Beginners guide to drinking

OK, now that I got your attention...

It's a snowy day here on the coast of Massachusetts. Although I'm dreaming of a White Christmas, my mind is also concentrating on a rockin' summer laua.

My question to the TC ohana is, if you had to choose only ten drinks from all of Beachbum's books, what would they be. I ask this because most people who would be coming would not really know a good exotic drink, so this would be more of a introduction to them.

Your suggestions will help me decide what additional liquors I may need. I do stock a few different rums for my weekend Zombies and Mai Tais. Plus, I can get some remedial drink tasting done before Summer time.

Finally, I want to make up drink cards using the leftover wooden signs I bought at A.C. Moore. They're kind of shaped like a Don the Beachcomber sign.

Any ideas would be great. They're so much knowledge here on this little island of the web.

Mahalo

Rick

I don't know exactly what type of luau you're planning, but if you expect a good sized crowd (and even if you don't) I'd recommend you narrow the number of drinks to five. Don't make your party a huge chore -- you'll want to have fun yourself, and limiting the number of drink types will make it much easier. And I'm assuming you plan to make pre-mixes.

You should pick drinks you like and like to make. Having said that, and since you expect a lot of newbies, I'd recommend you concoct cocktails that most people will know: Mai Tai, Zombie, Navy Grog, Blue Hawaii, and maybe Singapore Sling or Suffering Bastard or Fog Cutter.

I agree, limit your cocktail presentaiton to three or four plus a punch or two.

You can still make anything you want for those that know how to ask and that keeps you from sending good liquor down the gullets of those that wont appreciate it. Even better, 'advertise' three or four drinks and then make a big presentation of the "House Special" at some point during the gathering (I would suggest something flaming, but I tend to be a pyromaniac).

As to drinks to introduce non-tiki people to tiki drinks..... Mix the ones you like to drink, or the ones you like to mix. It is a party and you should be spending your time with your guests and not behind the bar. Well, at least not all the time behind the bar.

And, if you have someone you trust to put behind the bar, coerce/shanghi/bribe/hire them to work your bar so you can apply your host duties to the crowd. You can switch off with them every so often so neither of you get tired of tending bar.

What we did for Lounge 1803 at Tiki Oasis was to pick 5 drinks we really wanted to have may have been 4 and then using the grogalizer I inputed the the ingredients and made a list of what I could actually make and did table tents with the drink list

The Spindrift is one of the house drinks at the Lono (and one of my favorites), and the recipe is already in LARGE volume (we serve in bowls). You can pre-mix this stuff the night before, and put into containers, and keep em flowing fast & furious all day.

The Mai Tai is another good one, but I've found that in premixing these, they never seem quite right....and its a pain in the ass to make em all on call all day.

Get a few punches together, and then invite a bunch of TC'ers over. Everyone has a signature drink in em, and everyone takes a turn behind the bar...you get to try a bunch of cocktails that way, and all you have to worry about is having a VERY stocked bar with tons of mixers, and squeezing like 200 limes & lemons the night before!

My 2cents.

On 2007-12-13 14:48, Dr. Shocker wrote:
What we did for Lounge 1803 at Tiki Oasis was to pick 5 drinks we really wanted to have may have been 4 and then using the grogalizer I inputed the the ingredients and made a list of what I could actually make and did table tents with the drink list

We have a winner!

On 2007-12-14 09:52, Bargoyle wrote:
The Mai Tai is another good one, but I've found that in premixing these, they never seem quite right....and its a pain in the ass to make em all on call all day.

Couldn't agree with you more on that BG - the mai tai definitely loses something if it sits for a while. I have tried to make early batches and add the lime and/or orgeat at the last minute, but then you are pretty much making them on call. It just sucks that I am slave to that drink - DAMMIT, why do they have to be so tasty?

On 2007-12-14 09:52, Bargoyle wrote:
...invite a bunch of TC'ers over. Everyone has a signature drink in em, and everyone takes a turn behind the bar...you get to try a bunch of cocktails that way...

to paraphrase Butthead...this is the greatest thing I have ever heard.

On 2007-12-14 09:52, Bargoyle wrote:
The Mai Tai is another good one, but I've found that in premixing these, they never seem quite right....

My hypothesis is that everything should be mixed except the ice and lime. When someone wants a Mai Tai, just X ounces of mix and an ounce of lime juice and you're done.

Untested. Your mileage may vary.

The point about the TC'ers is a good one. We've also been known to bring rum and homemade mixers, and we always come with good cheer.

My hypothesis is that everything should be mixed except the ice and lime. When someone wants a Mai Tai, just X ounces of mix and an ounce of lime juice and you're done.

I'd add some rum as well, but maybe that's just me. :P

Pitchers of Mai Tais

Due to the nature of the Mai Tai, specifically, the adverse results that occur from pre-mixing, another way to deal with it is to make pitchers of them specific intervals. Every 30 minutes is better for the drink because of the lime, but once every hour isn't bad really and, if people are going to be drinking lots of them, an hour is better for the one who has to make them. People will have to wait a little sometimes, but they know a decent Mai Tai is just around the corner.

A fresh pitcher (or set of pitchers) every hour is better than having to make them individually on a more or less continuous basis. I like to do them at a time when everyone knows a batch is about to erupt; like every hour on the hour, or every time the minute hand crosses the hour hand (e.g., 4:20, 5:25, 6:30, etc), or when the sands of my hourglass run out (except it's buried in storage right now).

Because the drink needs to be chilled by shaking with shaved ice before being poured over the rocks (or cracked ice, if you must), I make the unchilled batch in one pitcher and then transfer it all into a second pitcher chilling it with the shaved ice one shakerful at a time. Once the entire batch is in the second pitcher, I'll swirl it around a few times to even it all out nicely. Then it's ready to set down into a bed of crushed ice or put in the fridge to be served as needed over the next hour.

Making two or three pitchers at a the same time using an assembly line procedure is not that much more trouble than making one pitcher, except for the shaking. That can be a real workout. I suppose that most people will not care that the liquid is chilled in that fashion, in which case the quick and dirty alternative is to just dump the shaved ice into each pitcher and stir it in instead of shaking, or else use a blender.

At some point though, to avoid waste you'll have to decide when to go back to making them individually. You don't want to have a half-pitcher of Mai Tais sitting in the fridge over night (or do you). Get a set of popsicle molds and make Mai Tai pops with anything that's left over. Then you don't have to worry about the lime going bad.

On 2007-12-14 13:31, arriano wrote:

everything should be mixed except the ice and lime.

I'd add some rum as well, but maybe that's just me. :P

Read it again. I've quoted the important parts above.

Of particular importance is the word EVERYTHING.
Only slightly less important are the words EXCEPT THE ICE AND LIME.

:P

1. Mai-Kai Barrel o'Rum from Taboo Table

2. Captain's Grog

3. Reverb Crash (TC drink contest winner)

4. Spindrift

5. Lei Lani Volcano

6. Coconaut - most guests LOVE it and it has only 3 ingredients, so its easy to make

7. There are many great drinks in Sippin' Safari, like Kelbo's Scorpion

8. Possibly a Chief Lapu Lapu tower?

9. Voodoo Priestess (Forbidden Island drink, recipe should be on TC, try a search

10. Test Pilot or Jet Pilot

11. Maui Sunrise - great tropical drink with no alcohol

On 2007-12-14 14:12, The Gnomon wrote:
Pitchers of Mai Tais

Due to the nature of the Mai Tai, specifically, the adverse results that occur from pre-mixing, another way to deal with it is to make pitchers of them specific intervals. Every 30 minutes is better for the drink because of the lime, but once every hour isn't bad really and, if people are going to be drinking lots of them, an hour is better for the one who has to make them. People will have to wait a little sometimes, but they know a decent Mai Tai is just around the corner. ...

And, when "It is Time" you can make a small spectacle of the process. Enlist party goers to help the process, have one person stir while you pour, challenge two guests to a lime squeezing contest, and all kinds of other little bits of sillyness.

This idea works for more than just Mai-Tais, by the way. Any drink with more than four ingredients would work.

On 2007-12-15 06:28, Chip and Andy wrote:

And, when "It is Time" you can make a small spectacle of the process. Enlist party goers to help the process, have one person stir while you pour, challenge two guests to a lime squeezing contest, and all kinds of other little bits of sillyness.

Definitely. Once "the time" is set and known, you never have to keep track of the time. Everyone else will tell you. In fact, they usually refer to it as "showtime."