Happy Mai Tai Day!

Happy Mai Tai Day!

Once again,it's time for Tiki's favorite holiday,MAI TAI DAY! The day when we salute the birth of the magic elixir created by Victor Bergeron in 1944. My first post was on the classic Mai Tai,so for today I've decided to mix a pair of modern Mai Tai riffs I think you'll really like. Enjoy!

Mix #217 Blue Hawai-Tai

1oz Wray & Nephew Overproof rum 1/2oz Plantation 3 Stars rum 1/2oz blue curacao 1oz lemon juice 1/2oz orgeat 1/2oz simple syrup

Shake with ice and pour into snifter glass.

From Mai Tai expert Kevin Crossman comes a delicious spin on the classic recipe. While I thought the lemon would sour it,it's in fact a touch sweet with some super funk on the end. And the W&N gives it some real kick. The pretty blue color in the snifter also makes for an eye-pleasing experience. Another winning Mai Tai from the master.

Mix #218 S.O.S. Mai Tai

1.5oz rhum agricole blanc 1/2oz pot still Jamaican rum 3/4oz lime juice 3/4oz orgeat 1/2oz orange curacao

Shake with ice and pour into collins glass. If you're fancy,add a spent lime shell with flaming 151.

Created by bartender Ean Bancroft at the S.O.S. bar in Georgia,this is another good sweet/funky riff. Funkier than the Blue Hawai-Tai,but not as strong,if you're looking to have more than one,I'd go with this. Either way,these are both good spins on the classic recipe.

So celebrate the day with an original Mai Tai or a riff. Maita'i roa ae!

A double century.

Well,here we are folks,my two hundredth mixing. It's been a long journey,and I'd just like to pause for a moment to thank my poor liver,which has been by my side(well,actually in my side) through the whole ordeal with nary a complaint(unlike my head,which has complained a few times). For #200 I chose a drink from the famous Tiki-ti,an LA icon since 1961. Established by Ray Buhen,it's still open and still family owned. If you ever find yourself in the City of Angels,you should definitely make the pilgrimage here.

The drink is the infamous Puka Punch.

I say infamous because not only does it pack a punch,but it was described by a Reddit poster as one of the biggest pains in the butt he'd ever made due to the list of eleven ingredients. Of course this didn't put off your Uncle Giltron;I've survived multiple Zombies and the mighty Boo Loo,and my extensive inventory of mixers includes everything I needed. So without further ado,I present to you my two hundredth mixing. Enjoy!

Mix #200 Puka Punch

2oz light rum 1oz dark rum 1/2oz overproof rum 1oz orange juice 1oz pineapple juice 1/2oz lime juice 3/4oz passionfruit syrup 1/2oz honey syrup 1/2oz simple syrup 1/4oz falernum 2 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake everything except overproof rum with ice and pour into brandy snifter. Float overproof on top.

Very sweet,with honey in the body and a touch of spice in the finish. And with all that rum it's quite strong. For my rums I used Plantation 3 Star,Coruba,and Plantation OFTD. Lemon Hart 151 would've normally been my choice for an overproof float,but I decided to cut my liver and head a break on this one. Like the Boo Loo,this goes down real easy and the rum will sneak up on you if you're not careful. This is also not a drink you'd want more than one of,as all that rum and sweet will hang you over. But it's perfect if you're just sitting on the couch watching old black & white movies and want a nice buzz. It will improve the cheesy old special effects.

Hope you enjoy my bicentennial mixing. I'm sure I can find enough recipes to take this blog to 300,so stay tuned. Mahalo!

Hallelujah!

So your Uncle Giltron finally did it;after a year of searching,I finally found a bottle of Green Chartreuse at one of my local liquor stores:

Ta-da!

Now you may be wondering why this is such a big deal. Well the fact is,you can't just walk into any old store and pick up a bottle of it like it was Bacardi. This liqueur is actually made by monks who only produce a certain number of bottles a year in the monastery La Grande Chartreuse near Grenoble,France. Because of this,it can be very hard to find,as well as expensive.

(the actual monastery)

The story goes that in 1084,St. Bruno of Cologne traveled to the Chartreuse Desert(not really a desert,it was just really isolated) with six companions and created a silent order of Roman Catholic monastics known as the Carthusians. In 1605 François-Annibal d´Estrées,the King of France’s Marshal of Artillery,handed over to the Carthusian monks of Paris a document of mysterious origins which supposedly contained the recipe for an “elixir of long life". Time passed,the monks studied the document,and finally in 1737 the manuscript was transferred to the monks of the Grande Chartreuse. They in turn studied it and experimented(one of their early formulas was actually red) and finally in 1764 created a seven page manuscript entitled,Composition of the Elixir of Chartreuse. This elixir is what is today known as Green Chartreuse. Fun fact,the color chartreuse is actually named for this liqueur. Later in 1838 they would also come up with another liqueur,Yellow Chartreuse,which is much easier to find,but not as potent(Yellow Chartreuse is supposed to use the same ingredients,just in different proportions).

So what is Green Chartreuse? It's an herbal liqueur made up of 130 ingredients. The exact recipe is a closely guarded secret,known to only three Carthusian monks. Supposedly,there are two monks who each have half the formula,with the Father Superior being the only living person to have the full recipe. The monks produce about 1.2 million bottles a year,which sounds like quite a lot,until you look into companies like Bacardi,which produce 100,000 liters of rum a day(my bottle of Chartreuse is 3/4 of a liter). Green is stronger tasting and 110 proof,yellow is sweeter and only 80 proof. The taste is very,um,'herbal'. It's really hard to describe other than that. And at 110 proof,it has about as much punch as Navy rum. Back in the '70's there was a popular cocktail called Swampwater which used Green Chartreuse,but it fell out of favor,and today there are only a few Tiki drinks that use it,mostly because of its rarity,but also because the complex flavor isn't to everyone's taste(it really comes forward in the drink). So below you will find a coterie of Green Chartreuse recipes. I hope you enjoy them.

Mix #213 Chartreuse Swizzle

1.5oz Green Chartreuse 1oz pineapple juice 3/4oz lime juice 1/2oz falernum

Swizzle all ingredients with ice in glass and top with grated nutmeg.

Woo! Boy howdy! The first thing that hits you is a strong burst of herbs. The Chartreuse really comes forward. Then you get some spice from the falernum and nutmeg. Then one and a half ounces of 110 proof liqueur hit you. If you like herbal drinks you'll love this. This was created by Marco Dionysos at Tres Agaves in San Francisco and has become a Tiki staple with Chartreuse.

Mix #214 The Last Word

3/4oz Green Chartreuse 3/4oz gin 3/4oz marachino liqueur* 3/4oz lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into chilled glass.

*I used Cherry Heering.

This other Tiki Chartreuse staple was born at the Detroit Athletic Club around 1915. It's believed it was created by bartender Frank Fogarty. Its claims to fame are the fact that it uses equal measures of all the ingredients,and is a Prohibition-era drink that has survived into modern times. The Chartreuse and gin combine to create a very 'botanical' flavor with a cherry finish. I used Heering which is more sour than maraschino,but it turned out well. Again,if you like herbal flavors,you'll like this.

Mix #215 Swampwater

1.5oz Green Chartreuse 6oz pineapple juice 1/4oz lime juice

Pour into mason jar with ice and stir.

So Green Chartreuse is a rare liqueur consisting of 130 ingredients and crafted by monks who have taken a vow of silence. So of course here in 'Merica we're gonna mix it with juice,give it a silly name,and serve it in mason jars. Yee-haw! No,actually,you can't blame us for this. This drink was created by the Chartreuse company back in the 1970's to get Americans to drink it. We had free love and disco and simple but potent cocktails were popular in clubs,so the French figured this would be right up our alley. And it was,for a time. But just like disco,it faded into memory until your Uncle Giltron dropped a bunch of dosh on a fancy bottle of liqueur and then started trolling the waters of the internet looking for recipes to use it in. You can ask your parents if they remember this,but they probably won't,or won't want to(insert winky emogi). It's actually not bad. It starts sweet and pineapple-y,then gives an herbal finish. It's easy to make,easy to drink,and has some kick,which actually makes it a good summer BBQ drink. And if you use the whole bottle,you can scale up the juices and batch it for your cookout. Remember folks,if you hold your pinky up it makes drinking out of a jar classy.

Mix #216 Amazonian Paralysis

1 3/4oz Appleton 12yr rum 1/2oz Green Chartreuse 1/2oz sloe gin 1/2oz velvet falernum 1oz pineapple juice 1/2oz lemon juice 4 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and pour into Mai Tai glass.

Created by Disneyland bartender Melissa Erin Nickoloff,this is a complex Tiki drink Vic and Donn would have appreciated. It starts sweet,then you taste spices,and then there's an herbal finish. It also has plenty of kick. A proper Tiki drink and good for introducing people to Chartreuse. And of course the name gives me an excuse to use a Lynda Carter gif(insert second winky emogi).

So if you're looking to broaden your palette,and can find it,pick up a bottle of Green Chartreuse and get a taste of a rare liqueur with tons of history behind it. Enjoy!

Two more.

Just two mixings from Facebook this week,but they're good'uns. Hope you enjoy them.

Mix #225 Coconut Doppelgänger

1.5oz coconut rum 1oz pineapple rum 1/2oz velvet falernum 1oz lime juice 1/4oz orgeat 1/4oz simple syrup 3 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and pour into glass.

I found this in Tiki Recipes on Facebook. It's sweet with a coconut base and spice on the end. Very nice. It was apparently created for a German brand of rum. I can't find their rum on this side of the Atlantic,but their recipe was good,so I'm guessing their rum isn't bad either. If you're in Europe you might want to give it a try.

Mix #226 Two Metres Apart Gets You One Step Closer To Paradise

2oz dark Jamaican rum 1/2oz amaro* 3/4oz falernum 1oz pineapple juice 1oz grapefruit juice 1/2oz lime juice Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and pour into glass. Top with bitters and some grated nutmeg.

*See below.

The longest-named drink I've made,this was also found while perusing Tiki Recipes. It was created during COVID by the Shameful Tiki Room bars in Canada. It was intended to be made with an amaro such as Campari or Aperol,but the poster said it was very bitter,so I decided to swap in Disaronno. Mine turned out sweetish with some spice and a bit of tart on the end. Quite a nice drink. If you like bitter,then use the original amaro,otherwise my tweak will make it sweet. Or try both to see which you like best.

So that's it for this installment. Halloween is just around the corner,so stay tuned for some spooky drinks. Aloha!

Ohhh....mama!

Happy 4th of July folks,I hope you had a good one. This week we're going to look at the drink I made for the 4th,the Bahama Mama. Some might say it's tourist,not Tiki,but it can be found in many Tiki bars,and the former Lost Lake of Chicago had their own version,so that counts. The thing about the Bahama Mama is that there really isn't a singular proper recipe. Unlike the Mai Tai,it can't be traced to one bartender or bar. Even the origin of the name is hazy. Some say it was named for Caribbean dancer Dottie Lee Anderson whose stage name was Bahama Mama,some say it came from a song by George "King of Goombay" Symonette,a famous Calypso singer.

If you do a deep dive into the 'net,you'll find recipes where it's shaken,blended,or even layered. There's recipes with and without grenadine,with and without banana liqueur,the juices change,and I found one that calls for coffee liqueur. I even found a posting from a bartender on Reddit who claimed that he just made his from whatever he had behind the bar and proudly proclaimed that he would "go to his grave without learning a proper recipe". So basically,if you ever order a Mama at a bar,you'll get what they think it should be(or what the bartender feels like). In order not to waste your rum,I've tried a couple recipes that I can recommend,and one that shows you how to spot a bad drink. Enjoy folks.

Mix #201a Elevated Bahama Mama 1

1oz Plantation Xaymaca rum 3/4oz light overproof rum* 1oz pineapple juice 1oz lemon juice 1/2oz cream of coconut 1/2oz pomegranate syrup 1/4oz orange curacao 1/4oz banana liqueur

Shake with five ice cubes for five seconds and strain into glass with ice.

*I used Wray & Nephew Overproof.

From the former Lost Lake bar,this is fruity and sweet with a citrus aftertaste. The overproof also makes it strong. It's called 'elevated' because it was made to be a properly balanced drink that you'd be willing to make again. A bit touristy,but quite good. I wouldn't be ashamed to serve it in my bar.

Mix #201b Elevated Bahama Mama 2

1oz Appleton 12yr rum 3/4oz Smith & Cross rum 1oz pineapple juice 1oz lemon juice 1/2oz grenadine 1/4oz orange curacao 1/4oz banana liqueur

Shake with ice and pour into glass.

Remember how I said that there wasn't a single proper recipe? Well the internet can't even seem to agree with the recipe from Lost Lake. This is another 'official' version I found. It's sweeter than the above because the grenadine comes forward more than the pomegranate syrup did. It has some kick due to the Navy rum,but not as much as the first. Not bad,if you like sweeter drinks give it a try. I do prefer the first one though.

'The Bahama Mama'

1oz spiced rum 3/4oz coconut rum 3/4oz banana liqueur 2.5oz pineapple juice 1oz orange juice 1-2 Tbsp grenadine

Shake with ice and pour into something.

So you'll notice that I didn't number this recipe. That's because it doesn't count,this is your lesson in how to spot a bad drink. One to two tablespoons means a half to a full ounce of grenadine. That's a lot. And that's all you'll really taste in this hot mess. It's way too sweet because there's almost no sour to balance it(note the lemon in the Elevateds). I also stated 'coconut rum' without being specific because the rum specified in the posting I found is something you won't find in my bar. I'm not the worst of rum snobs,but I'm not mixing with rail. If your bartender serves you this,send it back and/or find another bar. And if they toss on an overproof float,they're just trying to give you a hangover. You've been warned folks.

I hope this has been informative for you. If you just want to get hammered on vacation,then go ahead and order a Mama at the beach bar. If you want something you'll enjoy,use one of the two numbered recipes above.

And now I'll close with some good music and a tribute to the Fourth by an American icon. Aloha!

Passion for fassion.

Fassionola,also known as passionola,is a sweet syrup used in some Tiki drink recipes. It's bright red like grenadine,but much more berry flavored. It is a bit rare though,as only a couple companies make it. Part of this has to do with the crazy history of the stuff.

It is believed to have been created around 1916 by a German immigrant named Victor Kremer. He was a druggist,and back then drug stores often contained a soda bar. Victor and his wife created a passionfruit flavored syrup for sodas and ice cream. It was originally called Passiflora,then the name was changed to Passionola. It was made in three colors: red,which was berry flavored,gold,which was passionfruit flavored,and green,which was lime flavored. At the time it was pretty much just used for soda and ice cream,although it and other flavorings were used to make drug cocktails as well(ever wonder where the 'coke' in Coca-Cola came from?). Several companies were involved in producing it,but it wasn't until around 1956 when the Jonathan English Company took up the mantle,and they continue to produce it today. Don Beach is sometimes credited with being involved with passionola,but neither he or Trader Vic used the stuff until much later in the '60's and '70's. Passionola pretty much was out of the realm of Tiki until that time. It also took a hit in the '60's,when it became associated with so-called 'stag pills':

(From the upcoming book Fassionola by Martin Lindsay. Doesn't sound much different from today's ads,does it?)

Passionola was mentioned by name in the 1963 Congressional report,Frauds and Quackery Affecting the Older Citizen, Hearings Before the Special Committee on Aging, United States Senate. A year later,the US patent office granted a patent for fassionola,which helped disassociate the syrup from the scandal. It was after this Don and Vic started using it in some of their drinks,since now it didn't have a negative connotation. Today it's being used more and more as an exotic ingredient in modern Tiki drinks. BG Reynolds makes it in limited batches,so you have to get on their mailing list or check their site to see when it's available. Jonathan English is still making it,in several flavors,but they don't sell online. You either have to visit them in person,or search for listings on eBay(which is where I acquired mine). There are also a couple of small batch companies making it,but you'll have to do some searching for them.

So enough history,let's get to mixing. Here's a few Giltron approved recipes I think you'll like. Enjoy!

Mix #190 Pi-Yi

1oz light Cuban rum* 3.4oz gold Cuban rum* 1oz pineapple juice 1/2oz lime juice 1/2oz passionola red 1tsp honey syrup 1 dash Angostura bitters

Blend with 6oz crushed ice for five seconds and pour into hollowed-out pineapple.

*Since Cuban rum is hard to come by,you can substitute Virgin Islands or Puerto Rican rum.

Created by Donn Beach around 1937,this has a sweet start with a tart finish. No,i didn't use a hollowed-out pineapple,I've done that once already. It's a nice summer-y drink that's not too strong.

Mix #191 Cannibal Cooler

3/4oz Plantation 3 Star rum 3/4oz Plantation Original Dark rum 1/2oz Plantation OFTD 1.5oz orange juice 3/4oz lime juice 3/4oz fassionola 1/4oz cinnamon syrup 1.5oz club soda

Flash blend everything except soda. Pour into tall glass,top with soda and stir.

Another Jason Alexander creation,it has a nice sweet/tart blend with citrus and a cinnamon finish with plenty of kick. Another excellent cocktail from the master. (bonus cool points if you saw the movie the pic is from)

Mix #192 Welcome to Georgetown

1.5oz El Dorado 3 1/2oz Lemon Hart 151 1/2oz creme de cacoa 3/4oz fassionola 1/2oz lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain into coupe glass. Add some grated nutmeg to top.

From master mixologist Brian Maxwell ,this is sweet,the fassionola comes forward and the chocolate finishes with some spice from the nutmeg. The 151 gives it kick. A bit of a foo-foo drink but I liked it.

Mix #193 Alucard's Cup Of Blood

1oz Plantation Isle of Fiji rum 1oz Wray & Nephew overproof rum 1oz pineapple juice 1oz lemon juice 1/2oz falernum 1/2oz fassionola 1 dash Angostura bitters 1 dash absinthe

Blend with crushed ice and pour into Mai Tai glass. Garnish with something spooky.

Created by Facebook user Andrew Campbell,this blood red drink has a nice sweet/tart blend with plenty of funk and plenty of kick. Will definitely bring this back out for Halloween.

Mix #33 Megalodon

1oz Lemon Hart 151 1oz white rum 1.25oz lime juice 1oz agave syrup 1tsp red fassionola

Blend with a cup of ice for 5sec.

Just had to repost this since it's so good it's in my regular roster of mixes. Delicious with plenty of kick.

Find a bottle of fassionola and try something new. You can even sub it for grenadine to mix things up. Hipa Hipa,i ke ola!