Cachaça Looks to Its Future

Like a lot of people in the liquor world, I haven't spent a lot of time lately troubling my mind about the fate of Cachaça. Sure, it was fun falling in love with the Caipirinha several years ago. It was delicious and easy to make, and vaguely exotic. But the Cachaça folks haven't given us much of a follow-up thrill since then, and the industry battle to have the liquor recognized as a separate category by the American government (and not as "Brazilian rum") grew rather tedious after a while.

However, that campaign eventually succeeded. By summer's end, Cachaça will have gotten the respect from Washington D.C. that it so long desired. In other news, Diageo got into the Cachaça game, buying the huge Ypióca brand for $470 million. Clearly, Diageo things the sugar-cane booze has a future. Given those events, I felt it was time to reappraise the status of Cachaça in the United States.

Here's the story I wrote for the New York Times:

Lani Kai's Tiki Mondays Holds an All-Star Game

Since it debuted last year at Lani Kai, "Tiki Mondays," a weekly cocktail showcase manned by mixologist Brian Miller (formerly of Death & Co.), has slowly but surely established itself as both the premier tiki event in New York, and a popular industry gathering place. Roughly half or more of the people you see any given Monday are bartenders, journalists or other professionals affiliated with the cocktail world. This is partially because Miller brings in a different guest bartender every week. Cameos have been made by the likes of Dale DeGroff, Allen Katz, Phil Ward, and Joaquin Simo.

For the event on Monday Feb. 13, Miller has assembled a "Tiki All-Stars." "We're bringing back past first mates and teaming them up for an hour and half each behind the stick," said Miller. "Each first mate will be responsible for creating one drink each for the menu. So it will be a menu of 10 drinks, served by all. Our sponsors that night are St Germain and Partida Tequila. All tips are going to charity and each sponsor will be donating money as well. The charity is the Barman's Fund." 

Here the line-up:

Adam Kolesar (better known as "Tiki Adam") & Joe Desmond: 6:00 - 7:30
Julie Reiner (Lani Kai's owner) & Brad Farran (Clover Club): 7:30 - 9:00
Jim Wrigley & James Menite (Crown): 9:00 - 10:30
Lynnette Morrero (Astor Room) & Richie Boccato (Dutch Kills): 10:30 - 12:00
Phil Ward (Mayahuel) & Jim Kearns (Peels): 12:00 - 1:30

Brian Miller and Ryan Lliola will be barbacking.

Lani Kai to Begin Serving Brunch This Weekend

Lani Kai, Julie Reiner's new Hawaii-flavored cocktail bar in SoHo, will follow the example of Reiner's Cobble Hill joint Clover Club and begin serving brunch this weekend.

Lani Kai will serve brunch on Saturday and Sundays from 11am to 4pm. Among the dishes include Baked Eggs with Truffle and Leeks; Hawaiian-style smoked and roasted Kalua Pork with Cheddar Grits and a sunnyside up egg; Pressed Spam & Cheese sandwich; a Bacon Tasting of thick-cut maple, black pepper and duck bacon slices; and a surf-and-turf, mix & match riff on eggs Benedict: buttery poached Lobster Benedict alongside The Pacific Islander, poached egg on English muffin with Kalbi short rib, Kimchi butter and Hollandaise sauce.

The drink choices include just about anything you can order at Lani Kai at night, as well as a variety of Fizzes, Cobblers and Bloody Marys familiar to anyone who patronizes Clover Club. 

A Visit to Lani Kai

Saloon keeper Julie Reiner has been adamant that her new SoHo bar, Lani Kai, is not a tiki bar, but tavern evocative of the Pacific and her native Hawaii. And, indeed, the place kind of falls between two stools, landing somewhere between the sophisticated cocktail dens she's known for (Flatiron Lounge, Clover Club) and the newer tiki joints (Painkiller). There are tropical touches in the decor, but they're not overdone. The menu offers a Pupu platter and poi donuts, but also pork buns, lobsters roles, chicken wings and other things you could find at many another Manhattan spot. Many of the drinks feature rum and various fruit juices, but none of them are served in tiki mugs. The glassware is, well, glass.

Julie Reiner's Lani Kai Set to Open Oct. 12; Menu Revealed

Julie Reiner's new Hawaiian-themed bar, Lani Kai—arguably the most anticipated cocktail joint arrival of New York's fall season—will open to the public on Tuesday, Oct. 12.

The drink menu—much of which was concocted by Reiner and Lani Kai's head bartender Joe Swifta (a transplant from Reiner's Flatiron Lounge)—is divided into the headings Spice & Tropical Tea (you'll find either tea or spice, or both, in every drink); Another Day in Paradise (I assume this has something to do with the effect these drinks will have on you); Boozy and Stirred (no juice in these); Liquid Luau (large libations intended for large parties); and Old School (Ti Punch, Queen's Park Swizzle, Mai Tai and Knickerbocker Royale). Most use a rum base, but there are also drinks founded on Bourbon, Mezcal, Rye, Tequila, Scotch, Gin, and Cachaca. Among the musical acts invoked by the cocktails are the Eagles (the Hotel California and Witchy Woman) and The Beatles (8 Days a Week).

The Sipping News

Eben Freeman has become "director of bar operations and innovation" at Michael White's Altamarea group. Nice to see Freeman finally land a new place in New York's bar world. He left his previous perch, Tailor, last year. [TONY via Eater]

Is tequila the new vodka? Or: The "Entourage" Effect. [Washington Post]

New York bars are spiking their milkshakes with liquor. [NYT]

More on the ongoing Tiki bar revival, including news of the coming Hurricane Club in Manhattan. [NYT]

Julie Reiner Christens SoHo Bar Lani Kai

Lani Kai will be the name of Julie Reiner's upcoming SoHo bar.

"It’s a beach in Kailua on Oahu," Reiner, a native Hawaiian, told me for an item recently posted in the New York Times' Diner's Journal. "It’s a beach I spent a lot of time at as a kid. It’s a beautiful spot. It’s means ‘heavenly waters.’ For me, the name refers to both the beauty of the island, which I’m trying to capture in this new space, but also to the liquid form itself, which I’m always about."