Are These Tiki’s WORST Cocktails?

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Hey guys so while making the Blue Reef I say “white Jamaican rum” but the recipe actually calls for White Puerto Rican Rum…a little slip of the tongue on my part. The recipe would probably be greatly improved with Jamaican Rum but I did use the correct rum. It didn’t say the correct rum for whatever reason 😂

[@SknowingWolf]

I was coming to the comments to ask about that lol. Like "wait a sec... Am I dumb? I didn't think bacardi was Jamaican."

[@matthewmorin7016]

You made me do a double take with that one.

[@jamesfrarck6930]

Was just gonna say something!

[@doompatrol]

Please start a new series where you revisit “bad” cocktails and fix them. Love the experimentation.

[@kidyuki1]

I second this!

[@alho9231]

I third this!!

[@____________838]

And my axe!

[@kidyuki1]

I appreciate the brutal honesty. I suppose this is similar to how so many recipes from "classic" cocktail books are utter crap and that, for the most part, the good ones are the ones that stuck around.

[@SpaceWolfPainter]

Col Beach's Plantation Punch is one of my favorites honestly. You gotta use the right Ginger Beer or it's going to not be good. I used Gosling's Ginger Beer one time and it was terrible. You must use Bundaberg Ginger Beer.

[@SknowingWolf]

Bundaberg is delicious. That's our go to favorite.

[@JasminMiettunen]

Why was one bad and one good? What should I be looking for to make this cocktail work if those brands aren’t for sale in my country?

[@seanryan7260]

Would Rose's Lime juice balance it out instead of fresh? Did they use fresh lime juice back in Tiki times?

[@JasminMiettunen]

@@seanryan7260 it seems like the original recipe used fresh lime juice, but there’s no reason you couldn’t splash in some simple syrup for balance!

[@will5430]

@@JasminMiettunen ginger beers vary a lot. I personally like Q Mixers brand. nice and spicy.

[@firebricks3]

There are a lot of bad drinks in Remixed, and the Blue Reef is definitely one of them. That's an easy skip. Coronado Luau Special is pretty good tho, because even though it is sweet, so many drinks in Remixed are beyond sour for modern tastes. That, or lemons and limes from 30s and 40s were considerably sweeter than they are now. Especially Trader Vic's recipes. If you look at the Smuggler's Cove book, you'll notice plenty of classic Tiki recipes from that era that are tweaked for modern palates to be slightly sweeter.

[@____________838]

I think it’s a little of both. Americans(and everyone else for that matter) have been spoiled by the sheer amount of sugar we have taken in since the 50s, and if I remember correctly, lemons and limes have both gotten more sour in the interim.

[@noahdiaz2559]

How did you just make me voluntarily watch your ad? You are a great salesman! 👍

[@wbuffness]

I own all of these books and I have made and rated quite a few recipes. I've found that they are very 'lime-forward'. They are much more sour than the Tiki cocktails that you may find in a rando-bar and definitely more than the pre-mix that you can find in stores. It's not for everyone, but after awhile just like anything, you will acquire a taste for it for better or worse.

[@CocktailUnderground]

Even if the drinks aren't the best, your presentation was awesome. I love that umbrella thing on the Coronado! The mug is cool too.

[@Dr_Bombay]

props for using a Tiki-Ti mug. love that place!

[@troykulele]

I make MANY tiki cocktails, but tend to skip those with more than 6-8 ingredients. I try to honor the rum blends and the ‘spirit’ of the drink’s intended flavor

[@andrewmeilinger6203]

I tend to somewhat agree, however the Mastadon is legit af

[@boozeontherocks]

Great video guys, Based on my observations I would go for the Blue Reef. (Love Blue Drinks) but it definitional looks like it could use some tinkering. The rest are very busy, a lot of ingredients which I think works against them.

[@javiervigil2511]

"It's OK, it's pretty good, I don't know" 🤣😂🤣

[@ctwiggs]

Sadly, not all tiki cocktails are well balanced, and not all tiki cocktails look appetizing. Throw them in a cool mug and serve them in the right bar, however, and people will pay $20 for them all night long. Cheers to great bartenders and mixologists who recognize the ones to keep (proper Mai Tais, for example) and the ones to reinvent and update.

[@Coasterdude02149]

With the exception of a Pina Colada, I'll take a classic cocktail any day over a tiki. Not a fan of tiki drinks at all. But you're right, lots of people I know love the glasses they come in & keep buying them for that reason. I'll take a Negroni or an Absinthe thanks 😎

[@joshcherrett7464]

Loving the new labels...captions? Well done

[@smokeytiki3185]

Great video! It's just as educational to see what doesn't work, as what does.

[@csongorkakuk5871]

"My name is Leandro Dimonriva, this is the educated cocktail..." °_° lmao

[@arcanum3000]

I've been on a Tiki kick for a year or so now, and I've definitely noticed that many of Don Beach's recipes are lime heavy to the point of drowning out the other ingredients. Whether that's due to historical changes in acidity or they were always intended to be that tart, I don't know.

[@honeyfromthebee]

Would you be willing to make a video of the best rums to have on hand in an at-home tiki bar cabinet?

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Yeah sure I can do that

[@honeyfromthebee]

@@TheEducatedBarfly Awesome!! Looking forward to it

[@brandonchristensen9093]

This would be interesting. Wondering how similar it will be to the Smugglers Cove 6 categories.

[@TheJohnwadebaker]

Thanks for jumping on these grenades for us. I can’t help but wonder if the colonel punch would be more balanced if made with a sugary 1950’s style ginger ale instead of what looks like a more modern artisanal style.

[@JohnnyWraith989]

I came by to the comments to see if anyone else had mentioned this. I thought of Gosling's Ginger Beer as well, which is really sweet. It sounds like it would add the sugar that Leandro was missing in the drink!

[@ManInArea]

This is the first time I’ve seen you make a drink I didn’t want to try. And there were 3 of them! Great video anyway, guys

[@ebm93nor]

Great video and great content in general! Now i would love to see you go back and balance these coctails, se if it is possible to save them!

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Thinking on it !

[@mathewphipps7724]

Can you please do a "best cocktails with Blue Curacao" or "best blue tiki drinks" etc... pretty please. Is there anything that's equally as impressive as a rounded cocktail as blue curacao is visually?

[@fugu4163]

I just tried the Blue reef and i like it. I dont like too sweet stuff and instead of galiano i use Liqour 43.

[@retronartz1268]

"White Jamaican rum" >uses bacardi white like a chad

[@FrobozzElectric]

Real experts pour their Wray and Nephew into old Bacardi bottles.

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

That was a mistake on my part “slip o the tongue” the recipe calls for white Puerto Rican rum not sure why I said jamaican 😂

[@johnnymetallica1039]

Shaqiri! I knew you had a career after Liverpool! How's Chicago treating you? Keep up the great work

[@JasonThrifts]

That's not exactly how Donn Beach ended up in Hawaii. Cora owned Hollywood while they were married.

[@SknowingWolf]

With the ingredients and the way you describe the taste of the Coronado special, it makes me think this was like, somebody's tiki version of a mimosa or something hah. Like that is a lot of juice and sweetness. A total of 3oz of liquor vs 5oz of citrus juices, 1oz of simple and a half cup of ice. I can imagine it being incredibly tasty though.

[@bob___]

This is a terrific video, hinting at the dirty secret of tiki drinks, which is so many of them are too busy and not all of them are good. I especially liked the comment about the Blue Reef having too much lime juice. That's probably the only one of these I would try (isn't it a Mai Tai with Galliano instead of orgeat?), but I would go along with using half of the lime juice and less blue curacao. Blue curacao is made to be blue and sweet, and doesn't always have a lot of orange taste, so, if I make this one, I might replace a little bit of the blue curacao with a regular orange liqueur (using the blue curacao for color only). The Galliano seems like it's in good company with the orange flavor, because who's going to turn down the occasional Harvey Wallbanger?

[@MisadelphiaSAR]

I thought Colonel Beach's Plantation Punch was good. Not amazing, but good. I think part of the problem, in your case, may have been that Q Ginger Beer just isn't very sweet (and I find, too, that it can be short on ginger flavor). I wonder if the drink would've turned out better with a different ginger beer. For the record, the first time I made the drink, I used velvet falernum, and the second time, I used #9 (without the lime juice, to extend the syrup's shelf life)

[@msrlapin99]

That's a pretty valid point. '50s ginger beer would probably be sweeter than Q. Maybe Cock and Bull instead. Maggie's Farm Falernum isn't very sweet either. It's very possible that Don was using an NA falernum syrup.

[@mrsmartypants_1]

Agree with your Q comment. I’m not a fan of any of the Q drink products. Seems like they use high quality ingredients but the flavors just don’t work for me and the cost is absurd. Fever-Tree I like quite a bit. My favorite ginger beer is actually Goslings. It’s inexpensive and has full strength zing of ginger that I like. My go to in Moscow Mules. Unfortunately the sweetener is corn syrup. Only beverage I buy anymore with corn syrup. When I need the zing of ginger beer without the sweetness where Q may work I merely muddle 4 disks of ginger root and add seltzer. Works great.

[@MisadelphiaSAR]

@@mrsmartypants_1 Have you ever tried Q Grapefruit soda? Fantastic stuff

[@mrsmartypants_1]

@@MisadelphiaSAR Nope haven’t tried that one. I’ll give it a try. I love good grapefruit soda. Thanks for the recommendation.

[@adamlebner8429]

I too have been missing the random comment quotes at the opening.

[@adrianbreedlove6510]

Just my opinion, but Don Q Silver works wonders for white Puerto Rican rum and has a much better flavor than the Bacardi. If it's available in your area, it is worth picking up.

[@SpaceWolfPainter]

Cruzana, Pain Killer, Fog Cutter and Coconaut. There are more but those are definitely in the top 5.

[@methyod]

Fog cutter as one of the worst tiki drinks? You're killing me lol, how can you like tiki and not like that drink unless you just hate sherry?

[@SpaceWolfPainter]

@@methyod it's dry AF

[@rickardmoberg1525]

What bar is Leandro operating now? I’d like to try get a drink mixed up by the barfly him self when visiting LA, if possible.

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

I am currently not working in a bar :( come to LA and we’ll have a drink anyway!

[@MrMoney331]

Dang it, how did I miss this video....and of course they quoted me in the beginning! Ha

[@alexandernordstrom1617]

I'm a big fan of The Educated Cocktail

[@adammajor123]

There are some tiki drinks that are stinkers not doubt, adjusting the ratios of some of the ingredients can help. On balance the world of tiki drinks is phenomenal!

[@GiantRiderRob]

UH when Marius forgets to pin the comment with the link to trade. I agree with using a different ginger ale like good ole Canada Dry or such maybe.

[@andrewkirby7379]

really interesting. as always top quality.

[@msjensing]

As someone who has done the Grog Log, these are bad but there are still much MUCH worse ones to get through. Examples: Beachcombers Gold and Hell in the Pacific.

[@JasminMiettunen]

So what tiki books are actually good? Are Trader Vics any better than Beachcombers?

[@msjensing]

@@JasminMiettunen we have made some great cocktails out of Minimalist Tiki

[@codygeddes4213]

Person 1: "your worst, is someone else's favorite Me: "no, this is dog water and that Person is wrong" And barfly agrees!

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

😂 all of that is true

[@chickrepelant]

LOVELY! Cara Devine just did a video about tropicana drinks, recently. Any chance y'all will collaborate again (like the gin-fizz video?)

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

one of these days we will :)

[@ozymandias3456]

You need to try a local favourite around my province if you want bad tiki. I guess it’s not necessarily tiki but it’s tropical I guess The Dave Mathew’s One recipe calls for an ounce each amaretto and Malibu coconut rum with (for some reason) 3/4 cup of cocktail cranberry juice and 1/4 cup of pineapple juice. Another recipe has the same measures of liqueur but more reasonably changed the juices 3/4 ounce pineapple and 1/2 ounce cranberry (not good cranberry juice) If you are “lucky” sometimes the drink might contain lime and might even be shaken

[@mohnjayer]

So many of the drinks in the Beachbum books are abominations. It’s like Don or Vic just had extra ingredients laying around and were like “we gotta get rid of this, put a ton of it in one drink.”

[@sdcorrey]

Yeah, after making many Tiki drinks at home I’ve found the standards (Mai Tai, Zombie, Jet Pilot, etc.) are the best. The old standards, and some of the modern Tiki drinks are really the only one’s worth making. The more obscure old drinks are obscure for a reason…

[@topazphoenix6301]

Is the next episode your improved versions?

[@johnolmos8670]

I really need to up my Tiki game as well. I have an interview for Trader Vic’s though so wish me luck

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

good luck.

[@johnolmos8670]

@@TheEducatedBarfly I got hired but also got hired Full time at a 4 star Japanese style hotel bar. The hotel is going to pay me more with benefits and all that so I had to go with that. My bartending journey is taking twists and turns and who knows where I’ll end up next but I’ll always be thankful for the Knowledge you share to all of us. It definitely made me stand out among other tenders in SF.

[@dylansmeder8820]

Love your vids! Don't know if you'd be interested but it would be cool if this was 2 drinks that you remade after you didn't like them.

[@mr-vet]

For the first cocktail, I’d stick with the trio of rums, lime juice, and the pineapple juice-but add an ounce more of it. Leave the rest of the ingredients out.

[@spuppy852]

I have several tiki book collections and Jeff Berry's are almost always horribly balanced. I tend to avoid them completely. Not surprised by the results you saw today

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

These are drinks he published that are original beachcomber and trader Vic drinks typically his original cocktails are pretty amazing

[@spuppy852]

@@TheEducatedBarfly Hmm maybe I should go back and pay closer attention to the origins, and see if I like his more. Thanks

[@JasminMiettunen]

@@TheEducatedBarfly so would you recommend Trader Vics books for good recipes?

[@monkbop8044]

What's the blue reef glass called?

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

It’s called a Snifter

[@DanielBrice7f58a6]

OMG! The Blue Reef looks like engine coolant

[@nslayton5]

I was half expecting to see a cruise ship mai tai or something.

[@tdcthulu]

I think it would be good content ( not that this isn't good already) to discuss how you would fix the drink, give the updated recipe, make the new recipe and taste it to bring it full circle. As Marius states, the video is a lot of making the drink and then the drink being bad or at least not good, so why would the audience make it on their own?

[@ScottCrozierDuh]

Where do you get Maggie’s Farm Falernum in LA?

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

I Got it from bittersandbottles.com

[@bc0838]

What’s the difference between a crushy-pants and a crushy-madoodle?

[@Exesteils]

I always assumed any Tiki cocktail is a good time. I might have to change my stance on that

[@benkrauss5041]

What is Jeff Berry's app?

[@ErikWaiss]

I'm only 4 minutes in and I'm already frustrated. Can you explain why I would ever just use a small amount of ice in a whip shake? (yes, I watch the other older video about which ice to use, I still don't like it) It seems like you both under-chill the drink and over-dilute by melting all of what ice you did use. Why wouldn't you use as much ice as you can in the shaker to properly chill and moderately dilute the drink? No matter how cold you make it , you'll still get dilution in the final presentation as that ice melts during final pour and then during consumption by the patron.

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

If you use a large amount of pebble ice in a cocktail tin (to shake) you’ll definitely over-dilute it. One thing you could do is shake with regular ice and double strain over pebble or crushed but the technique I’ve been using has been spot on for all the years I’ve been doing it. I’ve never gotten under chilled or over diluted drinks ever. Maybe to set your mind at ease test it and see. Or just use the second technique I mentioned if you feel strongly about it

[@ErikWaiss]

@@TheEducatedBarfly Awesome quick reply! I guess I'm going to have to measure out two identical cocktails, whip shake one, and do the other with more ice. Then I'll measure volumes to see which one melted more ice, and a taste test to see which (if either) tastes diluted.

[@luisalbertocastro5940]

Cheers my friend! Salud!

[@dtpugliese318]

When it comes to tiki drinks, I have had so much more success with anything from the Smuggler’s cove book. Beachbum’s recipes can be very hit or miss.

[@SpaceWolfPainter]

That is very true.

[@MileHighGrowler]

I'd agree with this. I think Jeff Berry's recipes cover a lot of ground in terms of history and unpacking so much that was created over time within the Tiki movement. But SC feels more curated to include recipes that are actually top-notch. And possibly adjusted from history to taste.

[@Cubanz1224]

"2 ounces of rum. And you want to use white, Jamaican rum, so it's what we're using" *puts bottle of Bacardi back* hmm

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Was obviously a mistake the recipe calls for Puerto Rican rum 😂

[@timseguine2]

The worst tiki drink is the one that is not in my hand.

[@margefoyle6796]

Am I the only person that wonders if your patron Christopher Plummer is the actor?

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

you’re not the only one!

[@fernandoarzate1409]

Put your pineapple fronds in the freezer! They stay looking good for months

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Yeah I do that! Buuut it’s hard to find good looking ones to freeze 😂

[@popeyjocy]

Buzz is buzzed

[@wyldebill4178]

Seems every time Gallino shows up the cocktail goes down hill.

[@jesusrivera4397]

Why to waste barrilito 3 star on a cocktail when there is don q gold that have rum foward flavor... barrilito have a unique flavor for his maceration process and barrels.

[@Rum_Ekornes]

bacardi is white jamaican rum? or did i miss the sarcasm hahahah

[@MixingUpTiki]

Not all tiki drinks are created equally lol

[@llcoolmartine]

I think many Tiki recepes depend on the flavour profile of the ingredients. Eg Falernum is not a standard recipe and Meyers rum is not the best Jamaican rum eg Smith & Cross is far superior. Not saying that you're not correct in your assessment of the drinks though:) Many Tiki drinks are just mediocre.

[@apaul7502]

hello my friend would you ever consider streaming on twitch? would be fun

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Hmmm maybe. Was thinking of reinstitution of the live streams

[@Ryonin]

None of these feature Grog Dog

[@diegomontoya8889]

Honestly I have never been a huge fan of Tiki Bar drinks, I also hate traveling to tropical islands. That being said, if you would like to explore this genre of cocktails and want a trained professional to help you in that process, definitely make the Century Grand, and Undertow more specifically, part of your worldwide drinking tour. It has relocated to the Arcadia neighborhood of Scottsdale and I was just there last month. The previous version was in downtown Phoenix and the even better version, the one I first visited and became a fan of, was in old town Scottsdale. The gentlemen that run Undertow originally started it as a themed bar, whilst working at other high end bars. They would change the theme every six months or so, but then realized they loved Tiki so much, that they would focus almost entirely on that aspect of cocktailery.

[@Freeze_On]

What app is he referring to that he cross references?

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Total Tiki app by Jeff Berry

[@Freeze_On]

@@TheEducatedBarfly thank you!

[@danielm5535]

Misread the title of the video, thought it said “TikTok’s worst drinks”… which would probably be worse.

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Oh man that’s a great idea for a video!

[@JasminMiettunen]

@@TheEducatedBarfly I’d actually be more interested in TikTok's best drinks! There’s plenty of videos bashing them, but there’s bound to be some gems. The best and worst drinks of TikTok maybe?

[@kennixox262]

I live next to the Hotel Del Coronado and doubt any of the bartenders would be familiar with the Coronado Luau in 2024. It is a Hilton property boring and over priced. Babcock & Story is the main bar - boring. 😢

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

that's too bad

[@eriknelsen5954]

Meyer's Rum is a terrible Jamaican rum. Aside from the taste, it doesn't have the strength of flavor that quality Jamaican rums have. Colonel Beach is one of my favorite tiki drinks and I think using a better rum and ginger beer will greatly improve the balance. Hamilton or Plantation are great cheap options.

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Actually made this with the Jamaican pot still black from Hamilton and it sucked just as much 😂

[@aces1091]

Why do you think everything has to be “balanced”?

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Because if things are unbalanced then they’re too sweet or too tart or too bitter. Nobody wants that

[@aces1091]

@@TheEducatedBarfly I do sometimes. While I enjoy a balanced cocktail, some seem intentionally unbalanced and can be appreciated for such. I enjoy a Pina colada from time to time and that is unapologetically sweet. I think tiki drinks often fall into an unbalanced category. I enjoy your content and like the origin stories as much as your efforts of trying to improve upon them. Just saying, improvement doesn’t always equate to “balancing”.

[@popeyjocy]

If you want pineapple then go ahead and plant that crown

[@NM_Niall]

I think tiki is fast becoming a dirty word.....

[@SolomonTheSoloOneDy]

Random quote

[@anthonyodea2251]

Is the background a green screen or am I just delusional?

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Nah it ain’t green screen

[@anthonyodea2251]

@@TheEducatedBarfly I will continue to believe it is green screen.

[@adamnabil6931]

crushymanoodle

[@lttrbox]

Crushimadoodle. I'm a fan.

[@benjaminkyburger9114]

hey leandro, what do you think, is liquer43 a substitution for galliano? greetings from switzerland🦾

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

It can be it’s a little different but would certainly work