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.

From Hawaii to Oakland

This drink is also known as the Scorpion Bowl as it was originally made and served in a communal bowl for up to 15 people. The Scorpion is attributed to tiki pioneer Victor Bergeron aka Trader Vic, but rather than inventing it Trader Vic found it on a trip to Hawaii at a bar called the Hut in Honolulu. At the time of Bergerons travel the base ingredient was the local Hawaiian spirit Okolehao, made from the fermented and distilled root of the Ti plant. The Hawaiians were taught the distillation process by British sailors in the 1790s. In fact, the Okolehao became so popular in Hawaii that King Kalākaoa had his own Okolehao distillery. On a side note, the king was often referred to as The Merrie Monarch thanks to his habit of entertaining his guests by singing and playing the ukulele. When King Kalākaoa died in 1891, his sister Lili’uokalani took over the throne and became the last monarch of Hawai’i. 

Back in California Trader Vic modified the Scorpion by changing the Okolehao to the easier to come by rum. He kept the idea of a communal bowl and had a custom bowl made specifically for the Scorpion. In Mr Bergeron’s “Book of Food and Drink” from 1946 the recipe contained 15 ingredients, like one and a half bottles of rum, gin, brandy and half a bottle of white wine along with the fruit juices. It was made for 12 people though. Over the years Mr Bergeron modified the recipe quite a bit, simplifying the long list of ingredients and even made a single serve option. The one thing Trader Vic kept throughout the recipes is the Gardenia as a garnish. 

The glass is called Iris and was designed in 2009 by the Swedish glass designer Ann Wåhlström.

How To Revive A Corpse

Rather than being just a cocktail the Corpse Reviver is actually a family of cocktails emerging in the mid 1800s. The only thing the family have in common being that they are strong enough to bring you back from the dead.

Back in the day bartenders served these to their customers the day after a particularly rough night. It was first mentioned in the English satirical magazine Punch in 1861 and the recipe was first published in The Gentleman’s Table Guide by E Ricket and C Thomas in 1871. This first published version called for equal parts Brandy and Maraschino with two dashes of Boker’s bitters. 

The popularity and spread of the different Corpse Reviver versions can be tributed to Harry Craddock and his Savoy Cocktail Book. In the book he lists two versions, a No 1 and a No 2. The first is made of two parts Cognac and one part each of Calvados and Italian vermouth. Craddock notes that it is “To be taken before 11AM, or whenever steam or energy is needed”. The No 2 is said to have the same effect but is made with entirely different ingredients. Equal parts of Gin, Cointreau, Kina Lillet (a product that is discontinued and usually replaced with Cocchi Americano) and lemon juice with a couple of dashes of Absinthe. About the No 2 Mr Craddock writes “Four of these taken in swift succession will unrevive the corpse again”. 

Interestingly Trader Vic Bergeron lists the Corpse Reviver No 2 in his Bartender’s Guide using the same recipe as Savoy but substitutes Swedish Punsch for Kina Lillet. The Swedish Punsch is an Arrack based liqueur, popular in Sweden and Finland ever since it was first imported from Java in 1733. It is a pretty bold choice by Trader Vic considering the Punsch is very far from the original bitter quinine rich Kina Lillet. Then again, the Trader wasn’t known for shying away from a sweet exotic drink. So as not to confuse the two versions of No 2, the Punsch version is sometimes called No 2A in bars. 

The glass was designed by Arley Marks and Jonathan Mosca in 2019 and is called Hour Glass. 

Corpse Reviver No 2

1 part Gin
1 part Cointreau
1 part Cocchi Americano
1 part Lemon juice
2 dashes Absinthe
1 Maraschino cherry garnish

Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into chilled glass and garnish with a Maraschino cherry.

Just remember not to have more than three…

December 12 – Mai Tai

The history of the Mai Tai is a story of the two most influential people in the world of tiki bars. Victor Jules Bergeron (aka Trader Vic) and Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt (aka Donn Beach, aka 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 the world of rum, and possibly after visiting Don the Beachcomber, the Trader remodeled Hinky Dinks into a Polynesian-style tiki bar and changed the name to Trader Vic’s. This made it the first in a long line of restaurants around the world.

The Mai Tai was first made in 1944 for a couple of Tahitian friends of the Trader. They liked it so much that they exclaimed “Mai Tai-Roa A’e” meaning “Out of this world, the best” so the name of the cocktail was right there.

Trader Vic and Don the Beachcomber fought over who had invented the Mai Tai for the better part of their careers but when Donn Beach launched his own Mai Tai mixer claiming the drink to be his invention the Trader had enough. Donn was sued and lost the court battle. Trader Vic announced “Anybody who says I didn't create this drink is a dirty stinker”.

It is most likely though that Trader Vic got his inspiration from Donn Beach’s Hollywood restaurant so without Donn we probably wouldn’t have the Mai Tai.

The glass was designed by Marco Zanuso in 1969 and is called Pitagora after its triangular base.