Wow how time files.  I'm really sorry, that I haven't posted anything in quite awhile! I miss posting recipes, and talking with all of my Tiki friends on Facebook and Twitter.  My day job has been really busy this summer, and I haven't had much free time.  I am a software developer by day, and in that field you have to update your skills all the time. So I have been doing a lot of learning.  

Last week I was at the airport for work, and saw a big sign for Beach Bar Rum.  That feeling of a tropical escape by way of a Tiki cocktail was calling my name.  I knew immediately that I had to get a bottle of that rum and try it out!

The rum is actually called Sammy's Beach Bar Rum, and is named after Sammy Hagar of Van Halen.  Sammy wanted a rum for his restaurants.  So he joined up with a distillery in Hawaii.  The rum is make with sugar cane from Hawaii. 

Sammy's beach bar rum is a nice smooth white rum. It is a bit on the sweeter side, and is a lot like a Cachaça. Drinking a little bit of this rum will transport you to Hawaii.  As you will see in the video I just cannot pronounce Cachaça no matter how hard I try. :-)  Maybe another drink would have made it easier. 

Sammy's Maui Rocker

The website for Sammy's Beach Bar Rum had a number of drink recipes.  One that stood out to me was Sammy's Maui Rocker. 

To make a Sammy's Maui Rocker combine the following ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice:

• 1.5 oz Sammy's Beach Bar Rum
• 1.5 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz fresh sour mix
• .5 oz orange Curacao
• .25  oz grenadine

Shake the drink up really good and pour it, unstrained, into a tall glass. 

Sammy's Maui Rocker is a little on the sweeter side, but it was still pretty good.  When you pick up the glass the aroma of pineapple, orange, and lime fill your nose and transport you to the beautiful Hawaiian Islands.  After the first sip you taste the sweet flavors of pineapple, and orange.  Then, the lemon and lime balance out the drink nicely.  You can start to hear the gentle ocean waves, the warm sea breeze rustle the palm trees, and in the distance a steel drum playing that oh so familiar Hawaiian music.... Ah.. paradise.

Cinco de Mayo is upon us! If you are looking for an alternative to the margarita try an El Diablo.  The El Diablo is one of the few Tiki cocktails with tequila.

This cocktail was made popular by Trader Vic.  He may or may not have invented it.  Trader Vic was the first to publish the recipe in the 1940s. Then, in the 1960s Trader Vic had a chain of Mexican restaurants, and the El Diablo was featured at the restaurants. Unfortunately, the Mexican restaurant chain didn't do well, and the El Diablo drifted into history. Now that tequila is becoming more popular the El Diablo has a chance for a come back.  

A friend of mine on Twitter, @WongsGrogs, gave me a variation on the El Diablo recipe that I like a lot better than the version I tried last year. This version uses Mezcal instead of tequila.  Mezcal is a cousin to tequila that is higher quality.  It has a nice smooth smoky flavor. 

To make the El Diablo you will need:

• 2 oz mezcal
• 3/4 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 oz creme de cassis
• ginger beer 

Put the mezcal, fresh lime juice, creme de cassis, and some crushed ice into your cocktail shaker. Shake it up real good. Then, pour the El Diablo, strained, into a high ball glass that is full of crushed ice.  Top the cocktail off with ginger beer. Stir the ingredients together, garnish with a lime wheel and enjoy!

The El Diablo is a nice refreshing alternative to the margarita. It has a great red devilish color.  The mezcal and ginger beer go together nicely.  The creme de cassis gives a nice unique sweetness, and the lime balances it out with a bit of sour.  This is one of those drinks that would be great on a hot day.

Mahalo,

Damon

Today we are making a Pineapple Upside Down Cake Martini.  

A few weeks ago I was at a local bar where a friend of mine bar tends.  The distributor gave him a bottle of cake flavored vodka.  So we did some experimenting to see what we could come up with. We mixed the cake vodka with a variety of things but nothing was tasting quite right.  Finally, we tried some pineapple juice.  That is when we knew we were on to something.  We added a little amaretto to the drink and it tasted just like a pineapple upside down cake.  

Later, at home, I added some dark rum and the recipe was even better.  The first time I tried cake flavored vodka I was surprise at how good it was.  It truly tastes just like cake.  Mixed with the pineapple juice, rum, and amaretto the cocktail is truly amazing.  

To make a pineapple upside down cake martini put some ice in a cocktail shaker.  Then add:

• 2 oz cake flavored vodka
• 2 oz pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz amaretto
• 1/2 oz dark rum

Shake it up real good and then pour the drink, strained, into a martini glass.  Garnish the drink with a cherry, and enjoy!  

Let me know what you think about the martini by leaving a comment below.  I would love to hear your thoughts on what might make it even better.

Mahalo,

Damon

It was such a hectic week at my day job this past week.  I couldn't wait to get away from it all in my very own Tiki bar. So, to relax and unwind I'm continuing my Tiki cocktail adventure through Beachbum Berry's Remixed and having Don's Special Daiquiri.  

Don's Special Daiquiri

I love a daiquiri!  Now, I'm not talking about those sickeningly sweet blended monstrosities that most places pass of as a daiquiri. I'm talking about a simple little cocktail made from rum, lime juice, and a little sugar.  An original daiquiri is shaken and then strained into a cocktail glass. A daiquiri like that is simply perfection.

Originally, a light rum was used in the daiquiri, but it is fun to experiment with different rums in a daiquiri.  When sampling a new rum for the first time I like to try it in a daiquiri.  It gives a great sense of what the rum is like.

So, while I was thumbing through Beachbum Berry's Remixed to see what cocktail I wanted to try next I was excited to see Don's Special Daiquiri. So I mixed one up right away.  

Don's Special Daiquiri was a little different than the traditional daiquiri, but the recipe didn't veer off course too far.  It has a little less lime juice, honey mix (equal parts honey and water) instead of sugar, and some passion fruit syrup.  Instead of one rum there was a light Puerto Rican rum, and a gold Jamaican rum.  

After pouring the drink into the cocktail glass a nice aroma of citrus and passion fruit was in the air.  Don's Special Daiquiri had a nice yellow color that came from the passion fruit syrup.   My first sip started with a great passion fruit flavor that was followed by a hint of honey.  That gave way to a hint of lime juice and a little tartness.  You could also taste the rum.  I used Appleton Jamaican rum and it worked beautifully in this drink.  

With the honey and passion fruit syrup Don's Special Daiquiri is sweeter than the original, but it isn't too sweet.  I really enjoyed it.  If you find an original daiquiri too sour try Don's Special Daiquiri.  It isn't nearly as sour as the original.

As usual, I'm not giving out the recipe to the cocktails in my Tiki Adventure series.  Instead, I would encourage you to buy Beachbum Berry Remixed.  You'll find this recipe in the book along with many other amazing Tiki cocktails.

After one of these, the stress from the week had melted away, and I was off to paradise.

Mahalo!

Damon

Aloha,

I want to tell you about a great book I recently read, Murder on Tiki Island.  I really enjoyed the book. It made me feel like I was on a tropical vacation when, in reality, I never left Wisconsin.  Murder on Tiki Island was written by Tiki Chris Pinto.  The book takes place in October, 1956, and follows the story of New York City detective Bill Riggins. 

After being forced to take a vacation, Bill decides to spend some time in the Florida Keys.  Shortly, after arriving on Tiki Island Riggin's vacation turns into anything but relaxing.  He gets tangled up with two women, a murder mystery, and some paranormal activity.  

The author, Tiki Chris, describes the island resort so well that I truly felt like I was there. He combined all the best elements of Tiki places from around the world and put them into one island resort.  There were even mermaids swimming in the pool that you could watch from a ship wreck style bar.  Sound familiar? Tiki Chris really did his homework to make you feel like it was truly the fall of 1956.  Many of the details and references in the book took me back to that time period.

The contrast when following Riggins from cold grey, dirty New York, to the bright, vivid, and colorful Florida Keys was amazing.  It reminded me of the transition in The Wizard of Oz from black and white Kansas to the Technicolor Land of Oz. That transition of opposite places, made Tiki Island all the more beautiful.  

Although, Riggins was the hero; he wasn't without his own faults and vices.  He was young, and good at what he does, which gave him a bit of an ego.  I also got the sense that he felt invincible.  All of this made the character more human, and truly likeable.  

I would highly recommend Murder on Tiki Island to any Tiki fan, or really anyone who likes a good mystery.  So, travel down to the Florida Keys with Detective Riggins, and escape the winter that is almost upon us.

You can buy the book at Amazon.  For more information about the book visit, http://keywestmurdermystery.com/. Tiki Chris also has a great blog, http://tikiloungetalk.com/.

Mahalo,

Damon

Aloha,

Today, we are going to make a Chi Chi cocktail.  I don't know about you, but many of my friends are vodka drinkers, and are hesitant to try rum cocktails.  Sometimes, I just trick my friends into drinking rum, but when all else fails there are a few tasty vodka based Tiki cocktails I can serve them.  The Chi Chi is a Pina Colada that is made with vodka instead of rum.  I did some research on this cocktail, but I had a difficult time finding the history of the Chi Chi. So the origin remains a Tiki mystery! (Ooohhhoooo!)

The nice people at 360 Vodka sent me a free sample.  360 Vodka is advertised as an eco-friendly vodka.  They use the most efficient distilling equipment available, and recycled materials in the packaging.  You can even mail back the bottle cap and they will reuse it.

 To make a Chi Chi Combine in a blender:

• 1 cup crushed ice
• 4 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz Lopez Coconut Cream
• 2 oz vodka
• 1 oz macadamia nut liqueur (optional)

Blend for about 5 seconds.  If you don't have crushed ice be sure to blend it long enough so the ice is in small chunks.  This great tasting cocktail starts out with a nice pineapple flavor that gives way to coconut, and has a nice macadamia nut finish.  I swear it tastes just like the ice cream from an ice cream sandwich. Enjoy!

My Friends, Pete and Kelly, had a Halloween party, Friday night.  It was held in their basement Tiki Lounge, The Kapu Tiki Lounge.  Kelly put out a huge spread of snacks.  They were really delicious!  The cocktail of the evening was The Zombie.  That's the perfect cocktail for a Tiki Halloween. 

Pete is a member of a newer surf band; The Revomatics.  As part of the evenings entertainment The Revomatics played an excellent set in The Kapu Tiki Lounge.  The set included some surf classics, as well as a few originals.  As a Halloween treat they played the Theme from Halloween.  It isn't often you get to hear a great band play in a more intimate venue than that.   The evening was a real treat.  

The band has a vinyl LP coming out soon.  I know I'll be first in line to get a copy.  Until their record comes out you can hear their music on their MySpace Page, or live in concert.  Their next concert is on Monday, October 31st at The Milwaukee Public Market. The show starts at 6:00 pm.  

Dave Hansen a Tiki carver from Milwaukee was also in attenance, and he brought along some of his Tikis that he carved.  They were really cool.  I bought one of the little Tikis.  It was a great souvineer for the evening.

Mahalo,

Damon

The Tiki TerraceThis is part three in my series of recapping the Chicago Area Tiki Tour.  If you haven't read part one and two yet. You'll want to check them out too.

So, after our visit to Hala Kahiki we boarded the bus again for our final destination of the evening.  We were headed to a dinner and a show at The Tiki Terrace.  Before arriving at The Tiki Terrace we had one last bus cocktail to enjoy.  The final cocktail was the CATT Cooler, this lovely libation was named after the event.  The recipe is:

• 1 oz Coruba dark rum
• 1 oz Cruzan aged dark rum
• 1.5 oz white grapefruit juice
• 1 oz Welche's passion fruit juice
• .25 oz lime juice
• .25 oz cinnamon syrup (from the Grog Log)

I'll be completely honest.  I don't recall much about this cocktail.  By this point my senses were getting a little overloaded.  I'll have to get the ingredients and make it at home to give it a proper review. 

Upon arrival at The Tiki Terrace the place doesn't look like much.  It's in a white strip mall wedged in between an auto parts store and a Radio Shack.  The Tiki Terrace Virgins didn't have high hopes, but I knew what awaited us on the other side of that strip mall door.  When we walked in everyone was blown away by the decor.  It quickly became the favorite of the day.  

Tiki Terrace DancersEveryone took a seat, and had a cocktail in a pretty short amount of time.  The meal was included with the event, and we had their egg rolls and taro chips for appetizers.  The egg rolls are one of my favorite things at The Tiki Terrace.  They have a thin and crispy shell.  The filling is a step up from your standard egg roll.  For my dinner I had the kalua pork.  It was a big portion of delicious shredded pork, and was served with rice.  It was really good. You can read my full review from January.

Shortly after eating the show began.  I've seen the show three times now.  It is exactly the same every time.  That isn't a complaint though.  Everyone really enjoyed it.  They should stick with a formula that works.  The show is a review of dance and music from different Polynesian Islands, and there is even a special guest.  It's a fun show that lasts about an hour.

After the show everyone was pretty exhausted.  We rode back to the hotel, and had a mixture of left over cocktails on the way back.  A few brave souls kept the party going all night. 

Chef Shangri-LaSunday, everyone met up at Chef Shangri-La.  We started out in the bar with cocktails.  There signature drink the Dr. Fong was on special for the day.  It was a nice cocktail.  It tasted like orange juice, sweet and sour, and a hint of almond; maybe amaretto.  It was pretty good, but a little to sour for most.  Next, I had a Mai Tai.  They made a great Mai Tai.  It was a nice balance of almond, sweet and sour.  I really enjoyed it. It was a Trader Vic's style but not quite as strong.

"Souper" BowlFor lunch I had the "Souper" Bowl.  This enormous bowl of soup had noodles, wontons, jumbo shrimp, and pork.  It was really good, and way too much food.  I barely put a dent in it.  While we ate Alewife played a great set. 

A raffel was held to raise funds for CatNap from the heart.  They raffle included one of a kind CATT mugs, Witco carvings, and even a picture that hung at Chef Shangri-La for years.  Some lucky people took home great prizes.

A HUGE thank you to the organizers of this event.  It was such a great time, and organized so well!

Mahalo!

Damon

Aloha!

My Tiki PrizeI'm continuing to relive the highlights from last weekend's Chicago Area Tiki Tour.  If you haven't read Part One.  Be sure to do that first. 

When we last left off we were on the bus headed for stop number two; Tong's Tiki Hut. On the bus between each Tiki stop we had cocktails, and Tiki prizes were given away.  They gave away shirts, Tikis, CDs, posters, and even romance kits (oh la la). Everyone won something.  I got a cool little Tiki statue, and Derek got a nice little Tiki mug.

Stop two was Tong's Tiki Hut.  Tong's had really great decor.  The booths were in bamboo and thatch huts.  The walls were covered with tropical murals with palm trees and ocean scenes.  Fish nets, sea gulls, and really cool Tiki lamps hung from the ceiling.  Amazingly, one little lady worked behind the bar and cranked out the Tiki cocktails like there was no tomorrow.  Everyone was served in a relatively short amount of time.  The cocktails were great!  I had a Fog Cutter that was delicious.  It was sweet, and sour with a lemon flavor.  It also had a hint of ginger.  Tong's version was maybe a little sweeter than the classic, but still a good cocktail.  

Kat and Colleen drinking The Tiki Lovers BowlWhile on the tour we met Kat and Colleen; two Tiki fans from Milwaukee.  They were kind enough to let me sample their Tiki Lovers tiki bowl.  This smooth concoction for two was a well balanced mix of pineapple, and coconut.  It tasted great, and hid the rum. 

We also had a buffet lunch at Tong's.  The buffet was your average, run of the mill, Chinese buffet.  Nothing to write home about here.  In the video I recorded about Tongs I said the buffet was good, but I must have been a little Buzzed at the time.  Looking back it was average at best.

After Tongs we headed to Hala Kahiki.  This time, there was not one but two bus drinks.  A rep from Barritt's Ginger Beer mixed up The Bermuda Sunset, and the Ginger Collins for us.  These two cocktails were all alcohol with just a splash of mixers.  Someone sure had a long pour.  It made for a fun atmosphere on the bus!  I made the Ginger Collins at home this week, and it was superb.  The gin and ginger beer gave the cocktail a lot of great spice.  The lemon juice and sugar compliment the spicier ingredients, and together the ingredients are cocktail heaven. The recipes for these cocktails are:

Bermuda Sunset

• 2 oz white rum
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1 oz cranberry juice
• 2 oz Barritt's Ginger Beer

Ginger Collins

• 2 oz dry gin
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 2 oz Barritt's Ginger Beer

Hala KahikiOur third stop was Hala Kahiki.  This place is a true gem.  The decor is from top to bottom Tiki.  The walls are covered in mats, and bamboo.  The ceiling is woven thatch, and the carvings are true works of art.  It is truly perfection.  They even have a courtyard with a six foot tall Moai.  The cocktails on the other hand are average.  They are super sweet, and don't have a lot going on.  I had the Singapore Sling.  It was sweet and plastic tasting.  I didn't even finish it.  They don't serve food, but there are pretzels on every table. Every Tiki fan needs to pay this place a visit just to see the amazing atmosphere.  I would recommend having an ice cream drink.  I'm told those are pretty good.

That's the end of Part two, but not the end of The Chicago Area Tiki Tour. Click here for Part three of the CATT Recap.  Also, if you haven't read Part one, be sure to check that out.

Mahalo!

Damon

Aloha!

This past weekend my friend Derek and I took part in the Chicago Area Tiki Tour (CATT).  We had an awesome time!  The event was put on by the Red Palms Chapter of the Fraternal Order of Moai.  The Red Palms Chapter really out did themselves.  This was the first Chicago Area Tiki Tour and it was organized perfectly.  The event was a great chance for Tiki fans from across the Midwest and beyond to get together, hop on a bus, and visit some of the best Tiki places in the Chicago area.  

Friday night everyone checked in to the Aloft O'Hare, and made it their Tiki home for the weekend.  That evening the Cocktail Preachers played a great set of surf and exotica inspired music.  Sadly, I got held up at work and only got to see them play the last two songs.  After The Cocktail Preachers, Jason Croft "Java" did a live recording of The Bachelor Pad Radio Show.  I have been a faithful listener to The Bachelor Pad pod cast for quite some time now.  Java always plays a great mix of music that is perfect for a Tiki lounge.  It was a lot of fun to see the show recorded live, and was the perfect setting for the Tiki cocktails that were on special at the Aloft bar.  This is one show that every Tiki fan should listen to religiously.

Bus DrinksSaturday morning we were up bright and early to begin our tour.  At 10:15 AM around 100 Tiki fans boarded the two busses for full day of Tiki bars.  By 11:00 AM we had our swag bags, our first cocktail in hand, and we were headed to our first stop, Malahini Terrace.  The first bus cocktail was the Derby Daiquiri.  They had talented individuals mixing and serving cocktails while we drove down the highway. The highway factor resulted in the proportions being off a bit on most of the ingredients.  Everyone still enjoyed them, and had a great time!

Tiki Lights at Malahini TerraceWhen we arrived at the Malahini Terrace they didn't know what hit them.  Don't get me wrong, the event was scheduled in advance, and arranged with the restaurant, but serving 100 people cocktails and food all at once is a big job.  Unfortunately,  I didn't get a drink.  I ordered one shortly after arriving, but we had to move on before it arrived.  I did get to sample their egg rolls, and they were pretty good.  The egg rolls were huge, and had a peanut flavor to them.  Derek tried some of the, chicken, chicken, chicken, which was also pretty good.  The Decor at Malahini Terrace was your typical Chinese restaurant, but they did have some Tiki looking lamps.  I'll have to go back sometime to sample their cocktails.

Our second bus drink was The Koval Lei.  It is made with:

• 1.5 oz Simply Lemonade
• 1.5 oz pineapple juice
• .25 oz Koval Honey Chrysanthemum Liqueur
• .25 oz Koval Orange Blossom Liqueur
• 1.25 oz Cruzan aged light rum
• 1 tsp honey mix (recipe from the Grog Log)

Again, the measurements were, understandably, a bit rough on the bus, but this complex little cocktail had a lot going on.  The enticing flavors of honey stood out, and a nice orange, and lemon flavor was there too.  The cocktail gets it's name from the Koval products in it.  Koval is a Chicago based distillery.

Click Here for Part Two of The Chicago Area Tiki Tour...