Post #261952 by halicarnassus on Fri, Oct 20, 2006 10:44 PM

I first discovered the Jasmine Tree in a book called Tiki Road Trip. TRT is a gold mine in a way. Almost like a secret road map to the best tiki bars in America. When I picked up my copy, I started marking places I wanted to go, and experience. The Jasmine was one of my top list places, cause it was so unassuming. Last year, when visiting my sister in portland, I finally had the chance to make it to the Jasmine, and have a Mai Tai. As I sat there with my friends, I realized that I had instantly fallen in love with the place. I thought to myself, "when I finally move to Portland from DC, I'm gonna come here every week!"

Well, I moved to portland at the end of Sept. The first place I came, once I was settled, was the Jasmine. I sat back and enjoyed the best Mai Tai I'd come across. At the same time, I was saddened to learn that the end was near.

I'm sad that the Jasmine is gone. Of all the tiki bars I've been to, it was my favourite. Not because of its tiki-ness, but because of it being exactly what it was. I drove by last night, and saw that it was closed, and the signs taken down. It was sad knowing I'll never have a drink there again. But, I can safely say that no matter what tiki bars I visit in the future, I'll always compare them to the Jasmine Tree and her Mai Tai's. There may be flashier tiki bars, but never a mai tai that was quite as good.