Chloe Frechette - Easy tiki : a modern revival with 60 recipes

Acknowledgments

Thanks first and foremost to Jeff Beachbum Berry, whose hard work has made enjoying tiki easy for the rest of us. Thank you to my editors, Talia Baiocchi, Ashley Pierce, and Kim Keller, for their guidance; to the PUNCH and Ten Speed Press teams for their support; to Lizzie Munro for being so good at her hobby; to Martin Cate for his time and insight; to Paul McGee for answering my endless questions about rum; to all the bartenders included in these pages for their enthusiasm, expertise, and delicious recipes; with special thanks to Austin Hartman, Jane Danger, Jelani Johnson, and Garret Richard; and to those keeping the tiki spirit alive. Mahalo nui loa.

About the Author

Chloe Frechette is the senior editor at PUNCH and regularly contributes articles on tiki and cocktail culture. She has a masters degree in history of design from the Royal College of Art, where she earned distinction for her research on the material culture of cocktail consumption.

Appendix: Where to Tiki

Tiki has become so pervasive that its breached the walls of its namesake bars and now appears on menus at even the most buttoned-up cocktail spots. But following are the institutions, both historic and modern, that hold true to the all-encompassing aspect of tikidcor, music, and philosophy included. In other words, this is where to find tiki in all its extravagant glory.

Historic

Hala Kahiki (River Grove, Illinois)

One of the Midwests oldest remaining tiki bars, Hala Kahiki declares on their website, We were tiki before it was cool. A River Grove, Illinois, standby since 1952 (and at its current location since 1964), the bar is a testament to the far reaches of tiki during its midcentury heyday, when even locations as un-tiki as Columbus and Chicago came down with tropical fever.

Kahala (Barcelona, Spain)

While Barcelona was once home to more than a dozen tiki bars, Kahala is one of the few remaining from the countrys 1970s tiki tryst. Though it dates from just outside the golden age of tiki, Spains first tiki bar still boasts all the classic trappings: a waterfall entrance, volcanic stone sculptures, bamboo booths, and a fish pond replete with piranhas.

Mai-Kai (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)

When Jack and Bob Thornton opened the Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale in 1956, it was the most expensive restaurant ever built. The Polynesiac brothers outfitted their joint venture with dcor amassed on a two-month journey to the South Pacific; the pair returned with twenty-three tons of artifacts and souvenirs that would go on to line their soaring A-frame space, which also housed a 30,000-square-foot tropical garden. Today, the Mai-Kai remains a family-run business, still serving their famous Mystery Drink accompanied by a gong ceremonially rung by the Mai-Kai Mystery Girl.

Tiki-Ti (Los Angeles, California)

This postage-stamp-size bar can still be found perched in its original location on Sunset Boulevard. Opened in 1961 by Ray Buhen, a former Don the Beachcomber bartender, today the twelve-seat bar is operated by Buhens son and grandsons. With ninety-four signature cocktails, including the famed Ooga-Booga (when ordered everybody chants ooga-booga), the Tiki-Ti is perhaps more kitsch than craft, but its also the ultimate tiki time warp.

Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar (San Francisco, California)

Located in the basement of the Fairmont San Francisco hotel, the Tonga Room has been serving guests since 1945. The centerpiece of the historic bar is the lagoon, a plunge pool redesigned by Hollywood set director Mel Melvin, with a thatch-roofed barge on which bands perform throughout the evening. Intermittently, a tropical rain shower is re-created over the pool.

Tradr Sam (San Francisco, California)

Though much of the bamboo-laden dcor has remained unchanged since its 1937 opening, time has done a number on Tradr Sam. Today, the Tradr is decidedly lowbrowbananas do not hang from the back bar and the bartenders no longer wear pit helmets, but it still promises the carefree atmosphere of any good dive, with a few tropical flourishes.

Trader Vics (Atlanta, Georgia)

Of all the Trader Vics locations in the US, the property in Atlanta is the only one that has not suffered any loss to its original interior dcor. Opened in 1976, it remains a time capsule of tikis imaginary exoticismfaux African masks hang alongside Japanese fishing buoys in a bamboo-clad interior.

Trader Vics (London, United Kingdom)

Opened in 1963 in the basement of the Hilton on Park Lane, the Trader Vics in London represents the first international outpost for the franchise. As numerous locations have been shuttered over the years, its also become the oldest operating outpost of the chain. Though it was remodeled in 2014 following a fire in the hotel, the bar and restaurant still retain much of the original interior, and cocktails are served in signature Trader Vic drinkware.

Trader Vics (Munich, Germany)

Opened in 1971 in Hotel Bayerischer Hof, the Munich location is the second-oldest still-operating Trader Vics. Though the bar launched when tiki was on the decline, the decked-out interior, with oversize wood carvings and a thatched ceiling, recalls the ambience of golden-age tiki bars.

Trader Vics (Tokyo, Japan)

The Tokyo Trader Vics is a particularly notable specimen for tikiphiles in part because it is the only location still serving Vic Bergerons original recipes (as opposed to drinks created at Trader Vics but not by the man himself). Located on the fourth floor of the Garden Tower in the Hotel New Otani, the bar opened in 1974 and remains popular with a high-end clientele who come for the cigars and cocktails served in rare, original drinkware.

Modern

Beachbum Berrys Latitude 29 (New Orleans, Louisiana)

Opened in 2014 by tiki historian, author, collector, and bartender Jeff Beachbum Berry, Latitude 29 offers a space where the Don the Beachcomber code cracker can finally serve the drinks he saved from the brink of extinction.

The Beachcomber (London, United Kingdom)

The Beachcomber opened its doors in West London in 2013 and boasts one of the largest collections of rhum agricole outside the Caribbean, which, along with its bamboo bar, rattan lamps, and tropical dcor, draws a nightly crowd of local tikiphiles.

Bootlegger Tiki (Palm Springs, California)

Located in the former Don the Beachcomber space on Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, California, Bootlegger Tiki aims to preserve the towns tiki tradition with a mix of original and classic tiki cocktails.

Dirty Dick (Paris, France)

Originally from Southern California, Dirty Dick owner Scotty Schuder converted this former brothel into a world-class tiki bar in 2013. The menu respects the tiki classics, and one of the bars most popular cocktails is his Missionarys Downfall (), a frozen pineapple-and-mint-inflected Daiquiri.

False Idol (San Diego, California)

Hidden behind San Diegos Craft & Commerce cocktail bar is False Idol, where the cocktail list was developed by Martin Cate and beverage director Anthony Schmidt, two key figures in the modern revival, with over-the-top dcor by Bamboo Ben.

Foundation Bar (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

Milwaukees premier tiki den, Foundation Bar opened as a punk bar in 1995 but by 2004 had morphed into the immersive tiki bar it is today. Since 2017, the space above the bar has been converted into a tiki-themed hotel known as the Captains Quarters.

Hale Pele (Portland, Oregon)

In a slightly suburban quarter of Portland, Hale Pele, with its large-scale tiki carvings and simulated rainfall on the roof, acts as a portal to another world.

The Inferno Room (Indianapolis, Indiana)

The newly opened Inferno Room is doing its part to bring tiki back to the Midwest by committing its menu to Don the Beachcomber, Trader Vic, and Steve Crane recipes, alongside a selection of house-made drinks from their own infernal tribe. Of note are the many artifacts that adorn the walls, believed to be the largest collection of native Papua New Guinea art outside a museum.