There are a flurry of special events upcoming at The Mai-Kai, including three Halloween parties later this month. But before you don your ghoulish attire, chill out this Saturday in your finest island wear during a rare appearance of The Crazed Mugs from Tampa.
Celebrating the release of the new Find Forbidden Island album, the band will be preforming multiple acoustic sets in The Molokai bar. Happy hour runs from 5 to 7 p.m. with half-price drinks and appetizers, so get there early for a good seat.
Find Forbidden Island includes several songs inspired by The Mai-Kai: Rum Barrel and Mystery Girl. The 12-song CD will be available for purchase from the band for $12, and on Saturday only it will include a bonus sticker.
The Malayan Mist is sometimes lost amid the many selections on the vast menu of nearly 50 tropical drinks at Tiki’s crown jewel, The Mai-Kai. It may be one of the most notable, however, with origins that date back to the very beginnings of the modern Tiki bar.
A 1959 Mai-Kai menu.
For a tropical drink that’s been around for at least 55 years, there is precious little information to be found about the mysterious Malayan Mist. Fittingly, it also features a unique sweet flavor profile that’s just as esoteric. Like many of The Mai-Kai’s drinks that have survived a half century of menu updates, the classic artwork remains unchanged (see 1959 menu at right).
That artwork helped us solve the mystery. More than half of the drinks at The Mai-Kai are retooled versions of classic Don the Beachcomber cocktails. Mixologist Mariano Licudine worked for Donn Beach in Los Angeles and Chicago before he was hired away by Mai-Kai owners Bob and Jack Thornton, brothers from Chicago who sought to create the ultimate Polynesian palace in what was then a desolate area west of Fort Lauderdale.
Along with Licudine, they snagged the restaurant’s top chef plus manager Robert Van Dorpe, who provided them with invaluable information. This included the sources for all the glassware and artwork to go with the secret ingredients to make those world famous cocktails. Click here for more on the story of the Don the Beachcomber connection to The Mai-Kai as unearthed by historian Tim “Swanky” Glazner.
I remember the anticipation vividly. It was mid-2010. My new copy of Beachbum Berry Remixed had just arrived via Amazon, and I tore open the package to find what secrets lurked on its pages. Sure, I had already devoured the Bum’s Grog Log (1998) and Intoxica! (2002), perfecting most of the 150 or so recipes within, but Remixed promised to be more than just a rehash of those classic Tiki tomes.
It not only completely revised and updated those books, it promised 107 additional recipes, including “41 newly discovered, previously unpublished vintage Tiki drink recipes from the 1930s to 1960s.” To me, this meant only one thing: Another secret Mai-Kai recipe would likely be revealed. Every one of the four previous Jeff Berry titles – most notably 2007’s Sippin’ Safari – had unearthed recipes by The Mai-Kai’s master mixologist, Mariano Licudine.
First, I admired the gorgeous design. Hundreds of vintage color photos and artwork adorn the 248 pages. And the creative drink photos raise the art to a new level. It addition to the recipes, it also contains tons of history and stories, similar to Sippin’ Safari. Appendixes included new drinks by the Bum as well as new recipes from the Tiki revival.
Then, finally, I found it on Page 43 as an added bonus recipe to the Grog Log section on the daiquiri, which Berry calls “tiki’s template.” The Mai-Kai’s legendary … Banana Daiquiri? That’s it? I got myself all worked up over one of the most common tropical drinks ever created? Initially, I was let down. C’mon Jeff, I thought. You can do better than this. Where’s the elusive Jet Pilot or Mutiny?
After announcing a date change to April 2012, organizers of The Hukilau have been busy confirming an outstanding lineup of entertainment for the 11th installment of the Southeast’s biggest annual celebration of mid-century and Polynesian pop culture.
The event is scheduled for April 19-22 in Fort Lauderdale and is centered around the historic Mai-Kai restaurant, plus the Bahia Cabana Beach Resort. A new host hotel is expected to be named soon.
While designers are still crafting the official Web site for its upcoming re-launch and promotional press releases are being prepared, announcements are trickling out to followers of The Hukilau’s Facebook page and members of its Facebook group. Become a fan of the page or join the group to stay updated and share your thoughts and ideas.
The biggest news so far is the addition of The Martian Denny Orchestra, presumably as the Friday night headlining act. After performing at The Hukilau in 2009 and 2010 with Los Straitjackets and The Neanderthals, acclaimed Nashville-based guitarist Eddie Angel returns with this new, out-of-this-world project.
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.
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.
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.
