Post #696824 by AdOrAdam on Sun, Oct 20, 2013 2:30 PM

On 2013-10-20 10:34, VampiressRN wrote:
JMHO... Tiki is the carvings.

Tiki genre is the mixed bag...the culmination of cravings, art, exotica, cocktails, bars, decor, publications and mostly the Ohana spirit.

Good way of looking at it :)

Mr thePorpoise is that a selfie?! :)

On 2013-10-20 08:06, Masher88 wrote:
One thing I've always wondered is why Tequila is not considered tiki, but rum and gin are...

Im thinking tequila wasn't on the 'world stage' til later ~ I rightly of wrongly think of it as 70s / 80s, although Margaritas are a 30s / 40s drink (& Donn made the El Diablo cocktail in the late 40s).

Generally regarding the choice of spirits in tiki drinks, my understanding of the shortened timeline is:

• Turn of the century no-one wanted rum (so the distillers aged it).
• To give context whiskey & gin were popular. If you google '1920s' cocktails they are nearly all gin or whiskey.
• Don Beachcomber discovered rum & learnt how to tweak traditional Caribbean cocktails. He brought up the cheap rum & made good drinks.
• Trader Vics took on the tiki idea & ran with the rum recipes. 1950s onwards he added different based spirits (gin, brandy, bourbon etc).

I can understand why gin is part of tiki - it has a colonial history so was most likely everywhere. Drinks like the Singapore Sling are 'tropical' & arguably are kin to 'caribbean' drinks. Whiskey shouldnt be a tiki ingredient IMO - it just tastes a bit wrong, I like Whiskey Sours but I prefer Old Fashioned & Sazeracs. Brandy mixes better but is in relatively few cocktails. Tis mostly about the rum for me!

I read 'somewhere' that whiskey & beer were very popular in the original tiki bars. I wish I could I remember where that 'somewhere' was! Can anyone confirm / deny this? :)