If you're an OC drunkard, you've no doubt already made your way to Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel, as fine a simulacrum of the era as anything Shag could ever envision. You already know about their fine drinks, about the speciality cups, about how the tiny spot goes boom whenever anyone orders the Krakatoa, how you have to say the full name of the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum or the waitress won't give it to you, and how the room chants in unison “UH-OHA, UH-OHA, UH-OHA-OHA-OHA” whenever someone orders the beast that is the Uh-Oh.
But do you know about Trader Sam's secret bar menu?
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It hit me the last time I visited that they had to have some off-menu specialties–this is Disney, after all, where they hide Mickey Mouse ears in toilets. I asked the nice bartender if they had a secret men. “What secret menu?” he replied cryptically. “Come on–you know there's a secret menu!” I slurred back. And he rattled off at least five drinks, of which I only caught two: the Navy Grog, and the Suffering Bastard. Already being the latter (and the latter has about four types of rum AND gin–yikes!), I chose the former.
A take on the legendary cocktail created by Donn Beach of Don the Beachcomber fame, the Navy Grog represents serious drinking. They throw in three types of rum (Sailor Jerry's, and I forgot the other two haha), add a splash of grapefruit juice, then dust some cinnamon on top. This Navy Grog isn't suffocatingly sweet like some of Trader Sam's other drinks–if anything, it's spicy due to the rum, cinnamon and a hint of ginger, and tart thanks to the grapefruit. My only complaint: a commemorative mug should come with it, or at least some pin to commend you for finding Walt's latest secret. Now, to find his frozen body underneath the Pirates of the Caribbean…
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Curious if you have any other details about the ‘Navy Grog’. I hadn’t heard that it used a spiced rum.
Their off menu seems to include Navy Grog, Suffering Bastard, Black Pearl and a new and old version of Kungaloosh.