TIKI CULTURE

Painkiller Cocktail Recipe - Your Weekend Tiki Drink

The Painkiller

As far as exotic cocktails go, The Painkiller ranks as one of the most famous…and most ordered…at the Tiki Bar. Along with the Navy Grog, Zombie, and of course the Mai Tai, The Painkiller has become one of the drinks most closely associated with Tiki. Kind of funny, when you realize the drink wasn’t concocted until the early 1970s…a time when the Tiki Bar craze was already beginning to fade.

Before the recipe I have to make a note that Pusser’s Rum, a brand that’s only been around for about 30 years, claimed and trademarked the cocktail “Painkiller”, claiming it was originally created using their rum. Uh…well, the Tiki community takes issue with that claim, but Pusser’s does own the trademark. Whatever…use any rum you want at home. I prefer Meyers for this blend.

The Painkiller Cocktail Recipe

2 oz dark rum
1 oz cream of coconut
4 oz pineapple juice
1 oz orange juice

Shake all ingredients in a shaker until nice and frothy. Strain over crushed ice in a Tiki mug or Collins glass and garnish with a chunk of fresh pineapple…an orange wheel and cherry are nice with it, too.

Painkiller Tiki Bar, NYC

Many of have probably heard of this drink in the last year as it, and an NYC Tiki Bar that went by the same name, made minor headlines when Pusser’s sued the New York City Tiki bar “Painkiller” over rights to the name. It seems what Pusser’s was really pussed-off about was that they weren’t using their brand of rum…again, whatever. The bar had to comply with Pusser’s demands, and is now called PKNY. The REAL news to this story is that…hey! Another Tiki Bar opened in New York City! From what I’ve read it’s not a traditional Tiki Bar, but is still keeping the spirit alive.

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.

Dark ’n’ Stormy: Your Weekend Tiki Cocktail, and A Flash of Noir

The Dark 'n' Stormy

This weekend I’m officially announcing the latest tome to my collection of books, A Flash of Noir. To go with it, I needed a noir-style cocktail…and what could be more noir than a classic

Dark and Stormy

Trademarked by Gosling’s in Bermuda, the Dark & Stormy uses Gosling’s Black Seal dark rum and ginger beer. It was invented just after WWI, and was a favorite among American sailors who picked it up in the Caribbean. A strong and simple to make tropical drink, it is certainly at home on any Tiki bar.

•    2 oz Gosling’s Black Seal rum
•    3 oz ginger beer
•    lime wedge

Pour the dark rum over ice in a highball glass or Tiki mug, then add the ginger beer. Stir lightly with a glass rod and add the lime wedge for garnish. Don’t squeeze the whole lime wedge in…taste it first, and add a little at a time until it’s the way you dig it.

Annnd…fade to black, bring up sepia lights to

A Flash of Noir

Just before you mix your Dark and Stormy, get out your Kindle (or iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC) and go to A Flash of Noir at the Kindle store. There you can download my latest book, A Flash of Noir for only 99¢! By the time you finish mixing the drink, the download will be complete and you can begin to read while you sip.

A Flash of Noir - Kindle version

Yes, only 99¢

…for 30+ short, short stories, flash fiction, beatnik poetry and kool photos, all authored by yours truly, Tiki Chris Pinto (or as I’m known on my author page, Christopher Pinto). It’s jam-packed with kool 60-second reads full of gumshoe detectives, sultry dames, ghosts, murderers, and monsters. There’s even a story made entirely of song titles…see if you can find them all!

From the book’s description: “From smokey bars in New York City to the tropical islands of the Florida keys, A Flash of Noir takes you for a spin through the seediest gin joints and darkest alleys. One minute you’re speeding down I-95 in a hot rod, the next you’re tasting cheap whiskey in a basement tap room where the women are heartless and the men are unforgiving. Gangsters, cops, private eyes, strippers, murderers, phantoms…plus a few comedy pieces to keep you from wanting to slit your wrists.”

A Flash of Noir - Print version coming soon. Cover model is Colleen Pinto.

Why only 99¢? Well, I can tell you it’s worth a lot more, entertainment-wise. But I’m hoping that a lot of you will give it a shot for a buck. If you dig it, I hope you’ll download one of my other books, Murder Behind the Closet Door: The Wildwood Paranormal Mystery or Murder on Tiki Island: A Noir Paranormal Mystery in the Florida Keys…and if you dig those, I hope you’ll tell your friends so they get em too. The idea is to become rich and famous. Ain’t that what most of us want?

I just realized…it’s beginning to thunder and lightning here at the Tiki Bar. Perfect for a Dark & Stormy!

– Tiki Chris reporting from the library at Tiki Lounge Talk, the Blounge for swingin’ retro kats and hip chicks.

The Jet Pilot - Your Weekend Tiki Cocktail!

Jet Pilot at The Mai-Kai

It may be hard to believe, but I had my first Jet Pilot cocktail at the Mai Kai last week. Lemme tell ya, that is one strong drink. Even the Matre ‘d thought I was crazy. But it’s a good one, no doubt about it kids.

There are a lot of screwed-up versions of this original Tiki Bar drink out there, using odd stuff like Bacardi Limon (yeah, that’s real authentic), but I found Beach Bum Berry’s recipe which is probably as close to (or exactly like) the original drink concocted by Don Beach 60+ years ago, during the heyday of jets and Tiki bars…

•    1/2 oz lime juice
•    1/2 oz grapefruit juice
•    1/2 oz cinnamon syrup
•    1/2 oz falernum (make your own falernum)
•    1 dash Angostura bitters
•    1 oz dark Jamaican rum
•    3/4 oz gold Puerto Rican rum
•    3/4 oz 151-Proof Lemon Hart Demerara Rum
•    6 drops Pernod
•    4 oz crushed ice
Throw everything into a blender, adding crushed ice last, and blend at high speed for five seconds. Pour into an old-fashioned glass. The Mai-Kai garnishes with a chunk of fresh pineapple speared on a sword. Works for me.

It’s stuff like”Pernod” and “Falernum” that makes a Tiki Lounge drink a Tiki Lounge drink. Most people don’t even know what that stuff is, and most bars won’t bother to carry it. But I guarantee you, making this drink yourself is well worth the effort. Mix it up, take a swing and TAKE OFF! (insert vintage jet-plane sound hear)

-Tiki Chris P. reporting from the garden terrace at The Mai-Kai, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

JUST ADDED:

One of my Twitter friends sent me this groovy recipe for Falernum. You can buy it, but it’s more fun and will taste a lot better if you make it yourself. Visit the Post Prohibition website for the recipe.

The Playboy Bunny Cocktail: Your weekend Tiki Bar Drink

Since it’s Easter weekend, I wanted to give you kids a drink recipe with an Easter theme. I originally wanted to do a recipe for an Easter Island cocktail. Funny enough, after searching my library of Tiki drinks books and the vastness of Teh Interwebs, I found NONE. That’s right, it’s 2011 and still, apparently, no one has used the name Easter Island for a cocktail. So…all you Tiki-lovin’ bartenders out there, now’s your chance to make one up!

Anyway, the second idea was for something with a bunny. And what better bunny to celebrate than the Playboy Bunny. Sure, the Easter Bunny is great. But let’s face it, Peter Cottontail has about as much to do with the Easter Holiday as Marylin Monroe (the first Playboy Bunny, of course). Think about it…they’re both bunnies. They both have sweet candy that give away. One is covered in fur, one likes to wear fur coats. Both always looked stoned. And neither has anything to do with the religious aspects of the holiday..so, without further possibility of ticking off both religious people and those who love the Easter rabbit, here’s your drink recipe!

The Playboy Bunny Cocktail

2 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Tequila
1 oz. Margarita Mix
1 oz. Orange Juice
1/2 oz. Pink Lemonade
1 oz. Cranberry Juice
1 tsp. Falernum (to taste…less if you don’t want it as sweet)

Yeah, it’s a big drink. Pour everything into a shaker and shake it up with ice. Serve in a margarita glass with a sugared rim, and garnish with a pink bunny peep. The drink should be a nice pinkish-red color. If it starts to look muddy, add some red food coloring!

Hoppy Easter from the sub tropics!

-Tiki Chris reporting from the Playboy Club, next to Pirate’s Cove Tiki Bar on Tiki Island

Oh, by the way…