Updated July 2018
See below: Our K.O. Cooler review | Ancestor recipes | Tribute recipe
Related: Trade in Vic’s Mai Tai for this classic | Mai-Kai cocktail guide
It’s 1937. A budding Oakland, Calif., restaurateur named Victor Bergeron ventures south to Hollywood to see for himself what all the hoopla is about surrounding a small tropical-themed bar called Don the Beachcomber. According to legend, Bergeron was inspired to adopt the same Polynesian theme and shortly thereafter changed the name of his restaurant from Hinky Dink’s to Trader Vic’s.
The rest is history, and Trader Vic’s remains the standard-bearer for Polynesian restaurants worldwide with more than 25 locations. The Don the Beachcomber chain disappeared, save for a lone corporate restaurant/bar location at the Royal Kona Resort in Hawaii and a recently closed one-off franchise in Huntington Beach, Calif., that’s reportedly reopening soon in a new location. Neither, however, have much tangible connection to founder Donn Beach. He officially left the company when his ex-wife, Sunny Sund, took the helm during World War II.
Our nation’s soldiers always held a special place in the heart of Beach, a veteran of the Army Air Corps during WW II and recipient of both a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. One of the drinks on Beach’s menu in 1937 was the Q.B. Cooler, named for the Quiet Birdmen, a drinking fraternity of aviators founded by seven World War I pilots in 1921. Donn changed his Q.B. Cooler recipe over the years, but as cocktail historian Jeff “Beachbum” Berry revealed in his 2007 book, Sippin’ Safari, the original version tastes remarkably similar to what Trader Vic later introduced to the world as perhaps the most famous of all tropical drinks, the Mai Tai.
As Berry theorized in the book and later demonstrated during a symposium at the 2009 Hukilau at The Mai-Kai, it’s likely that Bergeron created the Mai Tai by copying the flavor profile of the Q.B. Cooler. What’s remarkable is that the Mai Tai contains quite different ingredients (orange curacao, sugar syrup, orgeat syrup). The two drinks have only rum and lime juice in common. But it’s undeniable that the tastes are incredibly similar.
Of course, Bergeron later claimed that he invented the Mai Tai in 1944 and eventually won a court battle that established him as the originator of the famous cocktail. Berry puts forward the theory that Bergeron most likely did invent the Mai Tai as we all know it, but he was inspired by the Q.B. Cooler and re-created it using almost entirely different ingredients. In honor of the battle to make the best Mai Tai, the Royal Kona holds on popular bartending competition every year dubbed the Don the Beachcomber Mai Tai Festival.
So what does this all have to do with The Mai-Kai? As we know, the Fort Lauderdale restaurant’s original 1956 cocktail menu was created by former Don the Beachcomber barman Mariano Licudine. Under the direction of owners Bob and Jack Thornton, he took many of the recipes directly from his collection of Donn Beach creations, slightly altering ingredients and changing the names of the drinks. So the influential Q.B. Cooler thus became the K.O. Cooler.
The Mai-Kai also offers its own version of the Mai Tai, but it’s nothing like an original Mai Tai you’ll encounter at Trader Vic’s or bars offering the classic recipe. If you want to sample an historic drink that pre-dates the Mai Tai, enjoy The Mai-Kai’s K.O. Cooler.
And be sure to pick up the expanded and updated 10th anniversary edition of Beachbum Berry’s Sippin’ Safari, featuring many new and historic recipes, a new hardcover design with additional photos, plus forward and afterward that chronicle the years leading up to the Tiki revival plus the influence the book has had over the past decade.
July 2018 update: The K.O. Cooler 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)
Hayward explained how he came up with K.O. Cooler tribute recipe, combining elements from two published ancestor recipes. The class then received sample drinks featuring the tribute recipe, expertly blended by Lucky Munro (left) of Lucky’s Cane & Grog in Pittsburgh. Also on hand to distribute the cocktails was special guest Oriol Elias (right), noted bartender and rum/Tiki guru from Spain (check out his Three of Strong blog).
See photos from the class: Facebook | Flickr
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The official menu description
K.O. COOLER
Heavy bodied and brawny, but smooth. A formidable opponent.
Okole Maluna Society review and rating
Size: Medium
Potency: Strong
Flavor profile: Dry, tart and bitter combination of exotic flavors with a punch of Demerara rum.
Review: Strong up-front rum flavor, yet nicely balanced with great sweet and sour notes. Very similar to a classic Mai Tai.
Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars (see how it ranks)
Ancestry: A direct descendant of Don the Beachcomber’s Q.B. Cooler, the K.O. Cooler was retooled by original Mai-Kai mixologist Mariano Licudine and has been on the menu since 1956. Note: The Mai-Kai’s old menu image, which was unchanged for 57 years, is pictured above along with the new menu photo released in 2014.
* See the original 1956-57 menu
Agree or disagree? Share your reviews and comments below!
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ANCESTOR RECIPES
Q.B. Cooler
(1937 Don the Beachcomber recipe, from Beachbum Berry’s Remixed and Sippin’ Safari)
* 1 ounce orange juice
* 1/2 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
* 1/2 ounce honey mix
(1 part honey to 1 part water)
* 1/4 ounce falernum
(Fee Brothers recommended)
* 1 ounce soda water
* 1 ounce gold Jamaican rum
* 1 ounce light Puerto Rican rum
* 1/2 ounce Demerara rum
* 2 dashes Angostura bitters
* 1/2 teaspoon ginger syrup
* 4 ounces crushed ice
Blend at high speed for 5 seconds. Pour unstrained into a double old-fashioned glass. Top with more crushed ice and garnish with several mint sprigs.
This is the recipe that Beachbum Berry cited in Sippin’ Safari as possibly inspiring Trader Vic’s Mai Tai. It’s a classic 1930s-era Don the Beachcomber drink with many layers of flavor and his signature use of three contrasting rums.
Notes and tips for home mixologists
* Rums: We recommend Appleton Estate Signature, an excellent Jamaican mixing rum. Light Puerto Rican rums are plentiful, from Bacardi to Don Q. In the same style, you could also do no wrong with Cruzan from the Virgin Islands or any other quality Spanish-style light rum, such as Cana Brava (Panama), Brugal (Dominican Republic) or Flor De Cana Extra Dry from (Nicaragua). It wasn’t always the case, but nowadays we have many excellent choices from the Demerara rum pantheon, including Lemon Hart Original 1804, Hamilton 86 and any of the fine El Dorado rums (5, 8, 12, and 15-year-old). The result: A combination of rums on par with any high-end Mai Tai. Note that the Mai Tai at The Mai-Kai features Appleton Estate Rare Blend, a 12-year-old dark Jamaican rum. Here’s a list of all the Mai-Kai drinks that feature Appleton rums.
* B.G. Reynolds makes a nice ginger syrup that’s perfectly suited for Tiki cocktails. Beachbum Berry also includes a recipe for making your own in Remixed and Sippin’ Safari that I’ve used and highly recommend.
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Q.B. Cooler
(1941 Don the Beachcomber recipe, from Beachbum Berry’s Grog Log)
* 1/2 ounce orange juice
* 1/2 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
* 1/4 passion fruit syrup
* 1/4 ounce sugar syrup
* 2 ounces dark Jamaican rum
* 1 ounce light Puerto Rican rum
* 1 dash Angostura bitters
* 1/8 teaspoon Pernod
Blend with 12 ounces of crushed ice for 5 seconds. Pour unstrained into a double old-fashioned glass. Top with more crushed ice and garnish with mint sprigs.
This is the first Q.B. Cooler recipe uncovered by Berry, published in his first book in 1998 but not included in Remixed or the Total Tiki app. Along with the Zombie, it’s a prime example of how quickly Donn Beach changed his recipes. In just four years, he replaced the honey and falernum with passion fruit and simple syrup, dropped the soda water, added Pernod, and changed up the rums.
Notes and tips for home mixologists
* Fresh juices and fresh, homemade syrups are preferred. You can make a cold-pressed simple syrup by vigorously shaking equal parts organic sugar and water, then chilling. Passion fruit syrup can be made by heating passion fruit pulp with sugar and water, adjusting proportions to suit your taste. If you prefer a shelf-stable bottled version, B.G. Reynolds, Fee Brothers, Monin and Aunty Lilikoi are all good brands.
* In Donn Beach’s days, he might have used the now-defunct Dagger or Myers’s as his dark Jamaican rum. The current version of Myers’s isn’t as highly regarded, but it will work if that’s all you have available. If you can find the more sophisticated (but less costly) Coruba, snatch up a bottle.
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Tribute to The Mai-Kai’s K.O. Cooler
By The Atomic Grog (Posted in July 2015)
* 3/4 ounce orange juice
* 3/4 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
* 3/4 ounce white grapefruit juice
* 1/4 ounce falernum
* 1/2 ounce rich honey mix
(2 parts honey to 1 part water)
* 1 ounce gold Virgin Islands or Puerto Rican rum
* 1 ounce Demerara rum
* ½ ounce Demerara overproof rum
* 1 dash Angostura bitters
* 2 drops Pernod
Blend at high speed for 5 seconds. Pour unstrained into a double old-fashioned glass. Top with more crushed ice and garnish with several mint sprigs.
Now on The Grogalizer! This recipe and other Mai-Kai tributes have been added to this essential database of Tiki cocktail reviews, including the Beachbum Berry collection plus Smuggler’s Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum and the Cult of Tiki. Help boost our ratings. It’s quick and easy to sign up.
* Go to The Grogalizer now
The back story
This turned out to be one of the most elusive recipes at The Mai-Kai. I was stumped for the longest time after comparing the K.O. Cooler to both versions of Don the Beachcomber’s Q.B. Cooler. I knew Licudine and the Thornton brothers preferred to change them up, but there were many ingredients at play here. Where to begin?
I knew that the drink included the highly regarded Demerara rum from Lemon Hart after it returned to the U.S. in 2012, but I had no idea in what proportion. When Lemon Hart again disappeared from the market in late 2014, it was replaced briefly by other rums before The Mai-Kai began using the new small-batch Hamilton rums from Guyana.
The big breakthrough came when it was revealed to me that the K.O. Cooler was the only cocktail at The Mai-Kai that contained both the 151 and 86 proof Demerara rums, which accounts for its complexity and strength. I quickly realized that the K.O. Cooler actually features elements of both Q.B. Cooler recipes. Since Licudine worked for Donn Beach from 1939 to 1955, he likely would have been exposed to both and could have used that knowledge to come up with a distinctive version for the Thorntons at The Mai-Kai. I have previously theorized that he also combined multiple Donn Beach recipes to come up with other Mai-Kai classics, such as the Zombie, Jet Pilot and Tahitian Breeze.
Now on The Grogalizer! This recipe and other Mai-Kai tributes have been added to this essential database of Tiki cocktail reviews, including the Beachbum Berry collection plus Smuggler’s Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum and the Cult of Tiki. Help boost our ratings. It’s quick and easy to sign up.
* Go to The Grogalizer now
Notes and tips for home mixologists
* Appearing in both recipes are orange juice, lime juice, and bitters. The falernum and honey come from the 1937 version, while Pernod is from the 1941 recipe. These are three key ingredients in many Mai-Kai cocktails, so it makes sense that they’re included here. Pernod-Angostura is also a lethal combination used to great effect in other strong drinks (see Special Planters Punch).
* The addition of grapefruit juice, also confirmed, is a hallmark of many of The Mai-Kai’s strong drinks. It helps temper the potent rums and is another signature Don the Beachcomber ingredient.
* A Spanish-style gold rum seems to work best with the regular and overproof Demerara rums in this drink. There are many good choices, including Bacardi 8; Ron Del Barrilito 3 Star; Flor De Cana 4, 5 or 7; Cruzan Estate or Single Barrel; Ron Matusalem Classico; Don Q Anejo; et al. If you can’t find Hamilton rums in your area and still have access to Lemon Hart, by all means use it. El Dorado also makes many fine Demerara rums (the 5- or 8-year-old would work well here). As for the overproof rum, The Mai-Kai has returned to Lemon Hart, though Hamilton is a fine choice as well.
* See the full story on Lemon Hart and Hamilton rums
It may not have the name recognition of the Mai Tai, but the K.O. Cooler will hit you with many of the same flavor notes while providing an equally rich history.
Okole maluna!
Received a shipment of Hamilton Demerara today and couldn’t wait to try this Rum. Picked this tribute tonight ……….. it certainly has a tangy/sour taste to it and I liked it a lot. First blended and then I tried another shaken. Must admit I preferred the shaken version as it’s simply stronger flavor wise.
Aloha Rick, mahalo for checking out the blog.
It’s possible that quite a few of The Mai-Kai’s cocktails would be better suited to being shaken, but they use the mixers for everything out of convenience and streamlining of the back bars. And tradition, of course.
Okole maluna!