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Trader Vic Grog – A Tiki Adventure

by | Cocktails, Tiki | 0 comments

Aloha,

Trader Vic’s has been in the news a lot lately.  In less than a week one location closed and another one opened.  On Thursday, July, 28th Trader Vic’s Portland opened it’s doors.  Then, Saturday, July, 30th Trader Vic’s Scottsdale had it’s last day of operation.  All of this right on the heels of Trader Vic’s Chicago silently closing.  All this news leaves Tiki fans wondering, what is going on with Trader Vic’s?  When debating about the future of Trader Vic’s  what better cocktail to sip than Trader Vic Grog. So the next cocktail in my series of Tiki Cocktail Adventures is Trader Vic’s Grog.

Trader Vic Grog is a nice little cocktail, that can be found in Beach Bum Berry Remixed.  It’s made with Fresh Lemon Juice, Pineapple Juice, Passion Fruit Syrup, Dark Jamaican Rum, and Angostura Bitters.  It’s a pretty simple cocktail to make.  

I would encourage you to do the mint garnish on this one.  It adds a really nice aroma to the cocktail.  When you raise the glass to your lips the wonderful aroma of lemon and mint, makes you relax and sigh with relief, because you know it is Tiki Time!  The pineapple, lemon, and passion fruit compliment the dark rum very nicely.  The first one I made I used Coruba Dark Rum.  Coruba is my favorite dark rum.  It has nice brown sugar, and molasses flavors.  It is smoother than Meyers. My second I had with Meyers, and that worked well in this cocktail too.

Trader Vic Grog isn’t too sour, and it isn’t too sweet.  It’s a great balance of flavors.  If you are just starting out your Tiki bar this would be a great cocktail to start with, because you don’t need a lot of ingredients.  All the ingredients are easy to get too.  The passion fruit syrup might be the only one you have to order online.

And what do I think about all the changes with Trader Vic’s you ask?  Well,  I’m a little worried about their future.  They’ve had quite a few locations close recently.  All of the ones that closed were only around for a couple years.  Trader Vic’s Las Vegas opened in 2007 and closed in 2010.  Trader Vic’s Dallas ended their 4 year run in 2010.  Trader Vic’s Chicago closed this summer after only being open 2 1/2 years in it’s Gold Coast location, and the Scottsdale location closed last week after five years.  

Initial reviews of the new Portland location are good.  So I hope they can keep up the momentum for the long haul there.  I hope that there is a long term vision that is being executed. What do you think?

So, here’s to you Trader Vic’s I wish you long term success. Cheers! 

Damon

P.S. If you are looking for the complete Hai Karate recipe check out Beach Bum Berry Remixed, or if you are really desperate Google it.  I just don’t give out the recipe since Beachbum Berry worked hard to put the book together. Who am I to give away the recipes.

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