Question For Professionals and Tiki Drink Fans on Liqueurs - Tiki Drinks and Food

C CincyTikiCraig Tiki Socialite Cincinnati, Ohio USA Joined: Mar 31, 2009 Posts: 467	C CincyTikiCraig Posted posted on Thu, Feb 28, 2013 7:57 PM Hi Billy, Welcome to TC! Out of curiosity, where are you located? Just my two cents here. Most bars & restaurants that do Tiki cocktails well do not make their own liqueurs (syrups yes, liqueurs no), they purchase them from wholesalers (ie, distributors such as Southern Wine & Spirits, RNDC, etc). While most of the better places (such as the Mai Kai, Forbidden Isle etc) may not use the most expensive liqueurs available for their drinks, they are certainly pouring better quality than DeKuyper. I represented DeKuyper for years, and DeKuyper really is the bottom of the barrel, they use nothing but artificial flavorings to create their liqueurs, and they tend to be overly sweet as well. My suggestion is that you don't try to carry a myriad of different liqueurs to create dozens of Tiki cocktails, but that you create a well thought out menu of cocktails that would allow you to purchase fewer liqueurs that are of better quality. Do fewer drinks and do them better, remember that your end product cannot be better the the sum of its ingredients. Incidentally, if the liqueurs are a potential budget breaker for your business, how are you going to handle the varieties and quantities of rums that are needed for Tiki cocktails? CTC [ Edited by: CincyTikiCraig 2013-02-28 20:29 ]

Hi Billy,

Welcome to TC! Out of curiosity, where are you located?

Just my two cents here. Most bars & restaurants that do Tiki cocktails well do not make their own liqueurs (syrups yes, liqueurs no), they purchase them from wholesalers (ie, distributors such as Southern Wine & Spirits, RNDC, etc). While most of the better places (such as the Mai Kai, Forbidden Isle etc) may not use the most expensive liqueurs available for their drinks, they are certainly pouring better quality than DeKuyper. I represented DeKuyper for years, and DeKuyper really is the bottom of the barrel, they use nothing but artificial flavorings to create their liqueurs, and they tend to be overly sweet as well. My suggestion is that you don't try to carry a myriad of different liqueurs to create dozens of Tiki cocktails, but that you create a well thought out menu of cocktails that would allow you to purchase fewer liqueurs that are of better quality. Do fewer drinks and do them better, remember that your end product cannot be better the the sum of its ingredients.

Incidentally, if the liqueurs are a potential budget breaker for your business, how are you going to handle the varieties and quantities of rums that are needed for Tiki cocktails?

CTC

[ Edited by: CincyTikiCraig 2013-02-28 20:29 ]

Post #669194 by CincyTikiCraig on Thu, Feb 28, 2013 7:57 PM