A journalist and Florida resident for more than 40 years, Jim "Hurricane" Hayward shares his obsession with Polynesian Pop and other retro styles on his blog, The Atomic Grog. Jim's roots in mid-century and retro culture go back to his childhood in the 1960s, when he tagged along with his parents to Tiki restaurants and his father's custom car shows. His experience in newspaper journalism and more than 20 years as an independent concert promoter have given him a front-row seat in the South Florida scene since the 1970s. He promoted hundreds of rock, punk, and indie concerts under the Slammie Productions banner since the early 1990s. A graduate of the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications in 1983, Jim was a longtime editor and web producer for The Palm Beach Post before his retirement in 2022. He earned his nickname by virtue of both his dangerous exotic drinks and his longtime position overseeing tropical weather coverage in his stormy home state. Jim now spends his time mixing cocktails, attending events and writing stories for this blog, which launched in 2011. The Atomic Grog extensively covers events, music, art, cocktails, and culture with a retro slant.
The Deep Sea Diver, one of the oldest and most distinctive tropical drinks at Fort Lauderdale’s Mai-Kai, can be traced back to the 1930s and tropical drink pioneer Don the Beachcomber’s original cocktail menu. It also features an unusual, rarely used ingredient that remains somewhat of a mystery more than 75 years later.
From a mid-century Don the Beachcomber menu.
Tiki drink historian Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s excellent 2007 book, Sippin’ Safari, includes a recipe for the Peal Diver’s Punch that you’ll find below as well as an entire chapter on The Mai-Kai’s founding mixologist, Mariano Licudine (1907-1980). Licudine worked behind the bar at Don the Beachcomber restaurants from 1939 until 1956, when he was lured to Fort Lauderdale by The Mai-Kai’s fledgling owners, Jack and Bob Thornton.
Sippin’ Safari remains my favorite of the Bum’s books and perhaps the most influential in fostering appreciation of both the roots of tropical mixology and the history of The Mai-Kai. It details how Licudine took the Don the Beachcomber classics he had been making for years in Chicago and adapted them to The Mai-Kai’s new menu. With the help of Bob Thornton, Licudine tweaked the secret recipes, often elevating them to even greater heights.
Hurricane Hayward interviews Pooch at The Mai-Kai, July 2011. (Photo by Susan Hayward)
Welcome to the first in a series of short interviews with noted personalities involved in events, music, art, cocktails and Tiki/retro culture. These aren’t intended to be all-encompassing, life-history-spanning interrogations. Rather, we’re aiming for a fun, quick take on the typical interview. Just five questions in roughly 5 minutes, hence the name Take 5.
Our first subject is a longtime friend and associate. He’s truly a renaissance man in the world of lowbrow culture. Just don’t try to pigeonhole him. He’s a fine artist, but he’s also a tattoo artist. He’s intelligent and soft spoken, but he’s also the quintessential heavy metal guitarist. His creativity seemingly has no limits. If you’re not familiar with Pooch’s work, we’ll let his official bio explain it best:
The prototype of the Planter’s Punch dates back 200 years and could be considered the template for every tropical drink that followed. The Mai-Kai’s strong Special Planters Punch is an overlooked classic on a cocktail menu full of classics. Just don’t confuse it with the medium-strength (and much less flavorful) Planters Punch.
In his 2010 book, Remixed, Tiki cocktail historian Jeff “Beachbum” Berry theorized that Donn Beach discovered the Planter’s on one of his rum-running trips to Jamaica during Prohibition. Click on the article at right for Berry’s excellent research on how the Planter’s Punch influenced nearly every 20th century Tiki drink, from the Q.B. Cooler to the Zombie.
Of course, Donn Beach went on to open the world’s first Tiki bar, Don the Beachcomber, in 1934 in Los Angeles. He had five versions of the Planter’s Punch on his 1930s bar menu, Berry writes in Remixed. Of those, Don’s Own Planter’s (see recipe below), is most likely the version that inspired The Mai-Kai’s Special Planters Punch. If you’ve been following these reviews, you’ll know that The Mai-Kai’s original mixologist Mariano Licudine was privy to Donn Beach’s recipes during his 16 years working at Don the Beachcomber restaurants in L.A. and Chicago.
Note: The Monterey Club has announced plans to close at the end of 2011.
* Click here for updates
If you were at The Monterey Club on Monday for the Nekromantix show or any of the other concerts this week, you surely noticed that the club has yet to open its expanded concert space. Negotiations and permits are taking longer than expected, but the owners hope to have it open in time for the Revenge of the Tiki 3 event scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 8.
Presented with the adjacent Kreepy Tiki Tattoos, the 14-hour bash (2 p.m. until 4 a.m.) is scheduled to include 30 bands (including country hellraiser Wayne Hancock from Austin), a custom car and bike show, vendors, a burlesque show and more. The bigger concert venue will be a welcome addition to the South Florida scene.
The facade of the Gold Coast Roller Rink in Fort Lauderdale was intact on Monday, Sept. 5, 2011. But demolition was well under way. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward)
Those at the Nekromantix concert, or who may have recently visited The Monterey or Kreepy Tiki, may also have noticed another change in the area (just north of Fort Lauderdale International Airport on the east side of U.S. 1). A landmark building is being demolished.
Next door to The Monterey Club, Gold Coast Roller Rink, one of the few remaining vintage rinks in Florida, is in the process of being torn down after closing in mid-August. The property was purchased and will soon be home to a pet-boarding facility for travelers using the airport. Good news for jet-setting pet owners (or Monterey clubgoers looking for some extra parking), but bad news for skaters as well as fans of iconic buildings.
Ice cream drinks are often overlooked, especially at The Mai-Kai, where classic concoctions such as the Barrel O’ Rum, Jet Pilot and Zombie are the star attractions. Even on the small after-dinner section of the cocktail menu, the coffee drinks typically get more attention.
But in the right circumstances, particularly if you’re a fan of soft-serve, there are several adult ice cream cocktails on the Fort Lauderdale Polynesian restaurant’s menu worth sampling after a delicious meal. For cocoa-lovers, there’s the Chocolate Snowflake. For those who prefer vanilla, there’s the Mai-Kai Blizzard.
We’ve taken a stab at re-creating the Blizzard in our home bar, but this one requires much different equipment. We put our new ice-cream maker (see photo above) to good use and made a classic vanilla that worked perfect in its soft form, right out of the machine.
If you’re a fan of psychobilly (the horror-themed bastard son of rockabilly), you should be well aware of the Nekromantix. The influential trio was founded in 1989 in Copenhagen, Denmark, by vocalist/bassist Kim Nekroman and has released eight scorching albums of rip-roaring tunes such as Curse of the Coffin and Gargoyles Over Copenhagen.
You probably also just bought the band’s eighth LP, What Happens In Hell, Stays In Hell (released Aug. 2 on Hellcat Records), and plan to attend Monday’s concert at the newly expanded Monterey Club in Fort Lauderdale with The Howlers and Brain Chips.
So, as the Monterey rushes to get their new concert space ready for the Labor Day onslaught, let’s dig up a few tidbits about the Nekromantix, Nekroman and his one-of-a-kind “coffin bass” …
The Bora Bora in The Molokai bar in October 2016, shortly after receiving an upgrade with the inclusion of a long-dormant secret mix originally created by The Mai-Kai’s founding mixologist, Mariano Licudine, circa 1956. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward)
What a difference and new rum and secret syrup can make. Relegated to the bottom end of our ratings and nearly forgotten, The Mai-Kai’s Bora Bora made a comeback in 2012 thanks to the return of the rich and flavorful Demerara rum to The Mai-Kai, which gives this cocktail a much-needed boost.
The little-known Bora Bora has always been a potent concoction. I used to recommended it to folks who like a strong Mai Tai (classic, Trader Vic style) due to its intense combination of sour juices and Martinique rum. But with the smoky and tasty Demerara rum from Guyana replacing the earthy and sometimes harsh agricole rum, this drink took on a whole new life.
It immediately jumped up five spots in our ratings (rising from 2 1/2 to 3 stars) and inspired the first two tribute recipes below. After further study, we moved it up another five spots to the top of the 3-star rankings. Click here for more on the return of Demerara rum to The Mai-Kai.
Then, in the late summer of 2016, it was among a handful of drinks to get a boost from the return of a mysterious secret ingredient that dates back to the early days of The Mai-Kai. Now featuring Mariano’s Mix #7, Bora Bora takes on a whole new life with a bold yet sweet and approachable anise flavor vying for your attention. As a result, we boosted our rating from 3 to 3 1/2 stars, moving it into the Top 25. [See the rankings] Check out the third version of the tribute recipe below.
July 2018 update: The Bora Bora was one of three cocktails featured at The Hukilau in Fort Lauderdale in June in Hurricane Hayward’s Okole Maluna Cocktail Academy class, “How to Mix Like The Mai-Kai.” In the sold-out event, students learned tips and techniques for turning their home bars into a Tiki cocktail paradise by exploring the key elements of Mai-Kai cocktails. (Atomic Grog photos from The Hukilau’s Okole Maluna Cocktail Academy at the Pier Sixty-Six Hotel & Marina on June 8, 2018)
After discussing the syrups, Hayward revealed documents that show how The Mai-Kai faithfully follows Don the Beachcomber’s early secret recipes, including one that features both Mariano’s Mix #7 and the even more obscure “#4”. The class then received sample drinks featuring the Bora Bora tribute recipe, batched by Hayward with expert assistance from Lucky Munro, proprietor of Lucky’s Cane & Grog in Pittsburgh. See photos from the class:Facebook | Flickr
The annual gathering of the Tiki tribe in Fort Lauderdale, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary, will be moving to April for its 2012 edition. It had been held in early June for the past five years.
Los Straitjackets at the Bahia Cabana in Fort Lauderdale during Hukilau 2009. (Photo by Go11Media.com)
“The Hukilau has moved to April in order to accommodate more outdoor activities at a cooler time of year and to give fans more time between all the great Tiki events out there,” said co-founder and longtime producer/organizer Christie “Tiki Kiliki” White.
White has posted the 2012 dates as April 19-22. Final plans have yet to be announced, but look for more events taking place at The Mai-Kai, the legendary Polynesian restaurant that has been the centerpiece of The Hukilau since it moved from Atlanta in 2003.
Plans also call for a return to the Bahia Cabana at the south end of Fort Lauderdale Beach, which has been the longtime hotel of choice for Hukilau revelers. Its poolside stage has been host to a great lineup of retro-inspired bands, such as Los Straitjackets, The Woggles, and Tikiyaki Orchestra.
More than 75 years after its invention, the Mai Tai is widely hailed as the definitive tropical drink. You’ll get some arguments from Zombie fans like myself, but there’s no denying that the Mai Tai is one of the world’s most popular and distinctive cocktails, period.
The Mai Tai (front) is one of The Mai-Kai’s signature drinks. (Photo by Go11Events.com, courtesy of The Mai-Kai; waitress: Maima)
We subscribe to Berry’s theory that Trader Vic created the Mai Tai after tasting a Don the Beachcomber drink with a similar flavor profile called the Q.B. Cooler. Donn Beach, who created the Tiki bar concept in 1934 in Los Angeles, also had a drink called the Mai Tai Swizzle, but it was gone from the menu by 1937. It’s widely accepted that Vic frequented Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood before opening his first Trader Vic’s in Oakland. Could he have lifted the name from one drink and the flavor profile from another in creating his Mai Tai?
It’s entirely possible, but that has nothing to do with The Mai-Kai, or its version of the Mai Tai. The Mai-Kai already serves a descendant of the Q.B. Cooler called the K.O. Cooler (See our previous review). If you’re looking for the taste of a proto Trader Vic’s Mai Tai, try the K.O. Cooler.
The Mai Tai served at The Mai-Kai is one of many variations created in the wake of the success of the original drink. You’ll find some good examples from vintage Tiki restaurants in Beachbum Berry’s cocktail books and app, including the Bali Hai Mai Tai, Damon’s Mai Tai, Kon-Tiki Mai Tai and Surf Room Mai Tai. Until recently, many bars offered an inferior or bastardized copy. But the Tiki and craft cocktail movements have resulted in a much more creative atmosphere, especially where the Mai Tai is concerned. Check out the links below for examples:
* Florida bartender wins Chairman’s Reserve Mai Tai Challenge at The Mai-Kai
* More Mai Tai recipes on The Atomic Grog
A Mai Tai at The Mai-Kai in April 2013. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward)
In the mid-century, however, The Mai-Kai was not quick to jump on the Mai Tai bandwagon. The cocktail has not been spotted on a menu before 1970 (see image). It’s missing from all previous menus in our collection, including this one from 1966.
At first, it was likely an off-menu drink made upon request, like the Scorpion and Suffering Bastard, two other Trader Vic’s classics popular with many guests. The latter finally made it to The Mai-Kai’s menu during the last major update in 2018.
Rather than copying Vic’s recipe, Mai-Kai mixologist Mariano Licudine put his own spin on the Mai Tai (and Suffering Bastard), owing to his roots as one of Don the Beachcomber’s early Filipino barmen. He worked behind one of Donn Beach’s original Hollywood bars in 1939 before becoming assistant bar manager at the Chicago location during his years there (1940-1955). He joined The Mai-Kai as bar manager in 1956, crafting its opening day menu with owners Bob and Jack Thornton.
With much fanfare, Walt Disney World’s Enchanted Tiki Room was back in business this week after being closed since January due to a mysterious fire that precipitated a full overhaul of the legendary attraction.
Jose and his friends have come home to roost at Walt Disney World's Enchanted Tiki Room (Photo from the Disney Parks Blog)
And, much to the glee of Disney fans and Tikiphiles, the Tiki Room officially reopened in the Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland with a new animatronic show that gives more than a nod to the original attraction, which has been a mainstay at California’s Disneyland since 1963.
We won’t be able to take a gander until October, but we’re happy to share some of the reviews, photos and video that have emerged this week. For a full recap of the Enchanted Tiki Room’s history and the story behind the renovations, check out our previous post.
