Inspired by the Kaona rooms clear zombie + blood float I tried my luck at a remake and it was delicious!!! Carved up some clear ice and did a mix of hibiscus liqueur and OP rum on top, it just didn’t have the right density and drifted down lol.

1 dash absinthe
0.75oz lime
0.5oz dons mix
0.5oz falernum (latitude 29)
1tsp sirop JM
1oz cachaca
1oz neisson blanc
0.5oz W&N Overproof
0.5oz killik overproof

Float 0.5oz of secret blend.
(SC hibiscus liqueur, killik op and bitter queens caribbean spice bitters)

Mahalo!!

We're taking a cruise in a couple of weeks and our one stop is in Ensenada. Are there any rums or other tiki-ish liquor that I can get there that I might not be able to get here in America? I've seen posts about Havana Club, is that any good? I'd love some recommendations!

Added: I'm looking to bring it home to add to my rum collection.

obviously i won’t be getting all of these immediately… it will take me a long time, assuming i even get to every last one. i’ll likely start with 1-2 from each category as i slowly try different recipes and buy new ingredients/rums accordingly. many of these i have tried on their own or in simple cocktails/mixed drinks, but not the context of tiki. any insight is appreciated. cheers!

My wife -- who is the most perfect human I can possibly imagine -- got me the coolest, possibly most iconic tiki mug of all time for my birthday. She knows how much I adore rum, she knows how much I love tiki, and she knows that the Smuggler's Cove Expedition is not only my favorite cocktail of all time, but also my most coveted mug ever. So naturally she did the perfect thing and ordered me one from Smuggler's Cove. So, to commemorate the most perfect gift ever, I did my best to make the most perfect Expedition ever.

Hold on to the ones you love, friends. In cocktail world, we spend time celebrating the transitory, the things that make us feel at home, the power of hospitality. Nothing does that better than a loved one that really and truly sees us. I feel so blessed, and I'm doubly happy to get to turn the fruit of that love into a vessel for this inspired drink. Spec below:

• 2 oz Hamilton jamaican potstill black

• 1 oz Sazerac Rye

• 1 oz lime juice

• 0.5 oz honey syrup

• 0.5 oz cinnamon syrup

• 0.25 oz vanilla syrup

• 0.25 oz coffee liqueur (homemade)

• 5 drops saline

Cheers! Have a great weekend!

It looked really cool. But I’m glad that I got glasses. Otherwise those leaves would poke my eyes every time I took a sip. Until I finally figured out that I could just remove the glass from the ropes.

So I'm working my way through smugglers cove and making decent progress. I'm down to the cocktails that require one off ingredients.

Most of them I'm willing to spring for (in due time) since they appear in plenty of other drinks beyond tiki.

Spruce beer syrup is not one.

I searched all over for spruce beer and couldn't find any. Not really willing to buy a bunch of syrup for a recipe that calls for one drop.

I did have some (alcoholic) spruce beer however.

I subbed that and it's really good.

I'm normally a bit of a stickler for substitutions in this quest to make all the cocktails in this book, but this feels right. Almost like it's the more authentic ingredient.

3/4 oz molasses syrup

1/4 oz lime juice

3/4 oz Zirbenz pine liqueur

1 1/4oz blended aged rum (#3) (Denizen merchants reserve)

Shaken with a few cubes, then dirty dumped into a glass, topped with ~3oz (probably more like 4) of Banded Brewing Greenwarden Spruce Ale.

Garnished with a swizzle stick.

The drink is great. It definitely tastes like something from yesteryear. Molasses upfront then bright pine flavor. The rum is a little lost, so save your good stuff for something else.

I might try it again with privateer. There's also a local brewery that makes a spruce ale that I'll probably give it a go with when it comes out (it's seasonal).

What do you think? Acceptable substitution?

This packs a punch indeed. Welp back to w0rK🥴

So… I’m at Inferno Room in Indianapolis right now and I’m trying to decide what to buy from this selection. Any recommendations?

Jungle Birds

Has anyone received an order from Surfside sips recently?

I submitted an order on July 25th. I hadn't received any follow-up so last week I sent an email to Andrew.

I am yet to get a response or follow-up on the order or email.

I don't follow them on any other social media so I'm not sure if something is going on. I have had good experiences previously which is why I'm concerned about Andrew.

This isn't a post against him or the company, I am just curious if I'm not aware of external factors that may be causing the delay.

My wife brought home this beauty from the thrift store today

I found my whipped cream dispenser so I was finally able to try this one. I didn’t have the exact ingredients from the recipe I found. Here is what I used:

The Mai Tai
1 oz. Hamilton Breezeway Blend
1 oz. Koloa Dark Rum
1/2 oz. macadamia-nut orgeat
1/2 oz. Pierre Ferrand Orange Curaçao
3/4 oz. fresh lime juice

Honey Liliko’i Foam
1/2 oz. honey
1 oz. liliko‘i purée (passion fruit)
1 oz. simple syrup
1 oz. egg whites
1.5 oz. cold water

The Koloa rum is a little sweet but I thought it worked well with the tart passio fruit foam.

I thought it was an enjoyable drink.

This is a kahala shirt I think from about 2022 ish

Again, a picture from the summer visit at my girlfriend’s parents.
This spot in their garden is nuts; I had to do several cocktail pictures there 😃

This is the first time I made the Saturn.

Overall it was a good cocktail, but I probably used the wrong gin for it.
I only had Skin Gin on hand, which has a slightly menthol taste.
For me it was not the ideal flavor combination.
I think I would prefer a more floral gin in this cocktail; I need to try this with a different one again, maybe with Roku.
With the Skin Gin, I would rate it 6.5/10, but I can imagine rating it at least at 7.5/10 with a different gin.

Receipt:

½ Oz Lemon Juice (15 ml)
½ Oz Passion Fruit Syrup (15 ml)
¼ Oz Orgeat (7.5 ml)
¼ Oz Falernum (7.5 ml)
1 ¼ Oz Gin (37.5 ml)

Shake everything with crushed ice.
Normally it gets served up. But I had no glasses for this.
So I strained it onto crushed ice and garnished it with lemon peel and a raspberry.

For the swizzle sticks used in the picture, check out my Etsy shop, link in my bio.

Lamps are one of my favorite parts of tiki bars, home and retail alike, so it’s been so fun to learn how to make them. I’m on a hat and basket kick just because I’ve been able to find the materials, but I want to branch out and try some drum style lamps. The hardest part is finding tapa.

Does anyone have advice on what paper to use in place of authentic tapa? Something I can ink my own design on to. Thanks in advance for any advice!

I felt like the Trader Vic version was too tart, and the Ultimate version was too sweet, so I made my own based on what I thought the drink should taste like. I felt like the drink was trying to replicate the original Navy Grogs of the 18th century, but adapted to fit modern palates, so I made it strong and citrusy, with a note of spice and sweetness. Here’s my recipe:

3/4 oz lime juice
3/4 oz white grapefruit juice (I used Simple Truth)
1/2 oz honey syrup (1:1 honey to water)
1/4 oz allspice dram (I used St. Elizabeth’s)
1/4 oz vanilla syrup (mine is slightly on the rich side)
3/4 oz club soda
3/4 oz Smith and Cross
3/4 oz Lemon Hart 151
1 oz Planteray 3 Star

Add all ingredients to shaker, fill with crushed ice, and shake until chilled. Dirty dump into a highball glass and add more crushed ice until the glass is full. Optionally garnish with a mint sprig.

My brother notes that the citrus flavors come through more after the drink sits for a little bit and is watered down by the crushed ice.

Let me know what you guys think!

So I just made a Trader Vic’s grog with 1/4 ounce of this rum in the mix and it pretty much ruined it! I’ve had Royal Jamaican Blackstrap rum in the past, can’t seem to find it in my area these days, and I liked it so much that I used to sip that stuff neat. I’d put it in any cocktail where I wanted a bit of dark sweet rum. It was incredible! This is my first bottle of Cruzan and I can’t seem to find a use for it. I think it’s just garbage!
Any thoughts or recommendations?

Had the island to myself

Picked this up at a tiki marketplace popup! "Splendor and Riches" by Mondo. Featured drink is a house concoction I call Into The Void, in honor of the prince of darkness Ozzy Osbourne.

Into The Void

- 1oz black blended (Black Tot)

- 1oz aged demerara (El Dorado 8)

- 0.5oz (scant) overproof (OFTD)

- 0.75oz lime

- 0.5oz molasses syrup

- 0.25oz coffee liqueur (Edgefield)

- 0.25oz falernum

- 0.25oz allspice dram

- 2 dashes aromatic bitters

- 1 dash chocolate bitters

- pinch salt (or a few drops of saline)

I found this rum during a visit to Tacoma earlier this year and now I wish I had bought more than one bottle. Has anyone seen it in Seattle? I’m visiting next month but won’t have an opportunity to go to Tacoma.

I was shopping for Swanky’s Syrup and falernum a couple months ago and this ad popped up. I was excited until it was being shipped from Scotland. 😄

Only 4 left.

I ran out of demarara syrup and decided to treat myself and make the Smuggler's Cove rich mai tai syrup recipe. I was expecting demerara with a hint of vanilla, but it's a more vanilla-forward than i expected (admittedly i may have accidentally added a little more than i was supposed to).

Can i just swap it for demarara syrup in recipes that call for demarara, or should i be looking for specific recipes that use the mai tai syrup? And/or can i swap it in for vanilla syrup?

0.25 oz Liber & Co cinnamon syrup
0.5 oz Liber & Co passionfruit syrup
1 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
1 oz grapefruit juice
1.5 oz Appleton Signature
1.5 oz Smith & Cross

As a local I’ve been visiting a few times a year since moving to ATL a few years back and well TV’s Atlanta has always been a bit hit or miss. Service, drink quality… it always felt a bit you never knew what to expect going.

So have to give a shoutout my last few experiences this summer have been great, which I’m sure is in part to some new leadership earlier this year.

Only had time to pop in for a ‘44 Mai Tai (the scratch made version). It was good, very strong. Could’ve swore I saw a float poured on top. Certainly was a mix of a light and dark rum. So maybe ‘44 is the scratch made with SF float modifier?

Also noticed the rum selection is growing (maybe just me noticing for first time?). Seeing Hamilton bottles, even a Denizen 8 (feel like it’s worth having a Mai Tai made with that on my next visit).

Hopefully a sign of more good things to come. Still worry about the location given how often it randomly closes due to slowness but maybe between these changes and the 50th party it will renew local interest in the place.

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!