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Joined: Jun 16, 2013
Posts: 630
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I wouldn't apply the 'pretentious = bad formula' like the article does.
IMO the approach of many of the pretentious bartenders is a good thing, it keeps standards high & means drink making traditions get followed. They give a f*ck about the what they're doing (when 'normal' bartenders don't necessarily).
On 2013-09-08 06:34, TikiTomD wrote:
So, why now are the tiki and craft-cocktail worlds colliding? Pip Hanson, cocktailer in chief at Marvel Bar — which tiptoed into tiki this summer during its Sunday improv nights and with its frozen “Blender Bar” menu — said it’s a predictable reaction to the “temple-of-the-cocktail bars” like New York’s Pegu Club and PDT. “Everything got a little bit precious, and that’s fine,” Hanson said. “Tiki is just a totally unpretentious thing. It’s a return to having fun with your drinks. A lot of people would argue it’s high time that happened again.”
Yes tiki is about fun but I think tiki has a public image that doesn't represent how 'precious' it was in its heyday, I say that because:
- 30s / 40s tiki bars were the 'temple of the cocktails' of the day.
- Donn Beach coded his recipes so that no-one else could make them & staff had reduced bargaining power if they wanted to leave.
- Bars knocked off each others drinks like mad (Mai Tais, Zombies, Test Pilot, Jet Pilot, etc).
- Bar owners were incredibly jealous of each other
- Old tiki bartenders still wouldn't share recipes with Jeff Berry decades later.
- Current tiki bars still keep secret recipes & commission rum to get the unique tastes (The Mai Kai & Kohola Bay rum).
Maybe Im wrong, maybe Im right, who knows (?) :)
Anywhere serving good drinks is a plus.
However I might not be ordering that 'The Sun Had a Name' cocktail with bacon & olives, I'll stick to fruit juices :)
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