Fog So Thick You Can Cut It

This is yet another Trader Vic original and its his most popular creation after the Mai Tai, and closely related to the Scorpion. The drink was first served in the 1940s at Trader Vic’s in Oakland, California.

The drink is very citrus forward and even with the addition of the favorite Tiki drink sweetener, orgeat, the Fog Cutter is definitely on the tart side, more like a sour than a tiki drink. It soon became immensely popular and thanks to this the original recipe has been tweaked in numerous ways like dialing down the lemon and changing brandy to pisco, as they do at Smuggler’s Cove, a tiki bar in San Francisco.

When making this classic, remember that Mr. Bergeron wrote in his Trader Vic’s Book of Food & Drink from 1946 “This is delicious but a triple threat. You can get pretty stinking on these, no fooling.” In the Trader Vic’s Pacific Island Cookbook from 1968 he explained that the drink should be served with straws (and two aspirin).

The Fog Cutter is said to be one of the very first tiki drinks that was served in a tiki mug. Ever since its inception in the 1940s the drink has been served in a signature mug adorned with a hula girl. In his Bartender’s Guide from 1947, Victor Bergeron even pictured the Fog Cutter hula girl mug along with specific glasses for all the different types of drinks in his book, 30 different glasses and mugs in total.

THE DESIGNER
The tiki mug used for this Fog Cutter is not Trader Vic’s. Instead it’s a mug, designed by Stella Bodey in the late 1950s, called the Island Chief. Bodey was very influential in the development of Tiki mugs, working for Spurlin Ceramics in Lynwood, California where she made most of her designs between 1957-1959.

The World Mai Tai Day

On August 30, 2009, the city of Oakland declared that from then on August 30 should be World Mai Tai Day. It was a day in August 1944 Victor Bergeron made the first Mai Tai.

THE MAI TAI
The history of the Mai Tai is a story of two tiki bar giants. Victor Jules Bergeron (aka Trader Vic) and Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt (aka Donn Beach, or Don the Beachcomber). Donn Beach opened his first South Pacific style restaurant in Hollywood in 1933. He was a rum connoisseur and started making exotic rum drinks inspired by his many travels.

Trader Vic had his own restaurant called Hinky Dinks that he opened in 1934 in Oakland, California. After a trip to Cuba to refine his bartender skills and learn more about rum, the Trader remodeled Hinky Dinks into a Polynesian style tiki bar and changed the name to Trader Vic’s.

The Mai Tai was first made in 1944 for Ham and Carrie Guild, a couple of Tahitian friends of Bergeron’s. They liked it so much Carrie Guild exclaimed in Tahitian “Mai Tai-Roa A’e” meaning “Out of this world, the best”. “That was that”, as Mr. Bergeron said.

Trader Vic and Don the Beachcomber fought over the invention of the Mai Tai for many years but when Mr. Beach claimed the drink to be his the Trader had enough. Donn was sued and lost. Trader Vic stated “There has been a lot of conversation over the beginning of the Mai Tai, and I want to get the record straight. I originated the Mai Tai, but many others have claimed credit … Anyone who says I didn’t create the drink is a dirty stinker.” Victor Bergeron might however have got the inspiration for the drink, along with making a tiki bar out of Hinky Dinks, from Donn Beach so without Donn we probably wouldn’t have the Mai Tai.

THE DESIGNER
The glass, called Pitagora after its triangular base, was designed by Marco Zanuso in 1969.

The Sneaky International Rum Day

August 16 is International Rum Day and a great way to celebrate is to make a Sneaky Tiki, a Dark ’n Stormy, a Mai Tai or any other rum based cocktail.

THE SNEAKY TIKI
This is a tiki drink that wasn’t created by one of the tiki bar giants, Trader Vic or Don
the Beachcomber. It was first made either at the Wheel Bar at Harvey’s Casino Resort in Lake Tahoe or at Tiki Bob’s in San Francisco.

Harvey’s first opened right after WWII by gambling pioneer Harvey Gross. The casino started small with just six slot machines and eventually grew to a casino empire. In fact, it was the very first casino in Lake Tahoe, right at the border between Nevada and California.

Another possible creator of the Sneaky Tiki was “Sneaky” Bob Bryant. He worked in San Francisco as a bar manager for Trader Vic’s, who taught him the tricks of the trade. After a falling out with Victor Bergeron, “Sneaky” Bob left and in 1955 he started his own tiki bar just down the street. A bar he named Tiki Bob’s.

Decorated with Polynesian and Asian artifacts and having the guests welcomed by a 50s style tiki column right outside the entrance, Mr. Bryant made a bar rivaling his former employer. The bar’s signature drink was called the Super Sneaky Tiki. “Sneaky” Bob had the foresight to introduce the tiki mug to his bar, a new concept at the time. The design for Tiki Bob’s logo and Tiki mug was made by Alec Yuill-Thornton, an illustrator who had previously worked with Bergeron, illustrating his book Kitchen Kibitzer. Being one of the first Tiki mugs ever created it is highly sought after by collectors.

THE DESIGNER
Alec Yuill-Thornton designed the Tiki Bob tiki mug in 1955.

A Super Sneaky Tiki

This is a tiki drink that wasn’t created by one of the tiki bar giants, Trader Vic or Don the Beachcomber. It was created either at the Wheel Bar at Harvey’s Casino Resort in Lake Tahoe or at Tiki Bob’s in San Francisco.

Harvey’s first opened right after WWII by gambling pioneer Harvey Gross. It started small with just six slot machines and eventually grew to a casino empire. In fact, it was the very first casino in Lake Tahoe, right at the border between Nevada and California.

Even though the Sneaky Tiki is fairly well known Harvey’s is probably more famous for a very well documented extortion attempt in 1980 when a disgruntled casino guest made a highly sophisticated boobytrapped bomb that he placed in the casino. The extortionist wanted to get $3 million from mr Gross after having lost $750,000 gambling. Harvey Gross refused to pay a dime and while the bomb squad tried to disarm the bomb, the 1,000 pounds of dynamite blew a five story hole in the building costing $18 million in repairs but luckily no lives.

Another possible creator of the Sneaky Tiki was “Sneaky” Bob Bryant. He worked in San Francisco as a bar manager for Trader Vic, who taught him the tricks of the trade. After a falling out with Victor Bergeron himself “Sneaky” Bob left and in 1955 he started his own tiki bar just down the street. A bar he named Tiki Bob’s. Decorated with Polynesian and Asian artifacts and having the guests welcomed by a 50s style tiki column right outside the entrance mr Bryant made a bar rivaling his former employer. The bar’s signature drink was called the Super Sneaky Tiki. “Sneaky” Bob had the foresight to introduce the tiki mug to his bar, a new concept at the time. The design for Tiki Bob’s logo and Tiki mug was made by Alec Yuill-Thornton, an illustrator who had previously worked with Trader Vic illustrating his book Kitchen Kibitzer. Being one of the first Tiki mugs it is highly sought after by collectors.

The only difference between the Sneaky Tiki and the Super Sneaky Tiki is that the latter is made with orange juice instead of pineapple juice and it’s made with only light rum.

Sneaky Tiki
1 part Dark Jamaican Rum
1 part Light Puerto Rican Rum
1/4 part Curaçao
1 1/2 part Pineapple juice
1 part Lemon juice
1/4 part Grenadine

Mix ingredients with ice in blender until smooth. Garnish with an orange wheel and a Maraschino cherry.