Post #765829 by AceExplorer on Tue, Jul 5, 2016 6:22 AM

Don't let the tough places get you down -- that's where you can find some great stuff! One of my most valuable and out of production rums came from a local hole-in-the-wall liquor store where all they cared about was selling bottles.

Few places really understand tiki. Even fewer cater to tiki. As has already been said here, for any new person to tiki, it's best to do some research and then move out into the stores. Otherwise you will risk raising the ire of the people in the stores who are most often not interested in teaching you more than just a few basics.

I don't have BevMo near me, but Total Wine does provide help when I ask, they just don't know tiki. So again, pick up a few ideas in advance and develop a game plan for visiting liquor stores. You can use apps like Grogalizer (online) and Total Tiki (iOS) to choose some cocktails and then buy those specific rums to make what you want to drink.

I drove into extreme southern Georgia last year (Brunswick, 1 hour north of me) and I cruised 5 local liquor stores one night. I was surprised by what I found, both good and bad. Other than driving into a couple seedy parts of town (and NOT stopping at one store) we had a good time. It was a great "date night" if you can believe it -- driving and exploring -- and I encourage it if you can do so safely. You might find an elusive rum collecting dust up on a top shelf just like I have on a couple occasions. This is when your home bar can become an outside activity, one which you may consider an adventure of sorts.

Cheers!

Edit/clarification: In addition to Grogalizer and Total Tiki, the previous suggestions to buy and use tiki recipe books is also very good. Both Martin Cate's and Jeff Berry's books are a great starting point.

[ Edited by: AceExplorer 2016-07-05 06:29 ]