Tiki Cocktails Return
Escape to a place where the shirts are silly and the drinks are seriously delicious.
IF MAGAZINES, news media, and bartenders wearing tweed knickers have yet to make you aware, we are in the middle of a glorious craft cocktail renaissance. Ten years ago, fresh juice reappeared behind bars, the first indicator that quality had become trendy once more. Later came artful miniature drinks in vintage crystal cups and hotly debated articles about the first appearance of the martini in print. With all the attention to detail, we’ve lost sight of something important: Drinking is supposed to be fun.
But a silent torchlight vigil has run parallel to the serious cocktail movement, a silly congregation that honors hibiscus-print shirts as much as quality drinks. Call it the tiki revival and know that it is a sleeping volcano about to spew new life onto the increasingly austere craft-cocktail scene.
The origin of tiki drinks can be traced to the late ’30s, when Earnest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, an ex-bootlegger, and Victor Jules Bergeron, a sandwich-shop jockey, opened competing bars in Southern California, both decorated with bits of thatch and Polynesian bric-a-brac. They became known, respectively, as Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic. In 1940, the first Trader Vic’s franchise opened right here in Seattle, at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel Downtown. Around that same time Vic invented the mai tai, the cocktail that would become tiki’s calling card. Variations are endless, but Vic’s classic mai tai is a sweet yet balanced mix of rum, lime juice, curacao, simple syrup, and orgeat. Over the next 25 years, Don and Vic owned more than 75 restaurants between them and kicked off a trend that spawned innumerable copycat eateries worldwide.
Originally, the tiki movement centered on tropical juices, exotic rums, and a hodgepodge of other consumable booty plundered from the South Seas. The point was to transport you without traveling: Tiki was about escape. Over time, however, a bottom line ethos meant corners were cut. Canned juices replaced fresh, mixes replaced housemade syrups, quality rums were all but forgotten.
Today, Polynesian-inspired drinks destinations like Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco, El Cobre in New York City, and Thatch in Portland are bringing quality ingredients back to the tiki realm. Seattle has yet to attract a bar on par, but you’ll find devoted disciples mixing drinks at Tini Bigs, Naga Cocktail Bar, Moshi Moshi, and Rob Roy, all happy to help you navigate the hard-to-crack code of tiki terms. Meantime, check out the glossary below.
Published: August 2011
Good article. Tiki drinks and the accompanying culture occasionally takes a hiatus from the public eye … why this happens is anyone’s guess. That being stated, if you find yourself sitting in front of any person that calls themselves a professional bartender, then they should be able to whip you up a terrific Mai Tai or Zombie or Blue Hawaiian with little trouble (barring they have the basic ingredients in-house), and you can be transported to your favorite sunny local, albeit temporarily.
You mention Tini Bigs, Naga and Rob Roy, amongst others, where you can get a Tiki cocktail … sans the atmosphere. I would like to take this opportunity to remind readers that there are a few places where the flaming drinks and the bamboo ambiance co-exist (the atmosphere), and Hula Hula Lounge on lower Queen Ann is one of those places. Thatched roofs, Shag artwork, Tiki mugs and glasses in all varieties, etc., and their Tiki cocktails are the same exact recipes made at Tini Bigs(mentioned in the article).
I encourage folks to stop on by Hula Hula and try out a terrific drink or two in a room designed to remind you that there are places where it only rains while you’re sleeping.
Cheers!
I’m on a serious back to basics drinking campaign. Drinking shouldn’t be so intimidating. It’s so overwhelming to look at a drink menu and realize you only know the word “pear”. When did it get so snobby? I asked for egg whites in my drink the other day and the bartender laughed at me and said there was no way he was putting egg whites in my drink. Who cares if I want egg whites! I’m paying you to make my drink!!! I hope with the new wave of tiki drinks comes over friendly bartenders. The snobby ones gotta go!
& ps I went to one of Robert Hess drinking classes a couple years ago and he was all about the tiki.
As of August 1, 2011, there is a brand-new Trader’s Vic’s in Portland, Oregon.
http://www.tradervicspdx.com
Great article. Along with Trader vic’s, Don the Beachcomber in LA was a Tiki Trail Blazer. Their Mixologist Ray Buhen has owned and operated the Tiki Ti on Sunset Blvd since 1961 serving up exotic yummy cocktails. A must visit for any Tiki fans heading to LA. If you are here in Seattle and love Tiki, check out http://www.oldschoolpinups.com/tikiroomoldschoo.html and http://www.seattleretrophotography.com/seattleretrophok.html
Get your Tiki on at OldschoolPinUps or Seattle Retro Photography in our period accurate Tiki Room set. You will feel like you went back in time to when Tiki was King!
Bring back the blender!!!
Andrew, I agree with Dad. I too enjoy reading your writings. Thanks for the Tiki education!
It appears that you are mastering the art of writing. As an occasional reader, I increasing appreciate the the delicacy of the written word and how it caresses the mind. You have accomplished that here and have treated more than one of the senses.
There ARE two bars in Seattle that serve up classic Tiki cocktails with fresh ingredients, King’s Hardware in Ballard, and Linda’s Tavern on Capital Hill. You can find classics like the Polynesian Paralysis, the White Witch, the Aku Aku and of course the Mai Tai, made using fresh juices and Orgeat to name a few. Alas, the Mai Tai is the only one you can get seven days a week (it’s on the cocktail menu at King’s), the rest are only served Friday and Saturday nights at these two bar’s back patio bar. But trust me when I tell you it is worth the trip!