TIKI CULTURE

International Exotic Cocktail Day 2012- Friday, Oct 5th

It’s nearly here - tomorrow is the third annual International Exotic Cocktail Day!

#IECD is a day for celebrating all that is great, swingin’, kool and magical about Tiki & Exotic Cocktails. Hey, there’s a day for everything now…why not have a day to celebrate something that really matters? BOOZE.

People all over the world will be celebrating this day by having an exotic cocktail (or two, or three…). Wherever, whenever, with whomever…as long as you have a Tiki drink in hand and a smile on your face.

Colleen Drinking Cap'n Mack's Pirate Grog

I’ll be celebrating this day all day. After all, I invented it so I guess I should, right?

I’ll be making Zombies for my co-workers for at-work happy hour (I work at an ad agency, so liquor is ok here in moderation). With any luck and if traffic is on my side, I’ll be swinging by The Wreck Bar to see Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid’s underwater show, then will head over to the Mai Kai around 8 to drink Mai Tais and Jet Pilots, and listen to the Cutback Surf Band. Those cats can really rock old-school surf tunes.

I’ll be finishing the night at home, at my private Tiki bar, affectionately known as Pirate’s Cove Tiki Bar. I’m thinking I’ll mix up a Pirate’s Wench, my own Tiki cocktail concoction.

Happy International Exotic Cocktail Day, kids! Live it up!

Join the #IECD event on Facebook!

-Tiki Chris, reporting from the liquor store on the corner of Tiki Island Road and Tropical Paradise Avenue, Florida

For a list of Exotic Cocktail recipes, visit Tiki Lounge Talk’s mixed-up drinks page!

Tiki Oasis 12 Starts Thursday, Aug. 16, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in San Diego!

“You Mission, if you choose to accept it…” is how this year’s Tiki Oasis website welcomes you. And there’s a good reason - the theme this year for the world’s largest Tiki gathering is Exotic Espionage & Polynesian Pulp!

As if thousands of Tikiphiles getting together for drinks with entertainment and vintage merchandise wasn’t enough, the cats and kittens who put on this shindig decided to go with the ultra-cool mid-century spy theme to spice things up even more.

Marina the Mermaid

While the expected entertainment includes surf bands, Exotica bands, dancers, DJs and burlesque beauties, this year visitors can dig some extra hipness concentrated on the spy theme, including a symposium on the cinematic/television history of exotic espionage and Polynesian pulp by fellow author Will “The Thrill” Viharo. Fort Lauderdale’s own Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid will also perform, along with swingin’ bands like The Exotics, Thee Swank Bastards and The Tikiyaki Orchestra.

Will "The Thrill"

As always there will be a groovy art show and the ever popular antique/classic/hot rod car show, plus appearances and seminars by the likes of Sven Kirsten and Meghan Mayhem, all with a spy-scene tilt. Dig it.

For a complete list of entertainment, schedule and other info visit the Tiki-O website at www.tikioasis.com/2012.

-Tiki Chris, jealously reporting from the opposite coast!

Cabernet Dance

Murder on Tiki Island by Tiki Chris Pinto: Great Review on LetsTiki.com

The great reviews keep coming in for Murder on Tiki Island by yours truly, Tiki Chris!

Recently Darrin Vindiola of Dads Dish wrote a spectacular review of the book, siting it’s great imagery, fun characters and original plot line.

This week, Damon of Let’s Tiki wrote (and put on video) his great review of this Tiki-lover’s tome:

“Aloha,
I want to tell you about a great book I recently read, Murder on Tiki Island.  I really enjoyed the book. It made me feel like I was on a tropical vacation when, in reality, I never left Wisconsin.  Murder on Tiki Island was written by Tiki Chris Pinto.  The book takes place in October, 1956, and follows the story of New York City detective Bill Riggins…” You can read the rest of the review here at LetsTiki.com.

Damon is a long-time connoisseur of Tiki cocktails, culture and decor. His Let’s Tiki website has a ton of great info, exotic cocktail recipes and much more for the Tiki lover.

Mahalos for that glowing review, Damon! It’s kats like you that the book is written for!

-Tiki Chris P., author of Murder on Tiki Island.

The Playboy Club Already Canceled; Pan Am Soars; International Exotic Cocktail Day Almost Here

"Two double Martinis, Jimmy...and whatever the lady wants."

Well, I guess my scathing review of the premier of The Playboy Club was on the mark. After only three episodes, the retro drama is off the air…So far NBC doesn’t even have plans to run off the remaining episodes in another time slot. Poor initial ratings and sharp viewer decline in the last two episodes (along with some squawking from a big-mouthed religious group who thinks Playboy is pornographic, ugh) caused the advertisers to jump ship. And without dough, there’s no show. Shame, since episode two was a thousand times better than episode one. Haven’t seen the third one yet.

Now…when you swing over to Pan Am, you can’t help but smile. They’ve really captured the era, and give people like us an hour a week to feel like we’re back in the days when you could get a real martini (in a real glass martini glass), complete with olives and pretty, smiling stewardess on an airplane.The story lines are solid and keep us interested, and peaks of vintage Cadillacs and Chryslers remind us of the days when the most elegant, luxurious and powerful cars were built in Detroit.

***

Friday is International Exotic Cocktail Day!

At the Tiki Bar...

We’ve been waiting all year for Friday, October 7 just so we could drink a cool rum concoction! Ok, we didn’t wait. But what better way to pledge our allegiance to the Exotic Cocktail than to have a day dedicated to it? This Friday, raise a glass and toast your friends, family, boss, gardener, dog, whatever, wherever you are, whatever time you can make it. Celebrate International Exotic Cocktail Day with me, and show the world you’re a Tiki Drink Lover!

We’ll be celebrating at the famous Wreck Bar in Fort Lauderdale, watching Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid’s show through the portholes. Then it’s off to the Mai Kai for a nightcap. Hope to see some of you there!

-Tiki Chris P. reporting from the Tiki Lounge

More Rum, More Noir - The Rum Noir, Your Weekend Tiki Cocktail

The Rum Noir, a Tiki Lounge Talk original. Kool Tiki mug by Tiki Diablo.

Since the other day was National Rum Day, I had to experiment with a few goodies to see if I could come up with something new. Well kids, I did. First I tried some of the Appleton Estate and El Dorado rums mixed with coke and lime. Now, I know some of you will say this is a big waste of such great rums. But the flavor was unique, dark and really very enjoyable. Equal parts of each rum in a tall glass with ice, add in coke and stir. Add fresh lime a little squeeze at a time.

But it didn’t stop there. I needed to make something my Tiki friends (that’s you) would consider worthy of the drink log. So, after a few experiments…

The Rum Noir

surfaced as the winner.

1 oz Appleton Estate Rum

1 oz El Dorado Demerara Rum

1/4 oz cinnamon schnapps (the hot stuff)

1 oz orange juice

1/2 oz fresh lime juice (adjust to taste)

2-4 drops bitters

Splash of Coke

Put everything into the shaker (except the soda) with ice and shake it up real nice. Pour into a tall Tiki mug with ice, add a splash of coke. Garnish with a lime wedge and orange slice. This recipe is pretty close to a planter’s punch, with a little kick. It’s called the Rum Noir because of the dark rum, and because I invented it while pulling the trigger on the print version of my latest swingin’ book, A Flash of Noir, which is now available in Print, for Kindle and for Nook. Check it out

-Tiki Chris P. reporting from Pirate’s Cove Tiki Bar at Tiki Lounge Talk, the web-lounge for swingin’ chicks and kool vintage hipsters.