once called) may have actually been a pina colada originally as the listing of orange juice is a recent addition.

The Blue Gardenia that once appeared on older Bali Hai menus is now known as the Blue Mystique. Along the way, the cocktail has changed a bit. But first some history:

“The Blue Gardenia” was a 1953 film noir directed by Fritz Lang. In the film, a woman gets drunk on a few Polynesian Pearl Diver cocktails at a Polynesian themed restaurant and goes home with a man she meets at the bar. They get into a scuffle and the next day the man is found dead and the woman fears she may have killed him. The film’s title theme song was sung by Nat King Cole. A film about a woman getting drunk, going home with a strange man, and possibly killing him seems like an odd choice to name your cocktail after. But perhaps the perceived danger was appealing.

The Blue Gardenia, like the Blue Mystique, was a cocktail for two. Originally the drink called for Rhum Negrita from Martinique, lime juice, blue Curacao and brandy, and was garnished with a gardenia blossom.

I don’t know when the cocktail name was changed to Blue Mystique, or if the ingredients to the cocktail changed at the same time as the name or if the changes have been ongoing. Either way, the Blue Mystique is made with Ron Rico light rum from Puerto Rico, blue Curacao, Sweet n Sour, and brandy. Sadly, it’s not garnished with a blue mystique orchid, but a pineapple wedge and cocktail cherry.

To make a Blue Gardenia, I came up with the following recipe:

BLUE GARDENIA
4 oz Martinique Rum (I used St. James)
1 oz Blue Curacao (I used Bols)
2 oz Lime Juice
1 oz Brandy (I used Christian Brothers)
1½ oz Simple Syrup

Blend with ice for five seconds on high, and pour into a small bowl. Obviously, the garnish should be a gardenia blossom. But I don’t have access to a gardenia bush, so I subbed another flower.

[ Edited by: arriano 2013-06-03 11:09 ]

Continuing my occasional series (which probably only I care about), this installment is about the Aloha Kiss. The Bali Hai still serves an Aloha Kiss cocktail, but descriptions from past and current menus show that it has changed a at least a little. In early cocktail menus, the Aloha’s ingredients are listed as “Guava, Cranberry, Orange and Lemon Juices, Rhum (sic) and Rock & Rye.” The current menu lists the cocktails' ingredients only as “Ron Rico Light Rum & a Blend of Fruit Juices.” I don’t know if the “blend of fruit juices” is the same as the old version or not, but there's no mention of Rock & Rye.

This cocktail intrigued me as I’d never had Rock & Rye. Although not as common as it used to be, you can still buy it commercially. But after scouring the Internet I discovered that it’s not difficult to make yourself. So that’s what I did by combining rye whiskey with pineapple chunks, lemon slices and horehound candies, letting sit for a few days, and then straining. With that and all the rest of the ingredients at hand, last night I attempted to replicate the old version of the Aloha Kiss. Here’s my recipe:

ALOHA KISS
1½ oz Light Rum (Cruzan)
1 oz Rock & Rye (homemade using Jim Beam Rye as base)
2 oz Orange Juice
1 oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Guava Juice
½ oz Cranberry Juice
¼ oz Simple Syrup

As always with these recreations, I had to guess at the measurements, and I’ve no idea if they are even close to the original. But this turned out to be a very nice cocktail, with none of the juices overpowering the others. What surprised me was how the rye cut through all the flavors and held its own. Note: Traditionally this should have been garnished with an orchid – I didn’t have an orchid.

"I am Lono!" -- Hale Ka'a Tiki Lounge

[ Edited by: arriano 2013-06-03 11:10 ]

Nice work arriano. As I know first-hand, cocktail archeology can be a lonely and sometimes under-appreciated endeavor. But it's sure tasty work.

Thoroughly appreciated by this guy right here!

Also, can you re-up the original images? They're down :(

On 2013-05-03 13:28, Hale Tiki wrote:
Thoroughly appreciated by this guy right here!

Also, can you re-up the original images? They're down :(

Strange. I wonder why. Menus are reinstalled. I'll have to dig around to see if I can find the missing photos of the cocktails.

On 2013-05-03 11:20, Hurricane Hayward wrote:
Nice work arriano. As I know first-hand, cocktail archeology can be a lonely and sometimes under-appreciated endeavor. But it's sure tasty work.

Thanks! It was your blog that inspired me to explore Bali Hai's lost cocktails int he first place. Mahalo!

Yes, keep 'em coming! Thanks.

In the mean time, check out the restaurant scene from Blue Gardenia. Watching Nat King Cole perform is worth the price of admission alone, but throw in Anne Baxter... Ohh la la!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=UtFoj_JinTk&feature=fvwp

I'm enjoying your explorations. Keep them coming.

Dale

I just stumbled upon this recipe while I was looking for something else.

Rock and Rye recipe

from Saveur Magazine
Makes one litter.

1 liter rye whiskey
8 oz. rock candy
4 oz Luxardo cherry syrup
12 whole cloves
3 whole star anise
3 sticks cinnamon
1 orange, thinly sliced
1 lemon, thinly sliced

INSTRUCTIONS
Stir ingredients together in a 4-qt. glass jar with a lid. Let steep at room temperature for 2 days or up to a month.

[ Edited by: hiltiki 2013-05-03 21:39 ]

If I can find cherry brandy on this island I will make the Whaler's Punch

What an awesome scene. There's some bad acting, and double entendres in there.

CAN I GET HIGH ON ONE OF THESE?

DO YOU WANT TO?

I DON'T KNOW.

Brilliant!

The next lost Bali Hai cocktail on the agenda: Planter’s Punch.

Nearly every tiki bar worth its rum has a Planter’s Punch on its menu, and the Bali Hai is no exception. The older cocktail menus show the ingredients as “Fresh Lime, Orange, Pineapple, Cherry Juice, Jamaican rum, Puerto Rican rum.”

The current menu lists the drink’s ingredients as “Coruba Jamaican Dark, Fruit Punch & Cruzan 151.” I don’t know about you, but the earlier version sounds better to me.

So here’s my attempt at recreating the original Planter’s Punch from the Bali Hai:

PLANTER'S PUNCH
1 oz lime juice (I actually used lemon juice as I was out of limes)
1 oz orange juice
2 oz pineapple juice
½ oz cherry juice
1 oz simple syrup
1 oz Puerto Rican light rum (used Cruzan, regular not 151)
1 oz dark Jamaican rum (used Coruba)

Blend ingredients with ice, pour into a vessel and garnish with a mint sprig (and maybe a pineapple spear and cocktail cherry if you have them – I didn’t).

OK, full disclosure: when making two of these cocktails last night, I doubled each ingredient but mistakenly didn’t double the rum. One sip and I knew something wasn’t right. It was very tangy and the cherry juice surprisingly made its presence known. Once I realized my mistake, I made a second batch and the result was a cocktail that was very balanced. It’s amazing what an extra ounce of rum can do for a drink.

"I am Lono!" -- Hale Ka'a Tiki Lounge

[ Edited by: arriano 2013-06-03 11:07 ]

Brilliant, and a distinct lineage from the original cocktail can be seen.

Loving these posts...I'm just now having some free time on my hands to enjoy it. Hoping to put a few of these together soon.

Now that looks like a very yummy Planter's Punch.

• Dale

Delightful posts...keep em comming!!!

My latest attempt in recreating an old Bali Hai cocktail is for the Fog Cutter – a classic tiki cocktail, but one that is no longer served at Bali Hai. In trying to recreate old Bali Hai cocktails, I usually compare the listed ingredients from Bali Hai’s menus with other known recipes for those cocktails. In the case of the Fog Cutter, I have recipes for versions from Trader Vic’s, Dobb’s House Luau, Tiburon Tommie’s, and the “other,” unrelated Bali Hai in New Orleans.

The (San Diego) Bali Hai’s Fog Cutter is interesting in both what ingredients it includes, and what ingredients it doesn’t. Like most Fog Cutter recipes that I’ve found, the Bali Hai version includes three spirits: Rum, Gin and Brandy, along with Orange Juice. But while most Fog Cutter recipes also include Lemon (or Lime) Juice and Orgeat, the Bali Hai version apparently excluded both. Instead, it seems to have replaced Lime/Lemon Juice with Pineapple Juice, and subbed Coconut Cream for the Orgeat Syrup. In addition, Bali Hai used Cherry Juice, an ingredient that’s rare in tiki style cocktails, but one that the Bali Hai used in at least one other cocktail, the Planter’s Punch (see entry above).

So without further adieu, here’s my attempt at recreating Bali Hai’s Fog Cutter:

FOG CUTTER
2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
¼ oz Cherry Juice
½ oz Coconut Cream
½ oz Gin
1 oz Brandy
2 oz Light Rum
¼ oz Simple Syrup
Shake with crushed ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a tall cocktail glass. Add ice to fill.

I first made this cocktail without the simple syrup. It’s not listed among the ingredients, but none of the cocktails listed on the old Bali Hai menus list simple syrup and I’m sure some include it. Without the syrup, there was an odd bitterness to the drink. Adding the syrup helped balance it a bit. Still, while the cocktail is OK, it’s not my favorite of the bunch. If anyone else wants to attempt it, I’d be interested in your opinions.

Hoping to get help from someone who's got sharper eyesight than I do. On the menu below, in the bottom left hand corner, is a drink called Coral Reef. The list of ingredients are “{{something}} Mint, Brandy, Coconut”. Can anyone decipher what that something is? I keep staring at it and it looks like it could be Lime or Rice or Rum or whatever. And there doesn't appear to be a comma between that and the word Mint. Maybe a brand name? I would think that the mint would be creme de menthe in this cocktail, but I'm not sure. Guesses, options, ideas welcome.

"I am Lono!" -- Hale Ka'a Tiki Lounge

[ Edited by: arriano 2013-06-07 13:17 ]

Looks like it says Rose to me.

I have to agree. Blowing it up on my phone helped and it sure looks like Rose to me. I did some searching and I can't find anything about a "rose mint", but that is a fairly classic combination and is used a lot in teas.

Good luck with this one. It could be tough.

• Dale

Wow. Rose Mint. I don't think I would have ever figured that out. THanks TikiTacky and littlegiles.

http://www.floridafriendlyplants.com/Plant_Detail.asp?PlantID=93

"I am Lono!" -- Hale Ka'a Tiki Lounge

[ Edited by: arriano 2013-06-08 08:51 ]

So glad others are familiar with this late-noir classic. The bar scene is better than average, only lacking a few Tiki set dressings. In the film, Anne Baxter has a young blonde roommate who is hot in a repressed, girlish way.

Arriano, I'm planning out a big cocktail day tomorrow, including cocktails in the park, and I wanted you to know that I'm including one of yours from this thread. It's the first chance I've had since you started to sit down and actually make a decent cocktail. I am REALLY looking forward to it.

On 2013-03-01 09:50, arriano wrote:
The Blue Gardenia, like the Blue Mystique, was a cocktail for two. Originally the drink called for Rhum Negrita from Martinique, lime juice, blue Curacao and brandy, and was garnished with a gardenia blossom.

I don�t know when the cocktail name was changed to Blue Mystique, or if the ingredients to the cocktail changed at the same time as the name or if the changes have been ongoing. Either way, the Blue Mystique is made with Ron Rico light rum from Puerto Rico, blue Curacao, Sweet n Sour, and brandy. Sadly, it�s not garnished with a blue mystique orchid, but a pineapple wedge and cocktail cherry.

The original Blue Gardenia sure would have been different from today's Blue Mystique with Rhum Negrita instead of white rum. I also wonder if the hue of the drink would have been more of a muddy blue and not the Blue Hawaiian blue of the drink today.

I have a bottle of Rhum Negrita in the cabinet and will have to try your recreation cocktail with that and see how it is. I followed the Beachbum's Sippin' Safari advice for years and steered clear of Negrita until finally I couldn't pass it up at $11 for a liter. Turns out it makes killer Grog Log Hurricanes (even better than Coruba), and also a decent house Mai Taiwhen paired with a tamer rum.

Thanks for digging into the lost Bali Hai cocktails. It will be fun coming along for the ride.

Thanks Sunny&Rummy. Interestingly enough, a Blue Gardenia cocktail was also served at Kelbo's in L.A. But no ingredients are listed on the Kelbo's menu so I don't know if it similar to the one at Bali Hai or not.

I almost didn't bother to make the Cup O Gold, but decided I should just to be complete. The ingredients of the Cup O Gold are listed on the early Bali Hai menus as pineapple juice, light Virgin Islands rum, and coconut. If that sounds familiar, it should. It’s a frickin’ piña colada! The current Bali Hai menu now lists orange juice as an additional ingredient. That was undoubtedly necessary as Bali Hai’s menu now also includes a piña colada. But to stick to the point of this thread, I made the original version. And you know what? It isn’t bad. You know why? Because piña coladas are pretty damn good, although personally I’ve always felt they needed lime juice to balance out the sweetness. Here’s my take:

CUP O GOLD
1½ oz Light Virgin Islands Rum (used Cruzan)
3 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Cream of Coconut (used Lopez)

Mix with crushed ice in a blender, and pour ingredients in a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wedge so folks can add some lime juice if they wish. To make the current version of Bali Hai’s Cup O Gold, I’d suggest cutting the pineapple juice in half and adding 1½ oz orange juice.

"I am Lono!" -- Hale Ka'a Tiki Lounge

[ Edited by: arriano 2013-06-17 18:15 ]

The Bali Hai’s old Missionary’s Downfall cocktail is an odd one in that it’s quite different from the standard Don the Beachcomber original. First of all, it includes Martinique rum rather than light Puerto Rican rum, and then it subs Fassionola (the only appearance of this on any Bali Hai menu) and coconut cream for peach brandy and simple syrup. I searched high and low for a version of the Missionary’s Downfall that included coconut as ingredient and came up empty. While Bali Hai used Rhum Negrita originally, I used St. James amber.

Currently the Bali Hai serves a Missionary’s Downfall that’s similar to its earlier version, but apparently uses passion fruit syrup in place of the fassionola, and has replaced the Martinique rum with a combo of Demerara and light (probably Ron Rico) rums.

My first attempt at the old recipe resulted in a drink where you couldn’t tell there was any coconut cream in it at all. So I upped it from ½ ounce to 1 ounce and that improved it. The cocktail came out looking like Pepto Bismol (much more pink than it looks in this photo), but was tasty. Give it a whirl, if you’re so inclined.

MISSIONARY’S DOWNFALL
½ oz Lime Juice
2 oz Pineapple Juice
½ oz Fassionola
1½ oz Martinique Rum
1 oz Coconut Cream

Put everything in a blender with ice and blend for 5 second on high. Pour into a glass and garnish with a mint sprig.

That looks like a tasty cocktail. My mother-in-law would drink that just because it is pink. :)

I love that you are making all these vintage cocktails. It is fun following along with you on this journey.

• Dale

Thanks Dale. I'll have 3 or 4 more coming up once I have a few needed ingredients.

I've no doubt it tasted better than it looked. I'm not sold on the pink color. :) What a huge difference from Don's Missionary’s Downfall.

Just curious - did the Martinique flavor cut through the coconut cream? I like St. James Amber a lot, but it's a fairly subtle Martinique.

I guess I should just make one. :D

kevin

Kevin - I used St James as it's the only Martinique rum I have. I think it came out OK, but I've never used Rhum Negrita so I don't know how they compare. As for the color, I don't know what else you could expect from mixing fassionola with coconut cream. If you tackle this drink (or any of the others), I'd love to know your thoughts/results.

Wow, over a month since I posted the last cocktail. Work, parties, other projects and Tiki Oasis got in the way.

The Shark’s Tooth as it used to be served at Bali Hai is a difficult one to figure. First, cocktails called the Shark’s Tooth are made quite differently depending on the place serving them. The 1972 “Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide” lists three differently versions, each quite different from the other. The key to deciphering Bali Hai’s old version lies in one of the listed ingredients: sloe gin. I found three recipes for Shark’s Tooth cocktails using sloe gin, and all are very close to one another. The first two I found were from Cocktaildb.com:

¼ oz Lemon juice
¼ oz Sloe gin
1½ oz Gold rum
¼ oz Passion fruit syrup
¼ oz Sweet vermouth
1 dash Bitters

AND

¼ oz Lemon juice
¼ oz Sloe gin
1½ oz Light rum
¼ oz Passion fruit syrup
¼ oz Dry vermouth
Soda Water

Both Cocktaildb.com recipes are very close to the one in the Trader Vic’s guide:

¼ oz Lemon juice
¼ oz Sloe gin
1½ oz Trader Vic’s Navy Grog and punch rum
1 dash Passion fruit nectar
¼ oz French vermouth
Club soda

OK, assuming these three recipes were akin to the old Bali Hai version, we would need to include vermouth, passion fruit, probably club soda, and possibly bitters. But one thing that kept nagging at me is that the Bali Hai menu doesn’t list passion fruit, and I can’t help but think that if they used it, they would have listed it. Passion fruit is just too exotic sounding not to list. On the other hand, the cocktail probably needs syrup of some kind to balance out the drink. Since sloe gin is already reddish, grenadine doesn’t seem necessary. After mulling all this over, this is what I came up with:

½ oz Fresh lime juice
¼ oz Sloe gin (Hiram Walker)
1 oz Light Cuban rum (Havana Club 3 anos)
½ oz Demerara rum (Lemon Hart)
¼ oz Simple syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters
Club soda

Shake all ingredients (except soda water) with crushed ice, and strain into a pilsner glass filled with crushed ice. Add a splash of soda water.

This is a tasty cocktail, one I'd happily have again. Nicely balanced, with bite coming from the lime juice and sloe gin, a good rumminess from the demerara, and the simple syrup and soda water balancing it all out. You may notice I didn't add vermouth. Honestly, I didn't have any on hand, and I really don't think it needs it. But if you feel like experimenting, by all means try the drink with vermouth.

Note: These days, the Bali Hai has twisted its Shark’s Tooth into something altogether different by adding pineapple juice and using only light rum. I've had it, and while it's fine, I don't think it's as good as the one I whipped up.

"I am Lono!" -- Hale Ka'a Tiki Lounge

[ Edited by: arriano 2013-08-21 07:57 ]

This is a great thread. Lots of drinks to try and an excuse (like I need any) to expand my bottle count. I used to think I was a drunk for having as many bottles as I do until I found this place. I'm not even in the semi pros here. (yet)

Storm

The Bali Hai’s Hurricane is interesting in that the recipe the restaurant uses has been changed at least twice. The earliest version appears to have included Barbados rum and pineapple and lime juices. The second version still had pineapple and lime juices, but Demerara rum was substituted for the Barbados, and coconut cream was added. I decided to try my hand at making both early versions.

HURRICANE (first version)
3 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Lime Juice
2 oz Barbados Rum (used Mount Gay)
½ oz Simple Syrup

Add all ingredients into a blender with ice, and blend in high for five seconds. I figured either simple syrup or grenadine should be added. I flipped a coin and used simple syrup. It’s kind of difficult to go wrong with a cocktail like this – pineapple, rum, lime and sugar. How could it not be tasty? But of course it’s nothing like a real Hurricane.

HURRICANE (second version)
2 oz Demerara Rum
2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Lime Juice
½ oz Coconut Cream
¼ oz Grenadine

Add all ingredients into a blender with ice, and blend in high for five seconds. Coconut cream seems like an odd addition for a somewhat iconic cocktail. But bars and restaurants were taking such liberties with the Mai Tai and Zombie that maybe it wasn’t that off the wall. I used grenadine in this one. Not a bad cocktail – sort of a riff on a piña colada.

Try them. Your results may vary. The latest version now on Bali Hai’s menu lists the ingredients as dark Jamaican rum, passion fruit (syrup or juice?), lime juice, and a “mix of berries.” Either by design or coincidence, the latest version is fairly close to Pat O’Brien’s original Hurricane.

I find the current Mai Tais served at Bali Hai to be bad. Not everyone agrees with me. Some people love them. I think they’re harsh and each time I’ve attempted one, I’ve wished I hadn’t. On the current Bali Hai menu, the World Famous Bali Hai Mai Tai is listed with the words, “No Fruit Juice Added!” They even underline those words for emphasis. To me, this is not something to brag about. The current Bali Hai recipe calls for Sweet ‘n Sour instead of using citrus juice and rock candy syrup. In other words, Bali Hai is boasting that instead of fresh juice, they’re serving you citric acid. Yum! And from other posts on the subject of Bali Hai’s Mai Tai, it appears that the restaurant doubles all the ingredients from the “official recipe” which is why they’re so strong.

But the Bali Hai Mai Tai was not always like this. Back in the early days, when I guess the cocktail wasn’t so world famous, Bali Hai’s Mai Tai was made with actual fruit juices, according to old menus. The fact that “fruit juices” is listed as plural on the menu, and no mention of what fruits they were, makes this something of a mystery. One of the juices was certainly lime juice, but what was the second? (And I’m assuming there were only two juices – theoretically there could have been more). My first thought is that one of the juices could be pineapple. Certainly, the “island-style” Mai Tai is pretty common. But it seems to me that if they removed pineapple juice for the version now being served, their regular clientele would have noticed and probably complained. Orange juice is also a commonly added juice to Mai Tais, and if that had been removed for the current version it might not have been that noticeable of a change given that there was (and still is) orange liqueur in the drink. So maybe it was a lime-orange or a lemon-orange combination (the latter is what I believe the Shelter Island’s Whaler’s Punch used). The only other option I can think of is that maybe both lime and lemon juices were used. The Bali Hai’s Daiquiri was made that way.

So what’s the answer? I don’t know. So here’s my guess as to how the Mai Tai used to be made.

MAI TAI
1 oz Puerto Rican Rum (I used Cruzan light)
1 oz Demerara Rum (I used Lemon Hart)
½ oz Orange Curacao
¼ oz Orgeat
½ oz Simple Syrup
½ oz Fresh Lemon Juice
¼ oz Fresh Lime Juice

Combine ingredients -- except Demerara rum -- in a cocktail shaker and shake with crushed ice. Pour into a double rocks glass. Float Demerara rum. Garnish with a lime wedge.

This is a pretty good cocktail, and certainly has the foundation of a true Mai Tai. Give it a whirl and let me know what you think.

"I am Lono!" -- Hale Ka'a Tiki Lounge

[ Edited by: arriano 2013-12-26 16:57 ]

Howdy! Finally getting back to this topic. Our latest recreation is... Sak-ini!

The old Bali Hai menus listed this cocktail as "the driest martini made." According to a Wikipedia article, the saketini was invented by a Japanese chef name Matsuda San who served the drink at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. I've always thought that the old Bali Hai menus (shown on the first page of this thread) were from the 1950s, due to the fact that it lists Cuban rum for one of the cocktails. So I have to wonder if Matsuda San actually invented this drink. Perhaps he did and had served it elsewhere before the '64 Fair.

Whatever the case, various recipes can be found on the web with no clear distinction on what the ratio of gin to sake should be. Likewise, the garnish seems to be anyone’s whim. I found recipes calling for an olive, a lemon twist, a melon ball, and a cucumber slice. The Bali Hai menu doesn’t give much of a clue, only listing the two ingredients.

SAK-INI
2 oz Dry Gin (I used Gordon’s)
½ oz Sake (I used Hakutsuru Dry Sake)

Shake well with ice. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with an olive. I should note that I am not a martini guy. Well, actually I’m not even a gin guy. And to top it off, I'm not much of a sake guy either. So to me this seemed like drinking a fragrant, but bitter pill. So to get some objectivity, I invited a couple of friends over who are fans of gin cocktails. They both liked it and felt the flavor of the sake came through well, but didn't overpower the gin. And they both said, "Wow, that is dry."

I wasn’t that excited about making the Tahitian Manhattan. It’s basically just a Manhattan with rum instead of rye. I suppose this and the Sak-ini (see above) were added to the menu to appease those who weren’t familiar with tropical cocktails and give them choices of drinks they might recognize. What makes this “Tahitian”? Um, well, nothing really.

TAHITIAN MANHATTAN
2 oz Gold Virgin Islands Rum (I used Cruzan)
1 oz Sweet Vermouth (I used Martini)
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.

This is actually a pretty good cocktail. It’s immediately recognizable as a Manhattan, but with the rum flavor coming through. I don’t know what brand of Virgin Islands rum the Bali Hai originally used, but I think if I had come up with it originally I’d have used a Jamaican rum instead, such as Appleton V/X.

Thanks for all your work...

:)

Fun to watch a chemist at work

Jon

On 2014-04-05 14:31, arriano wrote:
I wasn’t that excited about making the Tahitian Manhattan. It’s basically just a Manhattan with rum instead of rye.
This is actually a pretty good cocktail. It’s immediately recognizable as a Manhattan, but with the rum flavor coming through. I don’t know what brand of Virgin Islands rum the Bali Hai originally used, but I think if I had come up with it originally I’d have used a Jamaican rum instead, such as Appleton V/X.

I think there are a few posts (if not threads) around here praising the rum manhattan. I really enjoy a rum manhattan using El Dorado 8 y.o.

On 2014-04-06 12:02, thePorpoise wrote:

I think there are a few posts (if not threads) around here praising the rum manhattan. I really enjoy a rum manhattan using El Dorado 8 y.o.

That does sound good. I'll have to try that.

I only have one last "lost" cocktail to make, but it takes a hard-to-find ingredient: Rose Mint. I can't find it anywhere, but I have discovered that Burpee sells seeds for it. So once I get the seeds, and grow the damn stuff myself, I'll make a Coral Reef. But that'll probably take awhile.

[ Edited by: arriano 2014-04-07 09:45 ]

I put together a little cocktail book with these lost Bali Hai cocktail recipes. If anyone is interested, I can email you the PDF. Just PM me and include your email address.

OK, I was delayed a few days, but I think I've now sent a copy to everyone who requested it. If you haven't received it, let me know. Mahalo!

I've been remiss in publicly expressing my gratitude for the cocktail recipe books you were kind enough to put together and send out to anyone who so desired a copy.

Thank you!

Hopefully we'll meet up soon!

Got mine!! Thank you very much!!

howlinowl