Events, Music, Art, Cocktails, Culture
Bodies were moving and The Molokai bar was packed last night as the legendary Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale became a haven for hipsters and hangers-on during the latest late-night dance party hosted by the gang from Radioactive Records.
DJs Sensitive Side, James Brown’s Sweat and Mikey R. rocked the house with the sounds of Soul, ’50s and ’60s R&B, punk, mod, trash, rockabilly, garage and more.
Continue reading “Photos from the April 29 dance party at The Mai-Kai”
Related links
* See our photos from the event | Our event preview | More on Rum Renaissance
* Our recipe (with photos) for the Atomic Zombie Cocktail
There was enough revelry and hard-core mixology on display this past Monday to wake the long-dead Tiki spirits at the legendary Mai-Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.
The occasion was a collision course of Tiki culture and rum appreciation known as the Zombie Jamboree, the kickoff party for the seven-day Miami Rum Renaissance Festival.
The evening consisted of three components. First, Tiki drink expert and author Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s seminar on the history of the Zombie cocktail, then the best contemporary mixologists competing in the “Zombie Jam,” followed by The Mai-Kai’s show and dinner.
When I first heard about this event, I had to pinch myself. Had I died and gone to Tiki heaven? My favorite Mai-Kai drink was being celebrated with a seminar by my mixology guru and a contest that was just beckoning for me to enter. So enter I did.
Continue reading “We be Jammin: Rum Renaissance Zombie fest at The Mai-Kai”
Check out the blog and event preview in New Times
The legendary Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale will be hosting one of its semi-annual late-night dance parties on Friday, April 29.
DJs Sensitive Side, James Brown’s Sweat and Mikey R. will be spinning the sounds of Soul, ’50s and ’60s R&B, punk, mod, trash, rockabilly, garage and more.
Festivities begin in The Molokai bar around 9 p.m. with a special happy hour running from 10 p.m. to midnight with half-price on the Mai-Kai’s famous tropical drinks and appetizers.
There will also be giveaways from Radio Active Records and The Atomic Grog will be on hand to give away tickets to Dick Dale’s upcoming South Florida concerts in June.
Click here for the Facebook event.
The Mai-Kai is at 3599 N. Federal Highway.
The Miami Rum Renaissance Festival kicks off today with a “Zombie Jamboree” at the legendary Mai-Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale from 5 to 7 p.m.
Invented by tropical drink and Tiki bar pioneer Don The Beachcomber in the 1930s, the infamous Zombie cocktail took the world by storm more than 75 years ago. When the great wave of Polynesian Pop faded in the 1970s, so did the Zombie. Its secret original recipe was seemingly lost forever with only a few remaining Tiki palaces, such as The Mai-Kai, carrying on Don The Beachcomber’s legacy.
But then along came the Tiki revival of the 1990s and “cocktail archaeologist” Jeff “Beachbum” Berry. He unearthed long-forgotten Zombie recipes in his seminal books Grog Log (1998) and Intoxica (2002), both recently re-released in the revised and updated anthology Beachbum Berry Remixed (2010).
But it was Berry’s fourth book, Sippin’ Safari (2007), that truly blew the lid off the great “lost” tropical drink recipes and the people behind them. An entire chapter explores the Zombie and its history, finally nailing down the true “original recipe.” The book’s final chapter is devoted to The Mai-Kai, one of the last places on earth making drinks directly descended from the Don The Beachcomber classics.
At the Zombie Jamboree, Berry will present his graduate-level thesis seminar on the original creation of – and the further evolution of – the Zombie cocktail, featuring samples of Don’s classic 1934 and 1956 recipes for guests to taste.
The seminar will be followed by the “Zombie Jam,” demonstrations by notable mixologists – including yours truly – with their own variations of the infamous Zombie cocktail. Guests will be asked to vote for the drink they enjoy most with the winner crowned “Zombie Master” of Rum Renaissance 2011.
Continue reading “Zombie Jamboree: The Mai-Kai hosts an event to die for”