The brewing of beer in Honolulu dates to 1812, when the illustrious Spaniard Don Francisco de Paula Marin first fermented hops and barley in a barrel. The first full scale brewery, the Honolulu Brewery opened in 1854, with the seemingly odd promise that the beer contained no alcohol. Other breweries were to follow, the most notable being the Honolulu Brewing & Malting Company, which was the original brewer of Primo Beer.

The explosion in the popularity of microbrews during the ’90s had an impact in Hawai’i, and small, local breweries began selling their crafted recipes to local stores and restaurants. Among those local breweries was the now defunct Ali’i Brewing, whose brewer Greg Yount now concocts innovative new recipes in the tanks at Brew Moon. Yount says our unique climate in the islands creates special challenges for brewers, particularly when it comes to storage. “Poor storage can severely impact a brew’s drinkability,” he relates. This insight from a mind that came up with Sirius Bender and Galaxy Hopper IPA.

There is a community of local brewers in Hawai’i, and Yount says they behave more as colleagues than as competitors. “We’re all real friendly.” There are now breweries on all major islands. The Big Island has Mehana Brewing in Hilo, which brews Roy’s Private Reserve and Tsunami Lager. Kona Brewing, based out of, yep, Kona, has been successful with a number of recipes inspired by and infused with local flavors like liliko’i. Kona’s Black Sand Porter won a gold medal at the 2005 Great American Beer Festival. There is also the Maui Brewing Company, which won a gold medal at the 2006 World Beer Cup with its Coconut Porter. Keoki Brewing on Kaua’i has teamed with Pabst to revive the Primo Beer name in 2008, and will keep it authentically local by using Hawaiian cane sugar. Sam Choy’s Breakfast, Lunch and Crab also brews on its premises. Most of our local brewers have been successful in just such a brewpub business model.

But brewing beer is not only the esoteric province of mad scientists and beer snobs. The Homebrewers of Pacific Shores (HOPS) is an organization that sees members get together to trade recipes, brewing tips and anecdotes. Winestock is an operation that holds homebrewing workshops and tastings regularly. It’s a great big beer world out there, and we’re lucky enough to enjoy our own little microcosm of it in Hawai’i. Cheers.

–Jamie Winpenny

(Visit the HOPS website at [home.honolulu.hawaii.edu/~lcorra/hops]/)

Smooth

Honolulu is bursting with smoothie stands, all of them featuring wide and creative selections. What makes Summer Frappe smoothies stand out? The smoothie shop at Maunakea Marketplace in Chinatown offers fresh fruit made-to-order smoothies using none of those artificially-flavored powders you can find anywhere else. If the inexpensive prices don’t offer extra incentive (smoothies range $3–4), the flavors will. Try a watermelon-kiwi mix, jackfruit or the japanese-tourist-favorite mango. –Daniel Lee Floren

Summer Frappe

Maunakea Marketplace, Chinatown

Koko crema

Koko Crater Coffee Roasters can be found at Saturday’s bustling Kapi’olani Community College Farmer’s Market, which according to many of Honolulu’s top chefs is the only authentic farmer’s market in town. Koko Crater supplies locally grown and organic coffee beans to independent coffee houses around the island. Master coffee roaster and cupper for Koko Crater Kamaka says, “Creating the perfect cup of coffee, like savoring a fine glass of wine, is an art. One cupper will uncover fruits and flowers while another discovers nuts and chocolate. Each coffee bean has its own unique root profile. There are 32 basic flavors in each coffee, so the experience of coffee is at once complex and highly individualistic.” Our choice? Go with the Maulani Estate Coffee from Moloka’i.

–L.T.S.

597-1266 E-mail: [email: kokocratercoffee]

Stephanie does Doraku

Benihana founder Rocky Aoki’s son Kevin (not DJ superstar and Hollywood bad-girl-best-friend Steve), has done pretty well for himself with his Doraku Sushi chain, having one location in Waikk and the other in South Beach, Florida. The high-concept trendy sushi restaurant idea isn’t new, but Doraku offers a healthy sized variety of liquor to wash down your specialty rolls or yakitori–be it wine, sake, beer, or one of the original cocktails. If you’re hankering for a cocktail on a lazy Waikk afternoon, bartender Stephanie will patiently walk you through the menu, or if asked, recommend her favorite or new concoctions. While the new Skyy Vodka fruit infused line stares at you from the top shelf, Stephanie recommends the popular Asian Mojito. “I tend to muddle more than others. I like it. I guess I’m a freak,”says Stephanie, alluding to the eye-roll that most bartenders give upon receiving a time-consuming cocktail order on a busy weekend night. So rest assured you will get full flavor from the hands of this young but experienced bartender, seasoned from Kalakaua Avenue bars and clubs.

The Asian Mojito normally wouldn’t get special attention, having long since been pushed to the niche marketing of noveau Oriental chic mystique. Plus there’s the fact that mojitos are a bit … two years ago. However, it’s the in-house made ginger infused vodka that deserves the full attention of your taste buds. The cloudy yellow mixture, which has absorbed the color of the ginger, is mixed with muddled mint leaves, lime and sugar, then topped off with club soda. The result is a pleasantly biting and refreshing elixir, perfect for the liquor lover at any time of the day.

Doraku also makes a sharp in-house ginger ale, as well as mango and pineapple infused sakes. While you might want to turn your nose up at the sake/soju cocktail trend (which for some places, allows them to slide by with just a beer and wine license), you have to give respect to a place where the staff is trained in sake knowledge and makes the infused variations themselves. Today, the Asian Mojito is king, but Doraku hasn’t seen the last of us lushes yet.

–M

Asian Mojito ($9), Doraku Sushi, Royal Hawaiian Center, 2233 Kalakaua Ave., 922-3323

Christian, my sidecar please

Laid-back as Honolulu is–an “Eh, I like one Bud Light” town infused with freshly-21-year-old soldiers who think the Jagerbomb an exotic drink–it’s sometimes easy around here to overlook the classics.

Consider the sidecar. Born of the Roaring ’20s, its recipes vary but generally distill to a gentle mix of brandy and orange liqueur, for a drink that’s slightly sweet, but retains a warmth that keeps even rough and tumble whiskey fans happy. No less a drunk than H.L. Mencken was reported to have called the sidecar “one of a dozen drinks of any real worth.”

Leave it to thirtyninehotel to not only bring the sidecar back into the spotlight, but to make it a little grander. Bar manager and mixologist Christian Self has tweaked the recipe, using Cointreau, Grand Marnier, fresh sweet and sour and a lot of mixing, poured into a martini glass with a sugared rim. If the thought of sugar all over your rim makes you feel slightly dirty, then you may not want to hear about the flaming orange zest, which coats the ingredients with essential oils. But just consider the rule about laws and sausage– order and enjoy. It’s a damn fine drink and a grand old time.

–D.C.

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