There is a house near mine that decorated with a tiki theme for Halloween!

Edit: forgot to mention that she was outside when we went by and I asked her if she was really into tiki drinks.
She said she liked the theme, but changes it every year!

The best Mai Tai I’ve ever had — and I’ve had a few. Garret and his team are incredible.

I like doom metal. I like tiki. Eugene, Oregon doom monolith YOB inspired this drink with their hit song, Adrift In The Ocean. A little funky, a little inky, very rummy. Tastes like being lost at sea and makes you feel like it afterwards! (In a good way!). Probably best to limit 1 per customer. Sounds like a lot of alcohol compared to mixers but with enough ice and the salt it's actually pretty balanced! You can always use less 151. And yes I know my garnish game is weak, I just make them for myself at home and don't care. Mug from Inside Passage, Seattle WA.

Adrift In The Ocean

- 1oz black blended rum (Black Tot)

- 1oz rhum agricole (Clement VSOP)

- 0.5oz navy strength (Planteray Mr Fogg)

- 1oz overproof float (Hamilton 151 False Idol)

- 0.25oz grapefruit juice (I used red)

- 0.25oz demerara syrup (I go just a hair over)

- 0.5oz creme de mure (I have Combier)

- 0.75oz lime juice

- 0.25oz falernum

- 1 dash bitters

- pinch of salt (or a couple drops saline)

Just a few weeks shy of five years old, and just before my trip to Austin, my old Opal 2.0 finally gave up the ghost. I was able to get a 2.0 Ultra for a good price, but it wound up being delivered while I was out of state, so I had it held at a FedEx location until I could pick it up. This is the first drink that I’ve made after getting it cleaned and set up, using brand new batches of homemade orgeat and Demerara simple syrup, and mint from my little patio garden… and friends, it tastes GLORIOUS. I figured the perfect way to test the new syrups was using Kevin Crossman’s Ultimate Mai Tai recipe, and I was not disappointed.

Been tinkering for months now and finally found the one I'm really happy with. I figured this is the group that would understand, so here it is.

1 oz El Dorado 8
1 oz Coruba
.75 oz Liber & Co orgeat
.75 oz lime juice
.5 oz Bols orange curacao
.5 oz brown sugar simple syrup

It has just the right balance of acid, richness, and sweetness for my particular taste.

Thanks for listening, and cheers! 🍹

Grabbed a bottle and haven’t a clue what drink to use it in. How would you describe its flavor profile?

I've done all of the big tiki places in Vegas before, but there are some new spots since the last time I was here and I decided to start with one of my favorites and then try a new comer.

Red Dwarf was great as usual. Had a nuts n butts which isn't tiki but was great and came with a tiny slice of pb&j. The other drink was called a something kiwi and it was very good but just a little sweeter than I typically like. The pizza was the pineapple does belong on pizza and it's perfect. 10/10.

Then I went to Fremont and the new-to-me glitter gulch. My expectations were low and I was still disappointed. There were 2 events going on there, one looked like frat bros trying to grow mustaches meeting and the other looked like a mortuary accountants meeting.

They took up maybe 1/4th of the place, which is a mostly nice looking tiki bar, but with some weird decor like disco ball chairs. There was no one at the bar, not even a bar tender. Everything was sticky. The floors, the chairs, the tables, etc. I sat in an Alice in wonderland themed booth and had their house special tiki punch thing and nacho whip which is a Dole whip with passion fruit and coconut alcohols. The tiki drink was unbearable and the dole whip was as amazing as it sounds, but maybe had no alcohol? This place is bad. It could be cool if they got their drink program better, but if they're selling this bullshit for $20/drink already I guess why bother?

A few weeks ago I posted a rundown of my testing "super juice," or more precisely, "pseudo juice."

The results were decent, good enough for cocktails I thought... But certainly not perfect. There was clear room for improvement.

I got some good input in the comments from a few other users who also use the technique. (And plenty who don't like it, too!)

I made some alterations to the original Brian Tasch recipes with that input: add a buffering agent with potassium, and don't bother with the waiting step... Just blend everything! I also reduced the amount of sugar in the recipes to match the fruit's natural amount, as with an acid buffer we should not need as much sugar to manage tartness... And I added a little vitamin C as a sacrificial antioxidant.

Also, I wanted to try making grapefruit pseudo juice... But not just any grapefruit... White grapefruit, since that's apparently what most cocktails are supposed to use. Fortunately, another r/tiki nerd did some work on that already! I began with this recipe, except that again I reduced the amount of sugar, added buffer and ascorbic acid, and altered the acid amounts based on some other research. I used grapefruit pith instead of buying naringin extract.

Tasting notes

In short everything was better and all the pseudo juices are pretty good now. I could not see a problem with skipping the acidified oleo saccharum waiting step and I think the various other changes helped the flavors. The previous lime was already pretty good I thought; it's a little better now. But the orange and lemon saw major improvements.

The orange before was usable, but it tasted a little like Sunny Delight. Now, that "orange drink" note is gone.

Lemon was the worst of the previous three... Usable... But when you tasted it side by side with real juice, it was just not right, with the most distracting flaw being that it was far too sweet. It is much more on target now.

And the white grapefruit... Well, a challenge with tasting fake white grapefruit juice is that I don't have a real white grapefruit for comparison. I didn't go buy a bottle from Kroger, either. But tasting the white against real ruby grapefruit juice, the white juice tasted good, and seemed plausible. It was less sweet, more tart, and more bitter... All the things white grapefruit is supposed to be. It tastes good in a cocktail and definitely more assertive than fresh ruby juice, but at this point I cannot say anything more definitive.

At this point I am happy enough with all the juices that I am done fiddling, but I will keep an eye out for a white grapefruit, to do a proper side by side test.

I hope someone finds this useful.

Cheers!

Buffered and Reduced Sugar Citrus Pseudo Juice Recipes

Use a very sharp peeler to remove the citrus zest, leaving behind the pith as much as possible. For all recipes except grapefruit, blend all the ingredients together until the peel is reduced to pieces about the size of coarsely-ground pepper. (How long this takes will depend on your blender.) Strain out the peel and bottle the juice. Don't over-blend, or the peel will become too fine to easily strain out.

For the grapefruit, combine everything but the pith, and blend and strain. Add the pith and blend and strain again. Taste, and add more pith and re-blend if needed to adjust bitterness.

Lemon

500 g Filtered Water

30 g Lemon Peel

27 g Citric Acid

3 g Malic Acid

15 g Granulated White Sugar

1 g Potassium Citrate (added buffer)

1 g Salt

0.5 g Ascorbic Acid (antioxidant)

Lime

500 g Filtered Water

30 g Lime Peel

24 g Citric Acid

12 g Malic Acid

15 g Granulated White Sugar

1 g Potassium Citrate (added buffer)

1 g Salt

0.5 g Ascorbic Acid (antioxidant)

Orange

500 g Filtered Water

30 g Orange Peel

7 g Citric Acid

2 g Malic Acid

40 g Granulated White Sugar

1 g Potassium Citrate (added buffer)

1 g Salt

0.5 g Ascorbic Acid (antioxidant)

Faux White Grapefruit

500 g Filtered Water

30 g Pink/Ruby Grapefruit Zest

15 g Pink/Ruby Grapefruit Pith

7.5 g Citric Acid

2.5 g Malic Acid

20 g Granulated White Sugar

2.7 g Tartaric Acid

0.3 g MSG

1 g Potassium Citrate

1 g Salt

0.5 g Ascorbic Acid (antioxidant)

And to be complete, here is the recipe for pink/ruby grapefruit pseudo juice... But I have not actually made this yet since white grapefruit was my main interest. This actually has a touch more acid than the white recipe, but also more sugar and less bitterness so it should be perceived as less tart. YMMV.

Pink/Ruby Grapefruit

500 g Filtered Water

30 g Grapefruit Zest

6 g Grapefruit White Pith

8 g Citric Acid

2 g Malic Acid

25 g Granulated White Sugar

1 g Potassium Citrate

1 g Salt

0.5 g Ascorbic Acid (antioxidant)

I’ve been trying to find this exact type of cocktail glass but I can’t seem to find it anywhere online. Anyone know where to buy these?

Visiting friends in the Cleveland area this weekend and will be heading to Porco's Lounge. Any suggestions on cocktails? Thanks!

I’m looking to ensure diversity of my rum collection, and according to the Total Tiki app I don’t have an amber Jamaican style rum.

The current rums I have are:
Hamilton 151 false idol
Hamilton 86
Mount Gaye eclipse
Probitas original
Probitas green label
Coruba
Clement VSOP Rhum agricole
Rhum JM 100
Havana club seven year
Wray and nephew
Alleyne Arthur

Would any of these rums work in the cocktails that require Amber Jamaican rum in the app? Maybe the Probitas green?

Just saw a quick thing about clarifying drinks and was wondering.
1. Would clarifying a zombie even work for anything as far as keeping it fresher longer?
2. Would it significantly impact the flavor to clarify a zombie?

Guess this is turning into more of a bi-weekly thing because I keep forgetting to post. 🫣

Here’s your chance to share what you’ve been thinking without worrying about starting a conversation, asking a dumb question, or anything else. If you’ve got a thought you’ve been thinking about tiki, share it here!

To preface, each year, for the past three years, I have been hosting a get-together for my work friends to round out the end of the year. I have previously been assigned to our 2nd shift since the beginning of that time and the majority of our crew have worked closely together throughout that duration, with the exception of a few promotions and other assignments. We do a "shift-bid" each November, usually the week before Thanksgiving, to see where everyone at work will be for the next year of work, and I typically host a week or two before the Christmas holiday.

A few months ago I moved to a specialized position and since then we have also lost a few people. I dont really get to see my old crew so much anymore so I wanted to change it up and refresh the tradition. Each year I have stuck to the "basics", Mai Tai, Painkiller, Zombie etc. I even did a large batch Navy Grog out of a punch dispenser last year. This year I wanted to take it a tiny step further. I'm wanting to get a simple menu together that has some good range to it but is beyond the drinks people with only a tertiary knowledge of tiki would associate with. I'm thinking something sweet, something herbal, a classic and a mocktail.

I'd like to get some ideas from the community as to how I should steer this ship. I'm not trying to get too crazy with it though as most everyone else sees it as a pleasant quirk of mine. Just trying to open some minds and expand some palettes. I'm open to all suggestions, thank you everyone in advance.

A few days ago, I posted asking if there were any surviving bars in Detroit where I could scratch my tiki itch. I'm happy to report several things: 1. The Black Lagoon pop-up at the Skip was what I expected, and wasn't a disappointment for what it was; 2. Sugar House, who apparently has the same owners as the former Mutiny, had great modern takes on tiki classics like the Zombie and Saturn; 3. Lots of other rum-forward programs were unfortunately closed while I was there on Sunday and Monday nights, however, the Doctor Bird tasting and Jungle Bird at Two James made up for it. Safe to say, you can still find tiki in Detroit!

Moving is stressful. But, while this isn't all of them, the gang (sans one) made it through the move!

Pour one out for Kikazaru.

Time to mix one up and get to work on the new bar!

I even used a full oz of Smith and Cross from my damn near empty (and can't replace locally) bottle

I did a Midwest tiki tour and Northern California tiki tour earlier this year and decided to do one in Florida. I was not able to make it to Orlando, so this was just the Fort Lauderdale/Miami/Tampa areas. I had 3 drinks at each stop and have compiled my rankings below. I tried to get at least one of the same drink at every spot. I was able to do a Pearl Diver at every Tiki Spot

1. Kaona Room (Miami)

Drink orders were the Aged Mai Thai, The Pearl Diver and the Zombie.

This place was nearly perfect, the attention to detail on everything from decor to the homemade syrups was astounding. Great hospitality as well, the best drink was the Pearl Diver, genuinely a top 2 pearl diver I have ever had. 5 stars. No drink was below 4.25 stars

Overall rating: 9.5/10

1. The Mai Kai

Drink orders were the Saturn, Pearl Diver and Rum Barrel

The energy of this place was off the chart, felt like I was going to Jurassic park with the size and jungle vibes of the space. The presentation of the drinks was a Highlight, specifically the Saturn. Best drink was the Rum barrel, gave me all the spice and citrus notes i wanted from it. Cons: the service was not great and the place had a strange smell, I would not eat here again either. It is bumped up due to the atmosphere and sheer magnitude of this space. 2/3 of the drinks were over 4 stars.

Overall rating: 8.5/10

1. Swizzle

Drink orders were the Hurricane, Gimlet and Rum Swizzle

Obviously this was not a tiki bar, it’s a full on Cuban Rum bar and the energy absolutely matched that. It was packed on a late Sunday night yet the service was still outstanding. The drinks were phenomenal, highlighted by the Hurricane. All were 4 stars plus. No real cons other than it was not a tiki bar, pound for pound I would put this over Mai Kai but my tiki bias is showing

Overall rating: 8.4/10

1. Morgan’s Cove

Drink orders were Mai Thai, Three dots and Dash and a Mac Nut Pearl diver

So this was the tough one of the group. I will start with the positive, the decor in this place is fantastic, it’s like a full on pirate ship. I had some Pretzel bites for an app and they were actually pretty good. The service was totally acceptable considering how busy it was on a Saturday night. But I have to be honest… the drinks were not good in the slightest, one of the sweetest Mai Thais I have had in a long time, the three dots has a weird aftertaste and the pearl diver tasted like a Sour Patch kid had a baby with Malibu Rum. I didn’t drink half of it.

Overall Rating: 5/10

Bonus Bars

Bar Kaiju - Go here if you are in Miami, I had like a Apple Mai Thai with Chinese 5 spice that was one of the best drinks of the whole trip, their Korean Chicken is some of the best I’ve ever had. Insane vibes.

Hotel Bar - I went here after the tough outing by Morgan’s cove and had a Queens Park Swizzle, it was excellent.

We had an awesome time this past Friday on the Big Bear Tiki Boat!

We signed up for the sunset tour and I wasn't really sure what to expect. I thought maybe it'd just be a boat with some tropical accessories and canned mai tais or something. But it was a pretty legit full tiki bar, on a boat!

The couple who run it are awesome, very friendly and make great drinks. The bar itself is covered with mementos from their own travels. The bar stools are boat seats, at bar stool height!

It was a little chilly/windy, especially when we were first heading out to the middle of the lake, but they offer blankets to everyone if they want one. They also have a surprisingly nice restroom on board - probably the nicest I've ever used on a vehicle smaller than a cruise ship.

Anyway, we had a blast and I can't recommend it enough. They're about to shut down for the season at the end of October, but if you're heading to Big Bear next year, definitely keep it in mind! Between this & Tropicali, Big Bear Lake has a couple of great tiki experiences.

The title says it all, really. I’m looking for good sources of rum in the Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA area.

Lived up to every expectation. Amazing drinks (cap’n cam gets my biggest shout out), amazing bartenders, amazing crowd, and vibe is unbelievable.

now — back to Kowloon

Edit: one awesome thing I’ve noticed as the night has gone on - this is a neighborhood bar for so many people. The bartenders and so many patrons know each other, which gets to best part about this community! And also, shoutout to bartender - Brian - for being so friendly and informative!

1 oz light rum (Planteray 3 star)

1 oz Appleton Estate

1 oz Smith & Cross

1 oz Plantation OFTD

1.5 Creme de Banane/Banana liqueur

1.5 oz Cinnamon Syrup

1.5 oz Lime juice

1.5 oz Orange juice

Dash of angostora to top

One per customer 🦍💤