Author: Hurricane Hayward

A journalist and Florida resident for more than 40 years, Jim "Hurricane" Hayward shares his obsession with Polynesian Pop and other retro styles on his blog, The Atomic Grog. Jim's roots in mid-century and retro culture go back to his childhood in the 1960s, when he tagged along with his parents to Tiki restaurants and his father's custom car shows. His experience in newspaper journalism and more than 20 years as an independent concert promoter have given him a front-row seat in the South Florida scene since the 1970s. He promoted hundreds of rock, punk, and indie concerts under the Slammie Productions banner since the early 1990s. A graduate of the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications in 1983, Jim was a longtime editor and web producer for The Palm Beach Post before his retirement in 2022. He earned his nickname by virtue of both his dangerous exotic drinks and his longtime position overseeing tropical weather coverage in his stormy home state. Jim now spends his time mixing cocktails, attending events and writing stories for this blog, which launched in 2011. The Atomic Grog extensively covers events, music, art, cocktails, and culture with a retro slant.
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We be Jammin: Rum Renaissance Zombie fest at The Mai-Kai

Zombie Jamboree

Related links
* See our photos from the event | Our event preview | More on Rum Renaissance
* Our recipe (with photos) for the Atomic Zombie Cocktail

Jeff "Beachbum" Berry teaches a graduate course on the Zombie
Jeff "Beachbum" Berry teaches a graduate course on the Zombie.

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”

Minimalist Tiki
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Yo, ho, ho! Don’t miss Rum Renaissance this weekend in Miami

Miami Rum Renaissance Festival

The Miami Rum Renaissance Festival, one of the world’s premier international rum events, wraps up this weekend at the Deauville Beach Resort on Miami Beach. If you’re a rum aficionado or local Tikiphile, you’ll want to be sure to catch this unique event.

Saturday and Sunday activities run from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. and include the opportunity to sample more than 100 rums, check out and purchase island lifestyle fashion and arts, and attend celebrity seminars and workshops.

The festival kicked off Monday at The Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale with the Zombie Jamboree cocktail seminar with author Jeff “Beachbum” Berry and Zombe Jam cocktail competition. Click here to see photos from those fun festivities.

Continue reading “Yo, ho, ho! Don’t miss Rum Renaissance this weekend in Miami”

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Late-night dance party April 29 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.

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Photos from the Zombie Jamboree at The Mai-Kai

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Wake the dead, it’s time for the Atomic Zombie Cocktail

Atomic Zombie Cocktail

* See our full report (with photos) on the Zombie Jamboree

As the only “amateur mixologist” at the first-ever “Zombie Jamboree” at The Mai-Kai, the kickoff of the annual spirits extravaganza known as Miami Rum Renaissance Festival, I had to come up with something special. After all, The Mai-Kai is my home turf and the Zombie is one of my favorite all-time drinks. The Mai-Kai’s version, with lineage traced back to the original Don The Beachcomber classic, is my favorite drink at the legendary Polynesian palace.

So what I came up with is a riff on the classic with contemporary stylings. It has that great classic Zombie flavor profile but with a few special twists. I hope you dig it.

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Zombie Jamboree: The Mai-Kai hosts an event to die for

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.

Beachbum Berry unearthed classic Zombie recipes
Beachbum Berry unearthed classic Zombie recipes

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”