Post #773935 by Trader Tom on Sat, Mar 11, 2017 3:17 AM

I'm looking at the potential for a tiki bar in the Ann Arbor area of Michigan. For many reasons I think one could thrive there.

Location is a huge factor. A tiki bar might work well there, but here are my thoughts as an ex-pat mid westerner.

We're spoiled here, where I now live, in the Los Angeles area, when it comes to tiki cocktails.

Not only do we have several great tiki bars in driving distance but our liquor stores have an excellent selection of rums compared to other parts of the country so we can make great tiki cocktails at home.

I'm originally from Southern Illinois and when I go back to visit family, I have to take a break from tiki cocktails.

Chicago has some excellent bars, but the liquor stores and bars in Southern Illinois think a complete rum lineup includes Malibu Coconut, Captain Morgan Spiced and Bacardi Silver.

Some places in Southern Illinois have started serving craft cocktails with higher end spirits but they are all tilted in favor of whiskey and bourbon.

When I Google searched for "Ann Arbor Tiki Cocktail Bars" up came two bars: The Ravens Club and The Last Word.

I tried to look up their cocktail menus and only The Ravens Club had one posted.

http://theravensclub.com/menus/

They list a Mai Tai towards the bottom as their only rum drink and since they bother to list "Dry Curacao" as an ingredient, I assume they are trying to use high-end spirits even though they didn't specify what rums were used.

This is contrasted with their proud total listing of all their whiskeys and bourbons above.

I am guessing that this area, like Southern Illinois, is mostly tilted toward whiskey and pitching a rum forward menu is going to take some work.

Even with a great Tiki environment.

You may have to educate your audience on what to expect from a good tiki cocktail and what quality rums can taste like.

If you want to really push rum and be the expert on rum drinks, I would consider a model like Blair has at Hale Pele in Portland, Oregon, where I lived for a few years.

Blair's back bar has a huge range of rum from all over the world organized by region with little plaques so that anyone who comes in is being given a tutorial on rum just by pulling up a stool.

He also has a loyalty program in place so that you can work your way through sampling rums from across the world, or, if you don't want to drink straight rum, you can work your way through all the cocktails on the menu.

Smuggler's Cove has a similar program in place which I am not as familiar with. Blair consulted with Martin and they have a lot in common with how their businesses are arranged.

You mentioned you have the Smuggler's Cove book, so this should give you an idea of how the bars are set up. Great book, by the way.

I think with any new Mid West tiki bar there are going to be a lot of potential customers who need to try a variety of rum to realize it has complexity and variety far beyond what they've sampled from their local liquor store shelves.

If you nail the decor but all your drinks are still made using boring supermarket/local liquor store offerings like Malibu, Captain Morgan, and Bacardi Silver, then I don't think it would really work for the long run after the initial novelty died out.

In addition to Smuggler's Cove, I would urge you to look at some of the other bars that Martin had a hand in and see how they used his ideas in different kinds of spaces/neighborhoods.

Anyway, those are my further thoughts for what they're worth. I think you are getting some good feedback and I hope it is helping.

Keep us all updated!