Want to know one of Kaua‘i’s best kept secrets? If you are in the mood for the freshest and best cocktails on Kaua’i, you need to drag yourself (and some friends) to The Feral Pig. Owner Dave Power is not
Want to know one of Kaua‘i’s best kept secrets? If you are in the mood for the freshest and best cocktails on Kaua’i, you need to drag yourself (and some friends) to The Feral Pig.
Owner Dave Power is not only a food connoisseur, but an expert in the art of mixology.
The cocktails on The Feral Pig’s menu are cocktails that your granny might be familiar with — Sazerac, circa 1859; Hemingway Daiquiri, circa 1935; or the Aviation, circa 1916. But these old-fashioned cocktails, according to Power, “complement the food immensely.”
Power said that the revitalization of these cocktails can be traced to 1995 by a man named Dale Degroff.
“Degroff brought back the old barmandship, old-world cocktail,” Power said. “In general, what was happening in the cocktail world, everyone was looking for the original sources, trying to find original recipes.”
For this week’s drink, Power suggested the original Mai Tai.
Mai Tai
Circa 1944, created
by Vic Bergeron
“This is a really simple drink,” Power said. “It’s four flavors. The original drink was actually made to showcase a really amazing 17-year-old rum. We, however, use a 15-year-old Solera rum.”
Ingredients:
15-year-old Solera Rum
Fresh lime juice
Orange liqueur
Homemade almond orgeat (syrup out of almond milk)
Served on crushed ice
Power said the problem with most Mai Tais is that it starts out with sweet juice and compounded with more sweeteners.
“You can’t balance sweet and sour,” Power said. “But if you start with lime juice, then add some sweeteners to it, you can make a balanced cocktail. So it’s more in the realm of a margarita to most people than in the realm of a mai tai.”
The price of this wonderful cocktail is $9.
If you’re not in the mood for a cocktail, then you should have a go at The Feral Pig’s Ginger Lemonade, $2.50. Power surprised me with this drink and I couldn’t stop sipping on it. It went well with the Feral Burger.
Before I forget, The Feral Pig is home to a plethora of draft, bottle and can beers galore!
Whatever your mood, The Feral Pig will oblige.
