Post #339240 by Registered Astronaut on Thu, Oct 18, 2007 7:20 PM

Jeff Berry does his research, no doubt. His investigation into the elusive "Don's Mix" ingredients was tenacious and determined, or at least it read that way. One thing I've always been confused about with Jeff Berry's books- he's researching all these lost recipes drawing from all these veteran minds, including Ray at one time and certainly Mike Sr. The Tiki-Ti is, from what I can tell, his "home bar" of sorts. As he explains in chapter 6, Mike Buhen offers assistance in solving the Don's Mix mystery. But now that almost all these lost recipes are out there for the public, I wonder how Mr. Berry and the Buhens relate. It's as if the apprentice became the master, not that Mike or Mike Jr. could give a shit, at least from what I know of them. They seem like they do their thing and they like the way they do it, whether or not it pleases the Tiki people. But it does strike me as incongruent that Sippin' Safari calls for butter in the Pearl Diver and Pearl Diver Punch, yet the center of the center, the mecca, the Tiki-Ti, does not use butter (unless I wasn't watching close enough, I don't know). Of course it seems a little overboard to actually use the Pearl Diver's mix, I tried it and it seemed superfluous. So if they don't, I don't blame them. If they do, I'm blind. It's just the little things like that. I believe the last time I had a Sumatra Kula at Tiki-Ti, it was green. Maybe it's just Don Beach's recipe with some food coloring in it, but still, it was green, and in Safari there's no coloring agents listed (blue curacao, etc). Perhaps this bothers me because I'm on the west coast and Tiki Ti is close to me and I hold them in high regard. The recipes in Safari were not the attraction for me, the stories were the real interest, even though two of them had already appeared in some form or another elsewhere. Grog Log and Intoxica were consistent presentations of the best tropicals curated by an expert with impeccable taste and expertise. Safari seems, recipe wise, like mop-up duty. Old Don Beach leftovers that use lime, grapefruit and orange juices over and over. And now the Tiki-Ti menu no longer holds much mystery for me, except for that green stuff in the Sumatra Kula.