Buzz's

Ellie's parents took us to Buzz's, an offshoot of Waikiki's Duke's, on the East coast of Oahu for an early birthday celebration. Aside from the delicious food (I got the tender teriyaki steak and the hefty salad bar), the place offered a great beachfront atmosphere and a thorough libations menu, the latter of which caused some me some dilemma. The featured drink, as expected of the island restaurant, was their Mai Tai which, based on their description, looked to be pure rum. They also served a BFRD (Big F-----n Rum Drink), which was the same Mai Tai but with added pineapple juice. Our waitress told us that the BFRD was so potent (more than 3 ounces of rum) that they only allow 3 per customer. I was not sure which to order, since the BFRD sounded more like a traditional Mai Tai, but I did want to try what they feature as a classic Mai Tai. The waitress offered a wise solution: the Mai Tai with pineapple juice on the side to add as I please. 

My first impression of the Mai Tai was that it was more similar to a Long Island than a traditional Mai Tai. It was extremely powerful and rummy but, somehow, did not leave a burn and was decently drinkable. The drink seemed to be more or less a medley of rums with what I believe was lime juice to provide some acidity. It was a good, strong, rummy drink, but did not have the fruity flavors associated with a Mai Tai. I then mixed in half of the small glass of pineapple juice. I was amazed at the difference in flavor such a small amount of pineapple added. It instantly transformed the rum mix into an island Mai Tai. The juice was very sweet and most likely freshly squeezed from locally grown Oahu pineapples. I tried a sip of Mattea's BFRD for comparison, and found that it was borderline too sweet; I preferred my half-juice MT. With the juice mixed in, the half-BFRD was a great Mai Tai. The only thing missing was the orange flavor, which I was able to look past. It was definitely the strongest I have had yet; I felt the Buzz by the end of it, but still kept the nice and beachy Mai Tai flavor profile. For the sake of curiosity, I tried squeezing the extra lime slice into the drink, which definitely took it away from its island flavor. The Mai Tai was served in a perfect glass with very nice, clear ice chunks. The garnish was pretty lacking, however, as I had no fruity treat to enjoy at the end of my drink. Instead, the drink offered a solo, out-of-place lime slice.

8.5/10

 Ellie's Corner

Buzz's was great, delicious food in a beautiful atmosphere. Eric's Mai Tai was truly originally a pure rum drink, which did somehow have that Long Island-y effect of softening the alcohol. It was a little hard to taste the different pineapple juice mix-ins because my Lava Flow, in contrast, was super sweet and creamy and made the Mai Tai taste like diesel in comparison. I also had a lychee martini afterwards, surprisingly strong but still drinkable, and I had a decent Buzz as well afterwards. Today I caught a Goldeen for the first time, so casually!