Mai-Kai Cocktail Guide

Updated April 18, 2013

Our journey through all the current Mai-Kai cocktails is now complete, but we’ll be continually updating and also adding more classic “retired” drinks, so check back often and be sure to click on the reviews to add your 1-through-5 ratings and comments.

Latest reviews:
Demerara Float and Demerara Cocktail UPDATED | Island Queen | More “lost cocktails”
Jump below: The Atomic Grog’s drink ratings | Official menu | Promotional videos
More resources: Mai-Kai tropical drink family tree | Index of 80 recipes | All reviews

Recent news, events:
* Tap into The Mai-Kai anywhere with the new smartphone app
* Hulaween was hoppin’ all night at The Mai-Kai
* Mini Mai-Kai Mystery Bowl offers scaled-down version of a classic
* Cocktail flights soar at Mai-Kai Mixer, reveal revolutionary use of rums
* Mai-Kai Mixer shakes up South Florida with rockin’ retro cocktail party
* Rums of The Mai-Kai: Legendary Lemon Hart returns to the promised land

Special features:
* The 12 Days of Christmas, Mai-Kai style
* Tour of The Mai-Kai’s mysterious bars and kitchen (with photos)
* Mai-Kai app in the works | Interview with General Manager Kern Mattei
Related links: The Mai-Kai’s online drink menu | More from The Swank Pad

THE OKOLE MALUNA SOCIETY

The Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale is widely recognized as having perhaps the best authentic tropical drinks in the world. The cocktail menu remains virtually unchanged since its opening in 1956 and most of the classic recipes date back to the original Tiki drinks invented by Don the Beachcomber in the 1930s and ’40s.

In the early years, The Mai-Kai had a club called the Okole Maluna (pronounced Oh-koh-lay Mah-loo-nah) Society. Okole Maluna is a traditional Hawaiian toast that means “bottom’s up!” To become a member of the society, you had to sample every one of the drinks on the menu and have them checked off your membership card. Once you joined the club, you were given access to a special off-menu drink. (More on the menu on The Swank Pad blog)

The society no longer exists, but we’re resurrecting it here on The Atomic Grog. We’ve sampled all the current drinks and have ranked them below on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. Following the rankings you’ll also find the drinks listed by category as they appear on the menu. For 52 weeks, from June 2011 until June 2012, we posted detailed reviews (with photos) of all the cocktails on the menu, plus a few off the menu, as well as some classics that are no longer offered. They’re all listed below with hyperlinks to the reviews and more than 60 recipes.

This online guide serves two useful purposes. It gives Mai-Kai patrons a richly detailed and authoritative tool to help choose a cocktail, and also offer feedback. With the completion of the reviews, we’ve just added a poll to every drink that lets you rate them, in addition to leaving comments. It’s also an essential resource for home mixologists, giving Tiki drink aficionados exclusive access to a vast archive of recipes.

These include some authentic Mai-Kai recipes along with “tribute” drinks from The Atomic Grog and others in the Tiki community. But many of the true recipes remain a puzzle. You see, the aura of these mysterious drinks is created by the fact that they’re for the most part top-secret recipes (in the tradition of Don the Beachcomber) that have never been revealed. The cocktails are created in back bars, away from public view. We’ve also included many of the original Donn Beach recipes that inspired The Mai-Kai’s legendary mixologist, Mariano Licudine.

We’ll be continually enhancing this guide with photos and behind-the-scene stories, so be sure to check the links at the top of the page. We hope to pay homage to The Mai-Kai, a one-of-a-kind mid-century marvel, and its amazing cocktails that top even those at the trendiest craft cocktail bar today.

Okole maluna!

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The Atomic Grog’s Mai-Kai drink ratings
(Click on hyperlinks for full reviews and recipes)
[recipe] = Official recipe / [ancestor] = Ancestor recipe / [tribute] = Tribute recipe

5 stars

1 – Zombie (strong) [ancestors / tribute]

4 1/2 stars

2 – Shark Bite (medium)
   [ancestor / tribute]
3 – 151 Swizzle (strong)
   [ancestor / tribute]
4 – Special Planters Punch (strong) [ancestor]

4 stars

5 – Barrel O’ Rum (strong) [recipe]
6 (tie) – Sidewinder’s Fang (strong) [ancestor]
Mystery Drink (strong) [ancestor]
7 – Jet Pilot (strong) [ancestors / tribute]
8 – Cobra Kiss (medium) [ancestor / tribute]
9 – Rum Julep (medium) [ancestor]
10 – Mutiny (strong) [tribute]
11 – Shrunken Skull (strong) [ancestor / tribute]
12 – Yeoman’s Grog (strong) [ancestor]
13 – The Hukilau (strong) [tribute]

3 1/2 stars

14 – Black Magic (strong) [tribute]
15 – Mai Tai (strong) [tribute]
16 – Piña Passion (medium) [ancestor]
17 – Samoan Grog (mild)
   [ancestor / tribute]
18 – Zula (strong) [ancestor / tribute]
19 – K.O. Cooler (strong) [ancestor]
20 – Special Reserve Daiquiri (medium)
    [ancestor / tribute]
21 – S.O.S. (mild) [ancestor / tribute]
22 – Deep Sea Diver (medium) [ancestor]
23 – Moonkist Coconut (medium) [recipe]
24 – Hidden Pearl (medium)
   [ancestor / tribute]
25 – Tahitian Breeze (medium) [ancestors / tribute]
26 – Mara-Amu (medium) [recipe]
27 (tie) – Chocolate Snowflake (after dinner) [tribute]
Mai-Kai Blizzard (after dinner) [tribute]

3 stars

28 – Bora Bora (strong) [ancestor / tribute]
29 (tie) – Hot Buttered Rum (after dinner) [tribute]
Kona Coffee Grog (after dinner) [ancestor]
30 – Oh So Deadly (mild) [ancestor / tribute]
31 – Piña Colada (medium) [ancestor/tribute]
32 – Malayan Mist (mild) [ancestor]
33 – Mai-Kai Special (mild) [tribute]
34 – Mai-Kai Swizzle (mild) [tribute]
35 – Floridita Daiquiri (mild) [recipe]
36 – Derby Daiquiri (mild) [recipe]
37 – Gardenia Lei (after dinner) [ancestor]

2 1/2 stars

38 – Banana Daiquiri (mild) [recipe]
39 – Strawberry Daiquiri (mild) [tribute]
40 – Martinique Milk Punch (mild) [ancestor]

2 stars

41 – Planters Punch (medium) [ancestor]
42 – Tahitian Coffee (after dinner) [ancestor]
43 (tie) – Wahine Delight (after dinner) [ancestor]
Mai-Kai Cappuccino (after dinner)

RETIRED DRINKS
Big Bamboo (5) [recipe]
Demerara Float (4) [ancestor / tribute]
Demerara Cocktail (3 1/2)
   [recipe / tribute]
Dr. Fong (3 1/2) [ancestors / tribute]
Hanalei Bay (3 1/2) [ancestor / tribute]
Last Rites (3 1/2) [recipe / tribute]
Impatient Virgin (3) [ancestor / tribute]
Island Queen (3) [ancestor / tribute]

* More on “lost” Mai-Kai cocktails

Disclaimers: These ratings are based on Hurricane Hayward’s own personal tastes. He tends to prefer strong, complex drinks with a unique flavor profile. Aside from perhaps the bottom three or four, they’re all highly recommended and sure to please imbibers with different tastes. The top three are remarkable, and the top 10 are all worthy of the Tiki drink hall of fame. But please, consume with caution, they’re all very potent.

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Mai-Kai tropical drink menu
(Our ratings in parentheses, 1-5 stars)
(Click on hyperlinks for full reviews and recipes)

STRONG

Zombie (5) [ancestors / tribute]
151 Swizzle (4 1/2) [ancestor / tribute]
Special Planters Punch (4 1/2) [ancestor]
Barrel O’ Rum (4) [recipe]
Sidewinder’s Fang (4) [ancestor]
Mystery Drink (4) [ancestor]
Jet Pilot (4) [ancestors / tribute]
Mutiny (4) [tribute]
Shrunken Skull (4) [ancestor / tribute]
Yeoman’s Grog (4) [ancestor]
The Hukilau (4) [tribute]
Black Magic (3 1/2) [tribute]
Mai Tai (3 1/2) [tribute]
Zula (3 1/2) [ancestor / tribute]
K.O. Cooler (3 1/2) [ancestor]
Bora Bora (3) [ancestor / tribute]

MEDIUM

Shark Bite (4 1/2) [ancestor / tribute]
Cobra Kiss (4) [ancestor / tribute]
Rum Julep (4) [ancestor]
Piña Passion (3 1/2) [ancestor]
Special Reserve Daiquiri (3 1/2)
    [ancestor / tribute]
Deep Sea Diver (3 1/2) [ancestor]
Moonkist Coconut (3 1/2) [recipe]
Hidden Pearl (3 1/2) [ancestor / tribute]
Tahitian Breeze (3 1/2)
   [ancestors / tribute]
Mara-Amu (3 1/2) [recipe]
Piña Colada (3) [ancestor/tribute]
Planters Punch (2) [ancestor]

MILD

Samoan Grog (3 1/2) [ancestor / tribute]
S.O.S. (3 1/2) [ancestor / tribute]
Oh So Deadly (3) [ancestor / tribute]
Malayan Mist (3) [ancestor]
Mai-Kai Special (3) [tribute]
Mai-Kai Swizzle (3) [tribute]
Floridita Daiquiri (3) [recipe]
Derby Daiquiri (3) [recipe]
Strawberry Daiquiri (2 1/2) [tribute]
Banana Daiquiri (2 1/2) [recipe]
Martinique Milk Punch (2 1/2) [ancestor]

AFTER DINNER

Chocolate Snowflake (3 1/2) [tribute]
Mai-Kai Blizzard (3 1/2) [tribute]
Hot Buttered Rum (3) [tribute]
Kona Coffee Grog (3) [ancestor]
Gardenia Lei (3) [ancestor]
Tahitian Coffee (2) [ancestor]
Wahine Delight (2) [ancestor]
Mai-Kai Cappuccino (2)

OFF-MENU DRINKS

Grandfather Barrel (4)
Rainbow Barrel (2 1/2)

Related: See all the drinks organized by ancestry

Click here for The Mai-Kai’s online drink menu

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Mai-Kai promotional videos

2009 press party video to announce extensive renovations

Mahalos
* Owner Dave Levy, manager Kern Mattei, marketing director Pia Dahlquist and everyone else at The Mai-Kai. You have the best jobs in the world.
* Author Jeff “Beachbum Berry,” my mixology guru, whose research provided many of the recipes above.
* Historian Tim “Swanky” Glazner, who keeps the stories and spirit of The Mai-Kai alive for future generations.
* The Hukilau, which gave me my entre to this wonderful world.
* And last but not least: My amazing wife, and all my friends and associates who have joined me at The Mai-Kai during my “research.”

Okole maluna!