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Tiki Central / General Tiki / Updated Trader Vic site!

Post #762648 by AceExplorer on Tue, Apr 19, 2016 4:47 AM

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A

On 2016-04-18 20:50, tiki1963 wrote:
in their defense, their shakers are custom made to exactly fit their larger sized mai tai glasses. not that they wouldn't work on a normal shaker but they are custom made for TV's.

Thanks for the follow-up. Yes, that is true, but sadly it is still way overpriced, especially when I believe you can "job out" small runs of product exactly like that to overseas manufacturers. My opinion is that item at that price is a gouge, and it makes me laugh because I would never personally buy it.

But lets look at it from the standpoint of my bar, where I don't use Boston shakers, but only stainless tins with a pint glass. I have the following observations:

  1. My Trader Vic's glasses are "too special" to use for shaking drinks. This is not true at their restaurants where they don't have to worry so much about breakage. I'm sure there is an exception out there, but who would typically use TV's glasses to shake their drinks? (Ok, Bill Gates or Elon Musk could.)
  2. I can buy stainless tins in multiple sizes -- up to 30 ounces with varying opening sizes -- for under $10 apiece -- to fit my pint glasses or even to fit stainless shaker cups.
  3. I can buy very elaborately screen-printed stainless tins also for under $10, and in various sizes and even with various bases and weights for "flair" bartending.

I think it's unfortunate that they set a $125 price point for something so mundane. That same $125 would buy some much more exciting stuff for any bar. And if I was really into having a logo on my tin, I could pay to have MY design screen printed for relatively little additional cost.

I love Trader Vics and have spent a lot of money on food and drinks in their locations, and have always had a good time and experience. They are losing ground in the North American market, and seem to be doing little to stem those losses. I hope they turn things around sometime soon. Who knows -- reasonably priced shaker tin sales could save the company! :)

Cheers!