Mai-Kai cocktail review: Mara-Amu is a second generation classic

Updated September 2016
See below: Our Mara-Amu review | Official recipe
Related: The Big Bamboo features big flavors, unique history | Mai-Kai cocktail guide
‘King Kai’ leads procession of new Tikis into The Mai-Kai

The Mara-Amu is one of the most popular of the 47 tropical drinks on The Mai-Kai’s vast menu, due in part to the fact that it’s the only one that comes in a Tiki mug you can take home after quaffing your cocktail (others require a special trip to the gift shop). The mugs have remained generally the same over the decades, but occasionally you’ll discover a different glaze or an entirely different design (see bottom photo).

Artist Will Anders spruces up the Mara-Amu Tiki in The Mai-Kai's outdoor gardens. (Photo by Tiki Kiliki, September 2015)
Artist Will Anders spruces up the Mara-Amu Tiki in The Mai-Kai’s outdoor gardens. (Photo by Tiki Kiliki, September 2015)

Since they’re given away with the drink, Mara-Amu mugs aren’t especially rare or hard to find. Check the Ooga-Mooga mug collectors site for recent prices and lots of photos. The mug is iconic, however, and inspired a Tiki that now stands in a prominent spot in The Mai-Kai’s famous outdoor gardens.

The Mara-Amu Tiki is unique, created by South Florida artist Will Anders when he was toying with the idea of making Tikis from foam. The idea was they could withstand the elements better than wood, and be easy for people to install in their outdoor pools and Tiki bars. They ended up being more difficult and costly to carve (and also susceptible to lots of superficial damage inflicted by unrespectful guests), so the idea never took off.

One of Anders’ claims to fame is his role in restoring the smaller Tikis in The Mai-Kai’s gardens. He was given access to molds created by late owner Bob Thornton from the original wooden Tikis, and over the years has re-created many of them in concrete. As you meander through the lush tropical paths in the gardens, much of what you see are re-creations by Anders. He also carved a giant new wooden Tiki, dubbed King Kai, that stands near the Mara-Amu in the gardens. See the full story and photos of the creation and installation of this 10-foot icon in May 2016.

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Minimalist Tiki

The Derby Daiquiri: The Mai-Kai’s ‘$100,000 drink’ is worth its weight in gold

The Derby Daiquiri: The Mai-Kai's '$100,000 drink' is worth its weight in gold

Updated November 2023
See below: Our Derby Daiquiri review | Official Mai-Kai recipe | Tribute recipe
More Mai-Kai Daiquiris: Cuban Daiquiri | Special Reserve Daiquiri | Floridita Daiquiri | Banana Daiquiri | Strawberry Daiquiri
Related: Mai-Kai cocktail guide
* More on the Derby Daiquiri from The Swank Pad
* The Mai-Kai’s Derby Daiquiri seminar at Tiki Oasis 2023
* The next level Derby Daiquiri in Tropical Standard
UPDATE: The Derby Daiquiri on YouTube and social media

When you think of the Mint Julep, you immediately think of the Kentucky Derby. In 1959, when the organizers of the $100,000 Florida Derby sought a similar drink to promote their race, they turned to The Mai-Kai.

The Derby Daiquiri in a vintage glass with its signature coaster. (Photo by Tim "Swanky" Glazner)
The Derby Daiquiri in a vintage glass with its signature coaster. (Photo by Tim “Swanky” Glazner)

The Derby Daiquiri, created by legendary mixologist Mariano Licudine, became the race’s official drink. The Florida Derby, which began in 1952, is still run today every spring at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale with a purse now set at $1 million. Winners usually go on to compete in the Kentucky Derby.

The Derby Daiquiri immediately gave the race and The Mai-Kai a huge publicity boost. It was championed by Rums of Puerto Rico in countless national ad campaigns and was featured as Esquire magazine’s drink of the month.

When New York’s Cue magazine printed the recipe, restaurants all over Manhattan started serving the “$100,000 drink,” Jeff “Beachbum” Berry wrote in the chapter on Licudine and The Mai-Kai in his 2007 book, Sippin’ Safari. The lounge at the Newark, N.J., airport served the drink to vacationers departing for Fort Lauderdale.

The Mai-Kai's founding co-owner, Bob Thornton, shows off the Derby Daiquiri. (Photos courtesy of Tim Glazner, SwankPad.org)
The Mai-Kai’s founding co-owner, Bob Thornton, shows off the Derby Daiquiri. (Photos courtesy of Tim Glazner, SwankPad.org)

Not to be outdone, Berry wrote, Mai-Kai owners Jack and Bob Thornton sent a portable Tiki bar to the Fort Lauderdale airport, where Licudine himself served his creation to arriving passengers. In his thatch-roofed “goodwill wagon,” Licudine also met VIP arrivals at train stations and cruise ship docks, in the process becoming something of a local hero, Berry wrote.

The drink’s first menu sightings were on the 1959 Molokai bar menu and main drink menu. A certificate issued by Rums of Puerto Rico (see below) officially registered the drink on Aug. 1, 1958.

In 1958, Mariano Licudine created the Derby Daiquiri, one of the most celebrated drinks of the mid-century tropical cocktail boom.
In 1958, Mariano Licudine created the Derby Daiquiri, one of the most celebrated drinks of the mid-century tropical cocktail boom.

The 1957 menu does not include the Derby. Instead, you’ll find the Cuban Daiquiri, The Mai-Kai’s take on the classic that dates back to the town of the same name in the late 1800s. But with that island’s political troubles, it made sense to remove it. The timing of the Derby Daiquiri was perfect as a replacement.

Curiously, the only other menu changes around this time involved Daiquiris: the Special Daiquiri was renamed the Special Reserve Daiquiri and the Floridita Daiquiri was introduced. But the Derby was the clear favorite out of the gate.

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Mai-Kai cocktail review: The Barrel O’ Rum is the Rodney Dangerfield of tropical drinks

Barrel O’ Rum: The Rodney Dangerfield of tropical drinks

Updated May 2024
See below: Barrel O’ Rum review | Ancestor recipe | Official recipe | Tribute recipe
How to make the Barrel O’ Rum (video)
Christmas Barrel review and tribute
Postscript: The Rum Barrel on social media
Related: Mai-Kai cocktail guide

Don The Beachcomber had the Zombie Trader Vic had the Mai Tai. While South Florida’s iconic Mai-Kai has many cocktails worthy of classic status, it’s the mighty Barrel O’ Rum that has become the historic landmark’s signature drink, and one of the most underrated tropical drinks in history.

Barrel O' Rum
Barrel O’ Rum (The Mai-Kai photo)

Sure, it’s hugely popular. Just wind your way through The Molokai bar during any busy happy hour and you’ll see more Barrels than oil companies have lost in the Gulf. Among the general public and popular media, the Barrel O’ Rum and The Mai-Kai are synonymous.

But among the cocktail intelligentsia, the Barrel just doesn’t quite measure up. What gives? Come on guys, this is a great drink. A deceptively deadly celebration of rum and citrus that manages to be both simple and complex. This is a work of art courtesy of The Mai-Kai’s inimitable mixologist, Mariano Licudine, who took an often muddled concept and perfected it for the thirsty, rum-swilling masses during Tiki’s heyday. More than a half century later, it’s a timeless classic, often copied, never duplicated.

Barrel O' Rum
It’s not unusual to see the Barrel O’ Rum served en masse. (The Mai-Kai photo)

As Rodney Dangerfield (who probably drank many Barrels in his day) would say, the Rum Barrel just don’t get no respect.

On the other hand, who needs respect? The Barrel’s lowbrow appeal is what makes it the classic that it is. It’s the drink for the everyman (and woman). As Rodney so eloquently put it: “My doctor told me to watch my drinking. Now I drink in front of a mirror.”

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The official menu description

Barrel O' Rum

BARREL O’ RUM

Smugglers, pirates and rum runners took their pleasures with this spirituous libation, bold and big, but rightfully smooth.

Okole Maluna Society review and rating

The Mai-Kai's Barrel O' Rum, June 2011. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward)
The Mai-Kai's Barrel O' Rum, June 2011. (Photo by Hurricane Hayward)

Size: Large

Potency: Strong

Flavor profile: Dark rum, lime juice, passion fruit, bitters

Our take: An explosion of rums and juices in a prefect marriage of sweet and sour, strong and bitter.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (see how it ranks).

Ancestry: A variation on the original rum barrel popularized by Don the Beachcomber and other early Tiki establishments, this classic has been on the menu since The Mai-Kai’s opening in 1956. It was created by Mariano Licudine (1907-1980), who based The Mai-Kai menu on all the prototypes he’d been making during his years working for Donn Beach (1939-1955). He retired in 1979 after 23 years at The Mai-Kai.

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‘Rum Rat Pack’ starts a revolution at Hukilau 2011

See below: Rumposium photo gallery
Related: The Hukilau crowns a Rum Barrel Master Mixologist
2011 Hukilau photos and video: Facebook | Flickr | Go11Media

February 2013 update: How big a punch can Tiki Month take?

‘Rumposium’ kicks off Tiki event’s Mia-Kai bash

Tropical drink revivalist Jeff “Beachbum” Berry and his “Rum Rat Pack” – four of the world’s most noted authorities on the cane spirit – banded together on stage at the legendary Mai-Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale during the afternoon of Saturday, June 12, to celebrate Tiki’s favorite elixir.

Jeff "Beachbum" Berry leaves no doubt about what this event is all about.
Jeff "Beachbum" Berry leaves no doubt about what this event is all about.

More than two hours and a thousand or so cocktails later, the 200 Tikiphiles attending this 10th anniversary Hukilau exclusive event were swept up in a movement not seen in these parts of the tropics since Fidel’s rise to power in another rum-soaked nation just to the south. But in the friendly environs of The Mai-Kai, which actually pre-dates Castro’s revolt by several years, the revolutionaries were armed only with good spirits. Lots of good spirits.

Before the symposium even started, several samples of high-end rums awaited us as we were seated in the Polynesian palace’s main dining room. Beachbum Berry wasted no time in introducing us to some of the fine rums on display this afternoon: Chairman’s Reserve from St. Lucia; Rhum Clement VSOP and La Favorite Rhum Agricole, both from Martinique; Lemon Hart 151 Demerara rum from Guyana; and Dos Maderas (a blend of aged rums from Barbados and Guyana).

Of course, more than 50 cocktails from The Mai-Kai’s legendary tropical drink menu were also available, and many in the audience wasted no time in beginning the evening’s imbibing early (The Atomic Grog included). I opted for one of the restaurant’s signature drinks, the Derby Daiquiri, a refreshing frozen lime-orange concoction created by the late, great master mixologist Mariano Licudine. Mariano’s son, Ron, was in attendance for the festivities and was happy to entertain us cocktail geeks with stories from his youth when his dad ruled the tropical drink world.

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Hukilau 2011 video preview: A Tiki-lover’s dream event

The 10th anniversary Hukilau – featuring four days of music, art, cocktails, vendors, symposiums on Tiki culture and much more – takes place Thursday through Sunday, June 9-12, in Fort Lauderdale. Go to TheHukilau.com for the full schedule and more information on all the performers and guests.
* Related: A decade of The Hukilau (video) | Mixologists vie to build a better Barrel

All history lessons should be this fun

Now entering its 10th year, The Hukilau has become not only the largest Tiki-themed event on the East Coast, but also a museum of Polynesian Pop and mid-century modern art, culture, music and much more.

The Hukilau

Most of the weekend’s events celebrate and honor the history of the original Tiki movement, which began in the 1930s and was fueled by vets returning from the Pacific after World War II in the 1940s, the statehood of Hawaii in the 1950s, and the boom of cocktail culture in the 1960s.

What had once been a vibrant culture lay dormant for several decades until it was rediscovered in the 1990s by the retro-loving underground art, music and cocktail scenes. By the turn of the century, a revival was in full swing and events such at The Hukilau were launched.

Now, 10 years down the road, the word “revival” may no longer be relevant as a whole new generation of artists, musicians and mixologists has evolved. With much due respect to the past, they’ve put their own modern spin on Tiki culture and will be showing off their talents at The Hukilau.

A day-by-day preview of events …

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The Hukilau weathers many storms to celebrate 10 years of Tiki madness

The 10th anniversary Hukilau – featuring four days of music, art, cocktails, vendors, symposiums on Tiki culture and much more – takes place Thursday through Sunday, June 9-12, in Fort Lauderdale. Go to TheHukilau.com for the full schedule and more information on all the performers and guests.
* Related: Hukilau 2010 video preview | Mixologists vie to build a better Barrel

In the beginning …

In 2002, a modern Tiki renaissance was in full swing. Inspired by the heyday of Polynesian Pop, which began with groundbreaking efforts of Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic in the 1930s and stretched for more than 30 years into the 1960s, a new generation of artists, musicians, mixologists and entrepreneurs had been embracing retro Tiki culture since the 1990s.

The Hukilau

As this grassroots movement gained momentum and new devotees discovered the wider world of mid-century pop culture, full-blown events soon followed. In Southern California – the birthplace of Tiki and haven for some of the genre’s most beloved bars, architecture and artists – Tiki Oasis started small in 2001 and quickly became the largest Tiki event in the West by its second installment in 2002.

The Hukilau was envisioned by its founders not only as the East Coast’s answer to Tiki Oasis, but also a celebration of the growing family and community, or ‘ohana, that had become so enamored with the entire underground movement. The name of the event, of course, comes from the traditional Hawaiian festival held in fishing villages in which a large net is cast into the sea to capture fish for the feast that honors the spirit of family and community.

Continue reading “The Hukilau weathers many storms to celebrate 10 years of Tiki madness”