Tag Archives: tiki drink

  • Our Tiki Creation: The “Rickey-Tiki-Tavi”

    April 15, 2012

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    Our tiki creation: The Rickey-Tiki-Tavi

    This will be our last tiki post for a little while, I think I need a Martini…;-)

    It has been raining quite a bit on our tropical vacation, so our “kitchen and bar muscles” are getting a workout. We have been cooking very tasty fresh fish almost every night. This has been great, but searing Ahi and oven roasting Mahi-Mahi and Ono are pretty simple procedures, so not too many posts from this direction (Carolyn made a great coconut rice, that recipe soon). But we have worked on tiki drinks, and after some trial and error, we created our own: the Rickey-Tiki-Tavi.

    The Rickey-Tiki-Tavi combines the basics of a Rickey (gin and lime) with the basics if a tiki drink (rum and pineapple). As we have mentioned in earlier posts, the point of a tiki drink is to add layers of flavors that add up to more than the sum of their parts. While different ages and varieties of rum usually fulfill this role, we decided to try a modern (read: not too much juniper) dry gin like Hendricks to add a new range of flavors. And after some experiments, we got a drink we really, really like.

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  • Tiki Cocktails: The Sumatra Kula

    April 12, 2012

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    Oh yes, we had to buy the tiki mug. But more on that below, let’s get to the drink first.

    The Sumatra Kula is a tiki drink from Don The Beachcomber, who along with “Trader Vic” Bergeron led the tiki craze in the 30′s, 40′s and 50′s. If I can summarize, Don was the Socal guy, Vic was the Norcal guy. Both liked rum and created lots of tiki drinks. Vic had the Mai Tai, Don had the Zombie. Both created chains of bar / restaurants in very un-tropical places- most, but not all, are gone now. But tiki is coming back and many of Don and Vics’s drinks are coming back as well, and we think that is great news.

    As for the Sumatra Kula, this is supposedly one of Don the Beachcomber’s first tiki creations from the 1930′s. And as it was early in his career, the recipe is still very simple. But this is a tasty drink and has the added bonus of using ingredients that are easily available. The Sumatra Kula combines lime, orange, grapefruit, honey syrup, light rum and crushed ice. The honey syrup is a 1-to-1 mixture of honey and water, heat until the honey dissolves, thus making it easier to mix in drinks. And in this drink the honey is the key, surprise ingredient. It is sweet, but clearly not sugar, and brings that mystery to the drink. The other thing you will notice is the use of just light rum, as tiki drinks evolved multiple types of rum were used for extra complexity. As it is, the light rum lets the fruit juice shine- so this is a nice refreshing tiki drink.

    Oh, and it comes with a "hat", too...

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  • Tiki Cocktails: The Rain Killer

    April 9, 2012

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    Rain Killer Cocktail: Tiki 101

    Funny thing about tiki drinks, when you are in the “real” world of tiki some of the ingredients are hard to find. Orgeat syrup and Falernum don’t grow on trees out here. I should know, I asked a local about the Orgeat trees and he looked at me kinda funny. No Falernum bushes either, go figure….;-)

    Happily, the fresh fruit and rum are in good supply and we brought some of our own cooking and cocktail gear- so the eating and drinking has been good (real good, actually). Not so happily, this week’s cocktail is aptly named. It is raining. Hard. Thus we start our adventure in tiki cocktails with the Rain Killer.

    The Rain Killer could be called “Tiki 101″,  it is as basic of a tiki drink you can get. You can go to any liquor stor and/or supermarket and get the ingredients for this cocktail. And it takes just a few minutes to make. Lime juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, rum, bitters and simple syrup. Think of this recipe as a “foundation” for tiki drinks.

    But the Rain killer is still a tiki drink. The whole point of tiki drinks is to have layers of flavor that blend into something more than the sum of its parts. By having multiple fruit juices, liquors, sweeteners and spices you get a drink that keeps you coming back. A common adjective for a good tiki drink is “beguiling”. The best tiki drinks really do take you “somewhere else”, and that is the magic.  Famous bartenders / impressarios like Trader Vic Bergeron and Don the Beachcomber created tiki drinks like the Mai Tai and the Zombie that are still with us today. And even in today’s world of advanced mixology, their drinks are still great. (More from these two as we go though the week.) Continue reading »