TIKI CULTURE

Lava Flow - Your Tiki Bar Cocktail Recipe for the Weekend!

Tiki drink purists will argue that anything “frozen” and made in a blender goes against the grain of traditional Tiki cocktail concoctions. But there’s no denying that a few frozen favorites have made it into the Tiki Bar drink menu, and

The Lava Flow

is probably one of our favorites. With a great flavor and fun presentation, The Lava Flow is a cool treat on a steamy tropical night…or a cold winter night, if you crank up the heat and have a few palm plants by your indoor Tiki bar.

Ingredients:

•    1 oz. light rum
•    1 oz. coconut rum
•    2 oz. fresh or frozen strawberries
•    1 small banana
•    2 oz. unsweetened pineapple juice
•    2 oz. coconut cream

Photo from http://www.youaremyfave.com/2012/06/page/2/

You’re going to want to make this in a clear glass, to show off the “flow”.

Blend the 2 rums and the strawberries in a blender until smooth. Pour into a tall (Collins or Hurricane) glass. Blend the banana,  coconut cream, and pineapple juice in blender with crushed ice until smooth. Pour this mixture into the glass with the rums very slowly and watch as the strawberry mixture oozes its way to the top along the sides of the glass creating the flowing lava effect. Garnish with a pineapple wedge and little umbrella, for maximum Tiki-liciousness.

Our “Tiki” Weekend…

While most of you are freezing your maracas off, here in South Florida the temperatures are in the 70s. That makes it the perfect time to go to the Miami Zoo. We’re heading down that way this weekend to check out the lions and gators, and of course some tropical birds and snakes. The zoo’s theme is jungle, and there are even a few (newish) Tikis posted around!

-Tiki Chris, reporting from the bar at Tiki Lounge Talk

National Rum Day? Today? YES!

You can't get any "rummier" than a Rum Barrel at The Mai Kai

Today is National Rum Day!

What is National Rum Day?

It’s a day to enjoy rum.

I do that every day.

Today is special.

Why?

I don’t know.

Seriously, today IS National Rum Day, and plenty of news outlets and bloggers are writing articles about rum, different kinds of rum, and rum drinks. But what exactly is today all about, and who started it?

Apparently nobody knows. After an intensive search of teh interwebs, I couldn’t find one post or site that could tell me who started it, when, or why. My first guess was that it was started by a rum manufacturer or distributor, but a quick look at Bacardi, Appleton Estate and Cruzan’s websites yielded not a single mention of the day. Then again, who cares? It’s an excuse to drink!

RUM COCKTAILS

Everyone is posting their favorite rum cocktails. I saw no less than 10 posts on how to make a Cuba Libre (such a difficult drink to mix, with all those three ingredients). Well, I won’t bore you with the typical rum recipes here. Here, I’ll give you two of my own concoctions to try out tonight.

THE PIRATE’S WENCH
by Tiki Chris P.

One of my favorites, this drink is easy to make using stuff you probably already have behind the Tiki bar. Here are the ingredients:
1 oz Sailor Jerry Rum
1 oz Malibu Coconut Rum
1 oz Dark Rum (I prefer Meyer’s or Black Seal)
3 drops bitters
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
sprinkle of nutmeg
Coke
Lime

This is kind of a Cuba Libre done in a kick-ass Tiki style. Get the full recipe here.

TIKI GALORE
by Tiki Chris P.

A new twist on an old favorite, the Tiki Galore is kind of like what you’d get if an amaretto sour collided with a rum truck.

1 oz. Amaretto
1 oz. Dark Rum
1/2 oz. Triple Sec
2 oz. Orange Juice
1/2 tspn powdered sugar

It’s sweet but not syrupy sweet, and the rum balances out the flavors nicely. Get the full recipe here.

Well, happy National Rum Day, and don’t forget in October the much more inclusive and fun INTERNATIONAL EXOTIC COCKTAIL DAY, October 5, 2012! FB users can join the fun on the official facebook page here.

-Tiki Chris reporting from Pirate’s Cove Tiki Bar, Fort Liquordale, FL

The Tonga Room Chi Chi - Your Weekend Tiki Cocktail Recipe

Chi Chi Vodka Drink

I’ve run across some (strange) people in my life who for some unknown reason, don’t dig Rum. I dunno, to each his own. Anyway I figured I’d drum up a recipe this week that has Vodka in place of rum, since Vodka seems to be today’s universally accepted booze. I only had to poke around for a minute when I found

The Tonga Room Chi Chi

A twist on the original Chi Chi, which is basically a Vodka Piña Colada, served at the historic Fairmont Hotel’s famed Tonga Room in San Fransisco.

4 ounces pineapple juice
2 teaspoons coconut snow
1 1/4 ounces vodka
1 ounce half and half
about a cup of shaved ice
Throw  everything into a blender and blend; Pour into a tall clear glass. Top with a fresh orchid. Serve with a straw.

Regular Chi Chi:

1 1/ 2oz vodka
2 oz cream of coconut
2 oz pineapple juice
1 cup ice

Blend all ingredients until smooth in blender. Pour into a tall Tiki mug and garnish with a slice of pineapple and a cherry.

Have a great weekend, kids!

-Tiki Chris, reporting from Poolside at the Lanai

Puka Punch - Your Weekend Tiki Cocktail

Here’s one of those crazy Tiki bar drinks that we love to build because it uses just about everything behind the bar including the sink. Rum, rum, and more rum, fruit juices, Falernum…mix it all together and you get one of those drinks that is fun to make, looks impressive to your pals, and tastes pretty damned good. Plus it reminds me of the Puca rabbit Harvey, and that makes me smile.

Puka Punch

2 oz. white rum
3⁄4 oz. dark Jamaican rum
3⁄4 oz. 151-proof rum (optional)
3⁄4 oz. fresh orange juice
3⁄4 oz. pineapple juice
3⁄4 oz. passion fruit syrup
2 tsp. honey mixed with
2 tsp. hot water, chilled
1⁄4 oz. Falernum
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 oz. fresh lime juice
Pineapple slice, orange wedge,
and maraschino cherry

Toss 1 1⁄2 cups of ice cubes into a blender and crush em up. Add all ingredients except the 151, blend on high speed. Pour into a Highball glass or tall Tiki mug. Then slowly pour the 151 rum over back of a (vintage) bar spoon into cocktail. Garnish with pineapple, orange, and a cherry on a little plastic sword. Cool drink!

-Tiki Chris P. reporting from Pirate’s Cove Tiki Bar, on the outskirts of Fort Lauderdale, South Florida. Watch out for the alligators.

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.