Radev - Lets Get Tropical

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AUTHORS note

I started writing this book during the busiest time of my life. I had just opened my bar, Laki Kane, and I was flying all over the world giving presentations on tropical drinks. With only one week to spare during my holiday with the family, this book began life as ideas and notes written lying on the beach in the sun, listening to the crashing waves, and enjoying the soft sea breeze. The setting couldnt have been more fitting.

Getting to where I am today has been a long time in the making. I graduated in banking and insurance, but it was quickly apparent that working in an office wasnt for me. I was instead drawn to hospitality I needed to be around people, to entertain and spread happiness. So, in my early 20s, I travelled to London to learn about the drinks industry. Douglas Ankrah introduced me to modern tropical cocktails at the legendary Lab and Townhouse bars, Richard Wood taught me all about rum at La Floridita, and Papa Jules introduced me to the tiki and tropical lifestyle when I joined the Mahiki team. I was hooked I fell for the beautiful nature, the exotic flavours, but most of all the tropical culture of harmonious living and passing love and positive energy. Our industry is all about making people happy, and that makes me happy. It wasnt long before I was promoted to Global Creative Manager for Mahiki.

All of these years of experience were leading to the opening of my own London bar, Laki Kane. The words together refer to the lucky sugar cane that makes the best rum; translate them separately, and laki means lucky and kane means human. We wanted to make everyone entering the bar feel lucky and happy. Don the Beachcombers tiki cocktail concept was so creative that bars and bartenders are still trying to recreate and enhance his drinks almost 100 years later. We wanted our bar to be as innovative, and to start a new era of tropical drinks. Laki Kane doesnt just take its inspiration from tiki, it is an escape to every tropical destination youve ever wanted to visit. We use rare exotic fruits, homemade syrups using natural sugars, cutting-edge mixology and presentation techniques, and we even distil our own unique Spice Dry Rum on site I think Don the Beachcomber would be proud!

The cocktails in this book are an accumulation of everything Ive learned from my travels and my work. From the first Caribbean rum punches to a selection of original modern drinks (and everything in between!), they are a real testament to tropical cocktail history and evolution.

You might want to read up on the stories behind the cocktails, or you might want to skip all of that and get straight to the Margaritas, its up to you! You may even want to take a leaf out of my and Don the Beachcombers book and come up with your own original mix. This book is all about sharing the pleasure that comes with a cocktail, so take from it what appeals to you the most. Lets get tropical!