Archipelago - new tiki bar in D.C.

First photos of the new tiki bar, Archipelago, can be found at the link below.
Officially opening in Washington D.C. (the corner of 12th and U) next week

http://www.popville.com/2016/02/magnum-pi-fans-rejoice-archipelago/

Some good names from the local DC Craft Bartender Guild are behind this bar, so my best guess is that the cocktails will be quite good.

Vern

Place looks fine, BUT drink prices on the DC high side. Any trad Tiki drinks, looks like all original mixology?

and The Washington Post chimes in on Archipelago - the soft opening is this week - and they are impressed with the drinks, even preferring the originals to the standards.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/going-out-guide/wp/2016/02/26/archipelago-brings-rum-filled-pineapples-and-a-tom-selleck-shrine-to-u-street/

It is cool that they mentioned the beloved Honolulu - which closed almost 12 years ago.

The article also mentions the decor, and the friends who had to liquidate their tiki bar. This was Scottiki's basement tiki bar 'The Moai Lounge' - and there was a post here on TC about their liquidation sale last Autumn. You'll be able to notice a few itmes that transitioned from home to the Archipelago.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=49915&forum=12

For those who are unfamiliar with D.C., Archipelago is located in the heart of one of the more popular areas of DC for restaurants and bars, just two blocks from the intersection of 14th and U NW. Lots of foot traffic in the evenings, but street parking can be very hard to find at peak hours. There is a metro stop one block away. One of the top jazz clubs (Bohemian Caverns) is one block away, and two of the top rock music venues (9:30 Club, Black Cat) are 4 blocks away. I expect the crowd will lean heavily to the 20-30 year range.

Some of my favorite cocktail places in DC are located within a 10 minute walk of Archipelago (i.e. Two Birds One Stone, the Gibson, Left Door, Mockingbird Hill), so if you see me on a nearby street with a confused look on my face, I'll probably be deciding which place to visit.

Cocktail prices at Archipelago are in the price range of the bars listed above and other craft cocktail bars in the DC area.

There will be other tiki bars opening in the DC area over the next two years - stay tuned.

One more article on the opening of Archipelago.

For the 'old-school' tiki people out there, there is this quote within . . . "The team hopes to eventually be able to make pretty much any old-school tiki drink, the same way any decent bar should be able to make an old fashioned or negroni even if it's not listed on the menu."

Full article is here
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/youngandhungry/2016/03/01/archipelago-tiki-bar-brings-flaming-pineapple-drinks-to-u-street-nw/

Is that close to the mugging that is going on?
The one guy was mugged at 9:00!

"Muggers near the United States Capitol robbed five different people within thirty minutes Wednesday night, building on a recent trend that has taken hold of the neighborhood."

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/10/22/a-strange-new-mugging-trend-is-sweeping-capitol-hill/#ixzz41mUgpPMn

DAM!
I hope this is not the area.
They got everything but Arrests in droves.
http://www.spotcrime.com/dc/washington

On 2016-03-02 12:29, ikitnrev wrote:
For the 'old-school' tiki people out there, there is this quote within . . . "The team hopes to eventually be able to make pretty much any old-school tiki drink, the same way any decent bar should be able to make an old fashioned or negroni even if it's not listed on the menu."

That would be great. I do not differentiate between old-school and new-school. For me it's one big broad landscape of drinks punctuated by time periods/eras. The old and the new are worth noting, but not worth dividing over. The older stuff has a ton to offer, and so does the newer stuff. The evolution of the cocktails is unstoppable, some good and some bad, just like in the old days. But if someone walks in and wants a real Mai-Tai, they hopefully will be able to make a reasonably authentic one cuz it's that good.

I do hope this place rocks!

Prices are rather high and the place has too many light colors. Multiple violations of the Bamboo Ben rule.

But...it is a step in the right direction. Let me know if there any gathering there and I will attempt it. Navigating home to K-Town after a few Mai Tais would be a daunting experience.

I know it's been a while, but I remember when 14th & U was ground zero for urban squalor and nefariousness. I still can't get over its comeback, but it's a good thing.

[ Edited by: JackLord 2016-03-09 09:29 ]

I stopped at Archipelago this past Thursday evening - arrived at about 10pm on a snowy night, which for me is about the best time to enter the warm confines of a tiki bar. The place was not crowded, and I was able to get a seat at the bar.

One thing I definitely noted is that all of the picture of Archipelago shown in the previous links were taking during the daytime. The entire place is definitely darker at nighttime, when no sunlight and limited light from outside is shining in. I recall, when approaching the bar from outside, bamboo shades on the outside window - from the outside I can recall detecting some body shapes and movements inside, and the glow from some red lamps. It was an inviting sight.

One nice touch on the inside ( was a series/semi-curtain of small green glass floats, along the ceiling - this is along the wall at the base of the steps going upstairs. (you can see them on the City Paper link above)

The hula girl wallpaper is found in the restroom, definitely the brightest space in the place.

I did not notice any TVs while seated at the bar - which is where I was seated for almost all of the evening. I recognized at least 2 of the people behind the bar from previous establishments, both which have a reputation for good cocktails. They welcomed me and were quite friendly all evening.

Late in the evening I was given a tour of the unfinished upstairs rooms. In addition to the one current room that oversees the main floor, they do have considerable space for a full second bar upstairs, along with a private tasting room, but I would consider those more long-term plans for now.

The music, when I entered, was a lively mix of older reggae music. Not Bob Marley, but very festive on the ska-side, and I really enjoyed listening to it. When this was happening, I checked facebook and saw that a fellow tiki friend had just posted a picture of Beachbum Berry's 'Cocktails of the Caribbean,' and the combination of all factors (music, drink, Caribbean cocktail book, friendly bartenders) seemed just about perfect for me. Later in the evening they switched to some slower classic/Hawaiian exotica, and although still appropriate, I found myself enjoying it less.

Tiki culture was my entry drug into the whole cocktails scene, and for various reasons, my personal tastes have switched more to the craft cocktail side of the house than the older tiki recipes. Regarding the cocktails I ordered, I chose NOT to order what caught my eye the most, but focused only on the 1st four drinks on the menu - my next visit I will order the next four, and so on. In the order served to me.

• Banana Daiquiri Take #653: I'm a big fan of the classic daiquiri and its variations, and was a bit disappointed to see this served in a parrot mug. I needed a larger diameter straw to sip the blended ice through the straw. I liked the flavor, but I still prefer my daiquiris classic

• Chafed Paradigm: My least favorite cocktail of the evening - the flavors (rum, St Germain, coconut, citrus, etc.) didn't just meld right for me, or perhaps I was hoping for a more distinct flavor to emerge. I was ready to move on when I finished this one

• Captain Cody: Wonderful, and very well balanced, and this cocktail would be a welcome addition on any menu in any tiki bar. This will go on my repeat list

• Truck Bed Funeral: I've become a fan of the smokey flavors of mezcal, and was glad to see this on the menu, as one doesn't see too many mezcal tiki drinks. It was very good, well-balanced, and a nice way to end the evening.

Final Summary; I liked the overall environment, and the cocktails were worthy of a quality craft cocktail bar. Archipelago will be of interest for any person in the DC area who is interested in tiki culture and/or craft cocktails.

Vern

My question would still be if you come here and requested a Mai Tai or Zombie for exmaple WILL they make it for you???

When I was at the bar last Thursday, one gentleman asked the bartender if he would be able to make him a zombie (not right then, but on a later visit) and the bartender answered ...'Yes, definitely'

They do have a mai-tai on the menu (aged rum, rhum agricole, cointreau, lime, orgeat)

Vern

Thanks for the detailed review Vern. I'm planning on a visit to check it out myself hopefully later this spring. I definitely want to try some of the cocktails I've heard about on their menu. Hopefully they'll do a custom mug eventually as well.

Mahalo!

I made a couple more visits to Archipelago, and after three visits total, have tried every tiki cocktail on the menu - there are currently 12 cocktails available.

My short verdict: These are some very good cocktails
Here are my 7 current favorites, listed in order from 'light' to 'heavy' Choose your entry point, and enjoy!

1. Pina Colada: I made the Pina Colada my first cocktail of one visit, not expecting it to be memorable - I was wrong. Served frozen, very refreshing, well balanced, and you get a sense of why this cocktail initially became so popular in the world.

2. Pineapple of Hospitality (serves 2): served in a real pineapple - and it is amazing, perhaps my favorite cocktail on the menu, from the very first sip to making the final straw sucking noises to get the last drops from the pineapple shell. Just give me an endless supply of these throughout the summer, and I'd be happy. What's in it? Rum and secrets. Its a secret formula from one of the owners. Even the bartender who made it for me didn't know what was used to make this.

3. Captain Cody - wonderful - no gimmicks, simply a well-balanced tiki cocktail

4. Mai Tai - excellent, well-balanced, with darker rums than the Captain Cody Word is the owners did many, many hours of experimentation, knowing that they had to get this one right, as they wanted to come up with their own unique version, and not just replicate what was already out there. They succeeded.

5. All Bets Are Off (serves 2-3) - served in a scorpion bowl, and serves 2-3. They made a single serving for me - it features several Ed Hamilton rums.

6. Truck Bed Funeral (mezcal) - made with mezcal, so its got that wonderful smoky essence, much like a good Islay Scotch

7. Slip and Fall - a strong coffee flavor. I've always liked the Black Magic from the Mai Kai, but this cocktail has a much 'thicker' coffe essence to it.

I do want to give a special note for the 'Oil Can Boyd' which kind of stands on its own as it features olive oil infused Black Strap rum. Its definitely a unique flavor and texture - I like it, and it may soon work its way onto my 7 favorites list.

I should add that all of the cocktails are very good, in their own way, and you really can't go wrong by trying any of the others, but the above are the ones I remember the most. I started my evening by stopping at another well respected venue, where I had a Mai Tai '44, and I can comfortably say that all of the cocktails at Archipelago are at least at that quality level.

One final word, the 'Chafed Paradigm' mentioned in a previous post is no longer available.

[ Edited by: ikitnrev 2016-04-01 07:47 ]

This was on NPR radio a couple of days ago. An article and 4 minute audio story.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/09/07/492974870/lets-talk-tiki-bars-harmless-fun-or-exploitation

It appears some of the article and audio commentators here need a FEW more Tiki drinks to uncloud their spirits )-: