Mystery of the Voodoo Grog

I collect tiki mugs. It's one of my passions.

Primarily, I collect vintage mugs and glassware from restaurants whose heyday has long passed. As with anything vintage, the rarer it is, the more valuable. So, I have my list of "holy grails" that I would practically kill for. Some are so rare that they go for $500-$1000 on Ebay.

One mug in particular is actually a glass known as the Voodoo Grog" tumbler. The name comes from the drink of the same name that used to be a staple on the Trader Vic's drink menu. It's an absolutely be-yoo-tee-ful piece of artwork if you ask me. Average price on Ebay $125-$175 depending on it's condition.

Long story short, I found 12 of these beauties in an antique store for $108.00! The find of a lifetime, I'm sure. I'll probably never do this good again in my mug quest.


That happened about 18 months ago, and I was in desperate need of some photography equipment, so I sold 6 of them. All went within the price range mentioned above.

Then I got to thinking, was the Voodoo Grog drink any good? I asked my friend Lars who was the bar manager at my local Trader Vic's. He wasn't sure what was in it, but he said he'd look it up and make it for me next time I came in. The next week I show up, Voodoo Grog glass in hand, and Lars made me the drink. WOW! This was one of the best and most unusual drinks I've ever had. A strong but complex rum drink. AND to top it off I'm drinking it out of an ACTUAL Voodoo Grog glass. I made sure to order one or two of these every time I visited Trader Vic's. Even some of my tiki aficionado friends who have had the "best of the best" remarked that this drink was exceptional. Below is the Voodoo Grog drink in the Voodoo Grog glass made by my good friend Lars Hildebrant:


One of the key ingredients is St. James Martinique rum. Unfortunately, Lars had a difficult time keeping it in stock. Seems the supplier quit stocking it. I drank my Voodoo Grogs every time I was in Trader Vic's until the St. James was cleaned out. Flash forward about a year. Lars has returned to his homeland (Germany) and I never got the recipe from him. Then I heard from a friend who was going to visit the Chicago Trader Vic's for the first time. He asks, "What was the name of that drink Lars made us?" The good folks in Chicago were able to finagle the drink for him, but apparently was not exactly the one Lars made for us. I start digging through old emails trying to find Lars' email address. I locate one but have no idea if it's even good anymore. I send an email and within hours hear back from Mr. Lars. And he remembers the recipe for the Voodoo Grog:

1 - egg white
1 oz. passion fruit syrup (orig. recipe calls for 1/2 oz.)
2 tsp. honey
2 oz. St James Martinique Royal Amber rum
dash of bitters
juice of one fresh lime
mix well!

Lars was able to froth the egg whites up to cappuccino status. I haven't mastered that with my cheap blender.

One night at Trader Vic's while Lars was admiring my Voodoo Grog glass, he mentioned that Trader Vic's really should reproduce these as it's such a beautiful glass. I agreed wholeheartedly, and that was the end of it. Well, Tiki Farm did just that, except they're porcelain, not glass. I also noticed they don't have nearly the detail of the original. Still not bad though. I'm going to bring these to Trader Vic's this weekend and see if the bartender will make me a Voodoo Grog...we'll have to figure out a substitute for the St. James though.



BTW product photography is NOT one of my strengths.