TIKI CULTURE

New Tiki Drink Recipe! The Pirate’s Wench, aka Cap’n Mack’s Pirate Grog

Thanksgiving for most people means a day spent with family, eating and watching football. Well, as we are displaced 1200+ miles from any family, my wife and usually have an intimate Thanksgiving dinner at home, just the two of us. This year was no exception, and we had a great day with a smoked turkey and the Wizard of Oz. If I have anything to be thankful for, it’s my wonderful wife Colleen.

Of course when you have a few days off in a row without needing to tend to guests, you start experimenting at the Tiki bar, right? Well, I sure as hell do. And I came up with something pretty decent.

I love rum. I love Coke. I love rum and Coke. Cuba Libre, as it’s know when you add lime. What I really like is to screw around with the basic recipe, and see what happens. That’s how I invented the Pirate’s Wench (click to see post). This little number is a spin-off of the Wench. It starts out the same, then takes a very islandy, Tiki-y twist. So we can call this a wench, too. What the hell. And it’s reeeeealy, reeeeally kickin’, kids! Try it out, it won’t disappoint.

1 oz Sailor Jerry Rum
1 oz Malibu Coconut Rum
1 oz Dark Rum (I prefer Meyer’s)
3 drops bitters
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
sprinkle of nutmeg
Coke
Lime

Start with a shaker of ice, add the three rums, bitter, and vanilla. Shake it up, baby. Strain into a large Tiki mug filled with ice. Liquor should fill mug about half way. Fill with Coke, squeeze in juice of 1/4 lime, and two shakes of nutmeg, stir. Top with a little more nutmeg and lime wedge. Damned good grog! It you like it sweet, add a little pineapple juice to taste. If you like it super strong, add a 151 floater, if you dare. Avast! And May Ye Enjoy The Captain’s Private Stock!

MY FAVORITE 60’s HALLOWEEN TOY: THE MYSTIC SKULL GAME

Hey, Bone Daddys & Halloween Kittens! Did you know the Tiki Scene was so hip in the 50’s & 60’s that Ideal Manufacturing came up with a board game with a Tiki-VooDoo Theme??? Dig it, from 1964,

MYSTIC SKULL
THE GAME OF VOODOO!
…with the mysterious moving skull!

Ohhhhh man! This is one of my all time favorites. The graphics on the box are kookie, a little scary, and wreak of mod-tiki art from the middle of the last century. The game itself is as krazy as it looks, too, with VooDoo dolls, pins, a couldron and of course the MYSTERIOUS MOVING SKULL.

I had one of these when I was a kid back in the 70’s. Always loved the box. When I was 32 and we were moving to Florida, I decided to sell it (couldn’t take everything with me). I remember I paid $.100 for it around 1977. I sold if for $40 before moving. When I got to Florida, I missed it so much I started looking for a replacement. I found one on eBay a year later for $15, and scooped it up. That’s the one you see here.

The Skull hangs from a mysterious plastic branch that sticks out of the couldron. When it’s your turn, you stir the couldron with a bone, and the skull mysteriously begins to shake, rattle and roll like krazy! Old Bone Head decides your fate as you encounter snakes, spiders, shrunken heads, and of course ZOMBIES! I tell ya, just checking out the graphics of this game will transport you back to the days when life was game and games looked like they were made by the same kats who drew Mr. Magoo. So if you dig Tiki, try to get your hands on a MYSTIC SKULL Game. There’s a couple of em on eBay right now..but mine ain’t for sale, baby!

The Tiki Bar at Night

Our Tiki Bar at Night

Here’s what a couple of black lights, some fluorescent poster paints and a lot of patience can do.

I fell in love with black light magic back in the 70’s. First memory I have of it is from a tropical themed bar at Zaberer’s Restaurant near Atlantic City. I was only about 4 but I remember how everything lit up and glowed…like magic. When I was 8 my father made me a Pirate Themed bedroom…complete with a black light that lit up a ghost ship, treasure and all sorts of fun stuff (I still have that light, and the treasure chest).

No wonder as soon as I was able I built my own Tiki Bar with black lights. In the day, you can’t really see the blue, magenta, green and orange highlights. The bar looks more Key West than krazy. But it comes to life at night under the ultraviolet lights…add to that the electric flaming tiki torches and flaming-mouth tiki idol, some Martin Denny tunes, plus a few good bottles of  booze and the sound of the waterfall, and we’ve got a little corner of the world to get away from it all.

Tahitian Rum Punch and Banana Banshee Recipies

We had a little party last night and it was a big hit! Everyone had a great time, enjoying the jazz music, chocolate fondue fountain, and exotic cocktails.

Two drinks were featured at out little Tiki Bar last night: Tahitian Rum Punch, and Frozen Banana Banshees. No one was expecting such tropical and exotic concoctions; Both enjoyed rave reviews. As these cocktails are really from another time (The rum punch enjoyed its heyday in the 30’s through the 50’s, the Banshees are a 70’s delight) their ‘retro value’ rates high. Below are the recipes and a few suggestions on serving:

Mack’s Tahitian Rum Punch

A variation of an old recipe, I am lucky enough to live in Florida where I have a coconut palm in my front yard. I was able to extract the coconut water from two ripe coconuts that I pulled from the tree yesterday!

Ingredients:
1 Cup Meyers Dark Rum
1 Cup Vat 19 Light Rum
(Optional: add one cup Captain Morgan’s for a stronger, spicier punch)
1 Cup Fresh Coconut Water (not milk)
2 Cups Orange Juice
1 Cup Pineapple Juice
1 1/2 Liter Ginger Aile
2 oz Rose’s Lime Juice
1 oz Grenadine
(Optional: 20 Drops Red Food Coloring for Effect)

Garnish:
Maraschino Cherries
Canned or Fresh Pineapple Rings
Sliced Oranges

Mix all ingredients together with ice in a large punchbowl. Float some cherries, pineapple rings and orange slices on top. If you have a Tiki or Volcano Fountain, use the food coloring to give the punch a robust red color. Serve in coconut shells, Tiki glasses or plastic punch cups with Hawaiian Floral prints (all available at Party City, http://partycity.com). Garnish with pineapple, orange and a cherry on a plastic sword and a little paper umbrella. It’s not Tahitian Rum Punch without the umbrella!

Frozen Banana Banshees

I had my first Banana Banshee at a New Year’s Eve Party in 1977. Ok, I wasn’t old enough to drink, but it was my Uncle’s house, at his basement bar, and he made one with less alcohol in it just for me. I’m old enough to enjoy the full hit of booze now, so here it is:

2 oz Creme de Banana
2 oz Dark Creme de Cacao
4 oz Meyers Dark Rum
2 oz Coconut Milk
1 Large Banana
5 Scoops Vanilla Ice Cream
1 Cup Ice

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high, in 5 second bursts, until the ice is crushed and the drink is thick and drinkable (don’t liquefy it trying to make it smooth). Garnish with a cherry and if available, chopped fresh coconut. Makes about four short servings.

Having a little party at the Tiki Bar tonight

It’s been a while since we’ve had a party, and we’re excited to have some friends over for an evening of jazz, chocolate fondue, and Tiki Lounge Conversations.

Colleen at the Tiki Bar

The hardest part about hosting a party is cleaning the house. We have a LOT of collectibles and furniture (What is the opposite of minimalist? Us). But we’ve cleaned and dusted from stem to stern. Out Tiki Bar is on the lanai, which is technically outside (although in Florida the line between inside your home and outside becomes very blurry, especially after the 3rd Mai Tai). So I had to dust off all the bottles, at least the ones that get the least amount of use, wipe everything down, and put everything in ‘party order’ (meaning vodka and tequila up front).

It’s 3pm, and everything is almost ready. The bar is set up. The house is clean. The party doesn’t start until 8:30, so we’ve got hours to rest before the guests arrive.

Tonight, the house will be lit low, the ceiling fan lights dimmed, red and blue mood lighting lit. A few apple-cinnamon scented candles will give a nice glow, but the atmosphere will be very intimate. The Tiki Bar will be lit in black light only; the Tiki masks and the bar itself are accented with ultraviolet paints, glowing green, magenta, yellow and blue. Behind the bar, rattan backdrops are painted with images of cocktails, palms, etc. in a very ’50s style, with the same UV paints. Five CDs of Jazz standards, mostly ’50s and ’60s recordings by Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sonny Stitt, Oscar Peterson and others, will create the background trac to tonight’s swaree. A chocolate fondue fountain, with strawberries, bananas and pound cake to dip will serve as the main treats. Tonight’s featured Cocktail is the Banana Banshee…dark rum, creme de banana, creme de cocao, vanilla ice cream and coconut milk. Now all we need are the guests <:-}