Tiki Drinks

Ahhh, the tiki drink – what could conjure up the excitement and mystery of far-flung drinking destinations more than rum drunk from an ornate ceramic cup? Drinking exotically is like taking a mini summer escape from the comforts of one's bar stool. The Pearl Diver, Bora Bora, Mai Tai…the recipes are as seductive and unique as the tropical flowers that often adorn them.

Besides the liberal use of rums and fruit juices, one thing remains a constant: the use of syrups, and two in particular – orgeat (almond syrup), and the oddly-named Velvet Falernum. Don't be put off by the name, though. Its complex combination of almond, clove, allspice, vanilla, and lime flavors blends perfectly with rum, and those flavors are featured in many of the classics.

Tropical drinks are sometimes called Sailor's Bait - sailors would drink plenty of these when they hit port.

Early Island Drinks:

Rum Swizzle - the Rum Swizzle predates both Donn Beach and Victor Bergeron. Its history, however, is still murky. Likely invented somewhere in the Caribbean, this mixture of black and gold rums, orange and pineapple juices, grenadine and Angostura bitters is as tropical and refreshing as a cool ocean breeze on a steamy beach day. This drink gets its unique signature from the swizzle technique, which calls for agitating the drink with a swizzle stick until frost forms on the glass.

Planter's Punch - Originally a simple combination of a full-flavored rum with lime juice, sugar, some form of spice and plenty of ice, the Planter's Punch morphed over the decades into elaborate concoctions containing pineapple juice, grenadine, several types of rum and so on. The drink is the common ancestor of all those tiki drinks and punches that are once again in vogue.

The drink originated on the rum-producing island of Jamaica. In September 1878, the London magazine Fun ran instructions in verse for creating "Planter's Punch! A West Indian Recipe:"

A wine-glass with lemon juice fill,
of sugar the same glass fill twice
Then rub them together until
The mixture looks smooth, soft, and nice.
Of rum then three wine glasses add,
And four of cold water please take.
A Drink then you'll have that's not bad —
At least, so they say in Jamaica.

As late as the 1940s, a typical Planter's Punch recipe called for just rum, lime juice, sugar, and water, but sliced fruit like oranges and pineapples were often included either as garnish or in the drink itself. Soon those slices of fruit were replaced by various citrus juices, including pineapple, orange, and grapefruit. The trendiness of Planter's Punch faded around World War II. Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic created their own versions of Planter's Punch.

Queen's Park Swizzle - The Queen's Park Swizzle was named for the Trinidadian hotel (Port of Spain in southern Caribbean), which opened January 15, 1895, where it was first concocted in the 1920s. Constructed with Guyanese rum and a heavy dose of Trinidad's most famous product, it's awfully hard to turn down a Queen's Park Swizzle. The drink is so refreshing and delicious that in 1946, Trader Vic declared the Queen's Park Swizzle to be "the most delightful form of anesthesia given out today." Mint leaves, rum, Demerara simple syrup, lime juice, bitters.

Classic Tiki Drinks

List of drinks from an old poster from the Aku Aku Far Islands Menu, Los Vegas (circa 1960s):

Mai Tai - tiki cocktail that was invented in 1944 by Vic Bergeron of Trader Vic’s.
Col. Plantation Punch
Bora Bora Swizzle
Barbados Punch
Slightly Bitten
Paradise Punch
Aku Aku Rumble
Aku Aku Lapu - There really isn't much history available on the Aku Aku Lapu other than it's origin: The Aku Aku restaurant in Las Vegas circa 1960.
Ship of Flame
Easter Island Swizzle

Drinks from Don the Beachcomber:

Chi Chi
Demerara Dry Float
Dons Own Planters

Mai Tai - It is claimed that Trader Vic created this drink, although Don the Beachcomber purports that he did. According to Mick Brownlee, who worked with Donn for over 10 years, the drink Bergeron (Trader Vic) named the Mai Tai was created in his efforts to try to emulate the flavor of a Q.B. Cooler (see below).

Missionary's Downfall
Mystery Gardenia

Navy Grog - Don the Beachcomber's version of grog. Three kinds of rum, and no other alcohol such as triple sec, Pernod, or cherry liqueur. There are several variant recipes, however, and all of these use fresh lime juice and grapefruit juice along with the rums. Traditionally it has always been served very cold in a large, broad-based Old Fashioned glass, into which a frozen snow cone of shaved ice has been placed, so that the customer sips the Grog through a straw that runs down through the snow cone.

Nui Nui
Pi Yi

Q.B. Cooler - The Q.B. Cooler is a vintage tiki cocktail invented by Donn Beach that calls for a mixture of several rums (Puerto Rican dark rum, Jamaican rum, Demerara 151 proof rum), two syrups (fassionola, falernum), fruit juices (orange, lime), and honey, mixed with club soda and dashes of Pernod, bitters, and grenadine. Another version purported to be from 1937 is slightly different and calls for varying rum proportions and ginger syrup in place of the fassionola and Pernod. The "Q.B." stood for Quiet Birdmen, or more fully "ye Anciente and Secret Order of Quiet Birdmen", a fraternity of male aviators dating back to the first world war.

Rum Barrel
Test Pilot
Three Dots and a Dash
West Indies Punch
Zombie

Drinks from Trader Vic:

Menehune Juice - "You can't see or talk to a menehune until you drink some Menehune Juice. So drink some." – Trader Vic. The Menehune are a legendary people who are said to live in the forests and hidden valleys of the Hawaiian islands. Menehune Juice is a cocktail of Trader Vic's creation. It is very similar to the original Trader Vic's Mai Tai. The difference between the two drinks is the rum used to make them. The menehune juice uses just "light Puerto Rican Rum" while the mai tai calls for a blend of rums.

Mai Tai - tiki cocktail that was invented in 1944 by Vic Bergeron of Trader Vic’s. This drink was originally called a "Trader Vic Punch" and appears in Trader Vic's Food and Drink in 1951, it also appears a year later in: Trader Vic's Kitchen kibitzer by Trader Vic in 1952.
Trader Vic's Suffering Bastard - contains Rum, Orange Curacao, Orgeat Syrup, Rock Candy Syrup and Fresh Lime Juice. Other than the name, it bears little resemblance to the original. However, Trader Vic's did create a special mug for their version to be served in.

Trader Vic's Grog

Scorpion Bowl - the Scorpion is decidedly a Trader Vic creation. Along with the Mai Tai and the Fog Cutter, the Scorpion came to define the Trader Vic genre of tiki drinks. It was typically mixed in quantities large enough to serve several people — and it made a memorable impact. It showed up in a communal ceramic bowl with "feet" that looked like topless Tahitian babes. A gardenia floated serenely on top. Drinkers would use long straws to sip from the bowl while admiring the botanical feature.

See picture to right

Fog Cutter - features light rum, along with brandy and gin — a departure from the usual Tiki rum medley. The Fog Cutter isn't nearly as potent as the original Zombie, but it's still a pretty hefty drink. As Vic wrote of his creation, "Fog Cutter, hell. After two of these, you won't even see the stuff." Lemon and orange juices, orgeat syrup, cream sherry or Amontillado sherry.

Other Tiki Drinks

Painkiller - twist on the traditional Piña Colada, first made in 1981 by trying to recreate a drink made by Daphne Henderson who ran the Soggy Dollar Bar on a beach in the British Virgin Islands. It is a rum cocktail trademarked by Pusser's Rum, their signature drink. The Painkiller® is a blend of Pusser's Rum with 4 parts pineapple juice, 1 part cream of coconut and 1 part orange juice, well shaken and served over the rocks with a generous amount of fresh nutmeg on top. It may be made with either two, three or four ounces of Pusser's dark rum.