Vienna VA Trader Vics

After having visited Hawaii several times with my parents many years ago, I learned an appreciation for all things Tiki. It recently dawned on me that if I can't get out to Hawaii that often, it's my civic responsibility to build a Tiki Bar in my basement.

I started with just a piece of graph paper and drew out some specifics.

Got some plywood, 2by4's and marble tile from Home Depot and snuck it into the house before my wife was any the wiser.

Constructed it using basic tools we had at home (drill, table saw).

Sent away for Tiki masks and bamboo from BambooAndTikis.com and velcroed on a mini tv, iPhone holder and speakers, ghetto style.

Now the Tiki is open for business and my wife's happy now that she sees the finished product. Total cost (minus existing electronics) approximately $550. I'm also going to get a set of barstools sometime between now and when we move it outside to the patio in the spring.

On 2012-10-29 06:23, IOOAB wrote:
... and snuck it into the house before my wife was any the wiser.

Heh!! I can dig that !!!

Nice job on a budget. Timing is everything, so keep up the good work.

Kool
Where's the Rum
:)
Enjoy n have fun

Thanks, an important part of the deal in getting my wife's by-in was making sure we stock it with Captain Morgan.

Oh, IOAAB. You should really browse the site. Do some research on rum. And surprise your wife with any of the 10 spiced rums that are better than Captain Morgans. In no particular order:
Kraken
Oak Heart
Trader Vic's
Shellback
Cruzan
Seven Tiki
Ron Zacapa
Ron de Jeremy (I had it twice, and it may have been because I was at the Tiki Oasis room crawl, but I'll be damned if I didn't enjoy it.)

Avoid:
Blackheart
Sailor Jerry's
Shipwreck
Admiral Nelson
One with a skull with wings on it. It looks cool, but taste like gas-ass.

Or, if you REALLY want to score points, make your own spiced rum! Start with a damn good white rum, like 10 Cane, or Mount Gay, and use the recipe found below. I've found that I've had to alter the recipe a bit, by removing the allspice and cinnamon a day early. Also, there's a very good line in the article:
"To drink a rum shrub made with Captain Morgan," he writes, is about as authentic as "learning about the habits of wild bears at Walt Disney World's Country Bear Jamboree."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123395505336458213.html

I'm not bragging, but there was a few years where I hit the spiced rum HARD, and ended up with some liver damage, that thankfully has since healed. I've had all of the above with Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Moxy, various craft cola's, and RC Cola. NEVER use Pepsi. Pepsi and spiced rum do NOT mix.

That message may not have sounded as welcoming as I intended.

So: Aloha to the site! And to tiki culture! TC is a huge resource at your fingertips. You could spend days on here and keep finding more and more interesting stuff! There's a whole world of rum out there, and an ocean (The Pacific, perhaps?) of tiki drinks. Since you're new, check out Beachbum Barry's remixed! It's a great place to start. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the tiki drink app. Now that you've got the basic bar built, it's time to really deck it out! And who knows, maybe if you start making your wife her own spiced rum, you'll end up getting to turn your whole basement into a tiki bar!

ALOHA!

'Whole Tiki Basement' is a delicate area. I've approached it from a safe angle with a Tiki containment zone in the back corner of the basement, with the intention of one day expanding to full room absorption. Any of us married folks know exactly what I'm up against. I'll check out Beachbum Barry's for drink ideas and she's with the plan of checking out some superior rum brands. Some authentic Tikis should start finding their way into our basement soon.

Excellent!

Sounds like you're off to a good start. And an open minded wife is a good thing. I hope she enjoys some of them! I know I have.

I am fortunate in that my significant other was not with me when I bought my house and slated the dining room for construction of a tiki bar. It's still not built, but it's still going to be a tiki bar!

With time, ebaying, antiquing, and the people here at TC, you'll have a full basement bar in a few years!

ALOHA!

Seizing on the fact that I had used treated wood, my wife has already floated the idea of having the Tiki take up permanent residence outside after its maiden voyage next spring, thus leaving it on its own to fend against the harsh Northern Virginia winters. Not cool Brah. Any thoughts/suggestions from the Tiki council on encouraging Tiki tolerance in the house? The rum bribery has worked well so far and I must say up front the Tiki containment zone is here to stay in the basement. I've already started to check out a few indoor water fountains, preferably one that I can attach a Tiki face to.

I would use the "camel's nose" principal and just be happy with a small area at first. Then really use the heck out of it. Make some great drinks. Have people come over and have a great time. Soon people will be bringing you cool tiki stuff that you absolutely must display "because XXX gave it to us". Before you know it, you'll find your wife actually bragging about the cool tiki bar you have in your basement!

Words to live by. Rule #1 is Respect the Tiki. We don't need any Pete Brady stuff going on in the house, as I'm sure my wife is aware. A few parties are coming up to grease the wheels and I should then have Tiki zone scope creep in full affect.

And I'll be in the Reston area the week after Thanksgiving if you need any help with wheel greasing!

On 2012-11-12 13:09, TikiHardBop wrote:
And I'll be in the Reston area the week after Thanksgiving if you need any help with wheel greasing!

Thanks Kahuna, nothing coming up yet, but I'll post for any Big Tikitaining in the future.

On 2012-11-12 13:09, TikiHardBop wrote:
And I'll be in the Reston area the week after Thanksgiving if you need any help with wheel greasing!

Reston?
Ever go to the Honolulu?

Man I miss that place.

First time I've ever spent any time in the area. Drove through Reston a few times when I lived up that way, but haven't been back in over a decade.