This is “Small Bites,” a South Florida Sun Sentinel feature with tiny tidbits on the food and beverage scene — because we know that sometimes you just don’t have room for a long article. You want a little news brief instead, an amuse bouche of information, if you will. Enjoy!
WHAT: As if a tropical menu, Polynesian show and tiki-rrific cocktails weren’t enough, now the Mai-Kai in Oakland Park.has gotten spirited with the launch of its own rum.
Called Mai-Kai Old Style Special Rum Number 1, it is available for purchase at the gift shop of the iconic island-chic eatery.
Pia Dahlquist, the Mai-Kai’s director of public relations, explains how it all came to be: “We [once] used a rum called Dagger Rum that was made in Jamaica … We were the biggest buyer of Dagger and it was used in many of our signature cocktails. When [it stopped being produced], we had to scramble to find a substitute.
“Our guests noticed that our drinks had changed and didn’t taste the same and that was true since we were missing a vital ingredient,” she adds. “Hence the search for a replacement that took years to find, and Mai-Kai Rum Number 1 is as close as you can get. It is a mixing rum, but a lot of people order shots as well, as it is surprisingly smooth to be a 100 proof.”
The new rum arrives roughly a year after the kahuna hotspot — officially called Mai-Kai Restaurant and Polynesian Show — debuted a $20 million+ makeover featuring a redesigned exterior/interior, revamped stage show and renewed food/cocktail menu.
WHERE: Mai-Kai Restaurant and Polynesian Show, 3599 N. Federal Highway, Oakland Park
COST: $75 for 1-liter bottle; $400 for a case of six
INFORMATION: 954-563-3272; maikairum.com
EXTRA TIDBITS:
According to the Mai-Kai, the rum opens with aromas of banana, black treacle and fruit over toasted oak and vanilla toffee. On the palate, there’s a taste of “musty oak and bold funky fruit blend with baking spices, dark cane syrup and vanilla custard, finishing with notes of fruit cake and brown butter. At 50 percent ABV, it offers bold flavor with a smooth, well-balanced finish.”
Some of the components come from refurbished copper stills that revive historic Caribbean rum flavors, the Mai Kai adds. “The blend brings together robust, funky and fruity notes from the Gregg’s Farm pot still at West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados with high ester rums from the legendary pot stills of Long Pond Distillery in Jamaica,” according to a news statement.
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
A restaurant and bar unlike any other in South Florida, the Mai-Kai in Oakland Park reopened a year ago after a lengthy renovation. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel file)
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
Mai-Kai managing partner Bill Fuller dances with a performer during the reopening ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Mai-Kai restaurant in Oakland Park on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)