Rum

Big Bamboo

Name: Big Bamboo
Yield: 1 servings

Glass: Bamboo Mug

Mariano Licudine's secret-menu Mai-Kai pour, reserved for Okole Maluna Society members who'd finished all 48 drinks on the menu.

rum tiki mid-century blended jamaican cuban passion-fruit lime

Ingredients

fresh lime juice (0.5 oz)
fresh orange juice (0.5 oz)
fresh grapefruit juice (0.5 oz)
passion fruit syrup (0.5 oz)
Angostura bitters (2 dash)
gold Cuban-style rum (1 oz)
dark Jamaican rum (0.5 oz)
crushed ice (0.5 cup)
mint sprig (1)

The Big Bamboo is a Mariano Licudine creation, built at the Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale around 1960, rather than a Donn Beach drink, but it sits squarely in the Don the Beachcomber lineage: Licudine spent years behind the stick at Don the Beachcomber's Chicago location before being recruited east to open the Mai-Kai in 1956, and his recipes run on Donn's grammar (Jamaican-Cuban rum split, three citruses, passion fruit, Angostura).¹ Berry recovered the spec from Licudine's personal notebook and published it in Sippin' Safari;² the drink was never on the public Mai-Kai menu, it was an off-menu reward for guests who completed the Okole Maluna Society challenge of working through all 48 drinks on the official card.¹ The drink later evolved into the milder, still-on-menu Mara-Amu.¹

Brand recommendations. Best: Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black or Coruba Dark for the dark Jamaican; Caña Brava or Bacardi 8 for the gold Cuban-style rum (Virgin Islands rums like Cruzan Aged Dark are the period-substitute Licudine actually used); BG Reynolds or Small Hand Foods passion fruit syrup. Economical: Myers's Original Dark; Bacardi Gold; Liber & Co. passion fruit syrup.

Instructions

In a blender combine fresh lime juice, fresh orange juice, fresh grapefruit juice, passion fruit syrup, Angostura bitters, gold Cuban-style rum, and dark Jamaican rum.
Add crushed ice and flash blend for .
Pour unstrained into a bamboo mug or tall glass.
Garnish with a mint sprig.

Sources

Hurricane Hayward, "Mai-Kai Cocktail Review: The Big Bamboo." The Atomic Grog, June 2, 2012. https://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2012/06/02/mai-kai-cocktail-review-the-big-bamboo-features-big-flavors-unique-history/ (accessed 2026-05-03), primary documentation of Licudine as creator, the Okole Maluna Society 48-drink challenge (1958–59), the Mara-Amu evolution, and the Mai-Kai 1956 opening lineage. ↩
Berry, Sippin' Safari (2017 ed.), Mariano Licudine / Mai-Kai chapter, Berry's recovery of the Big Bamboo spec from Licudine's personal notebook and the published reconstruction this file follows. ↩
Glazner, Mai-Kai: History and Mystery of the Iconic Tiki Restaurant (2016), supporting context for the Mai-Kai's 1956 opening, Licudine's recruitment from Don the Beachcomber Chicago, and the Okole Maluna Society program.