I did it all wrong! [Headhunter]

A few weeks ago we embarked on a journey to Ohio to learn about the famed Kahiki restaurant. A viewer even sent us a vintage Kahiki moai tiki mug in which to make the drink. Everything was going swimmingly until I revealed the recipe. The tiki world erupted, people howled, it was mass pandemonium (that may be a bit exaggerated). The recipe was one that was posted by Kahiki Foods on Facebook. That was the business that survived the closure of the Kahiki establishment. So I figured that they would be in the know... and while the recipe looked just north of repulsive, I did the honorable thing and subjected myself to that drink. For you. For the cocktail imbibing WORLD.
During the madness of the fallout, a buddy (Tim Swanky Glazier) reached out to me and said, 'I think I have THEE recipe to the Headhunter. So here we go again...
To make the the drink in the video you will need:
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1/2 oz guava juice
1 1/2 oz fresh squeezed orange juice
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz gold rum
1 oz white rum
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Mix on high and pour into a Kahiki Headhunter mug.
Garnish with pineapple cube skewered to a maraschino cherry
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MUSIC for this episode provided by Hi-Tide Recordings:
“Blue Sunset” by The Manakooras
Theme music by the Black Flamingos, courtesy of Hi-Tide Recordings
hitideshop.com

[@capitansangre]

Coors is the best man, haters going to hate

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

😂 yup

[@SDlETRICH]

The reason why I like this channel so much is because if it’s not a good drink, you say so

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

My favorite shows are when the drinks aren’t good.

[@ImRobertFinnerty]

My apologies if this is TL:DR I lived in the vicinity of the Kahiki for 27 years - born in the area, went to schools in the area, had friends with parents that frequented it, waved "hi" to the Moai's at night when Dad's car passed them by). For us locals, it was all about the mystery of the experience. Much praise was given of the rainforest and aquarium inside, the guests you'd see at the bar - and of course the pretty ladies serving drinks. However, never once did I ever hear "and you just HAVE to try their delicious cocktails!" The Kahiki was in a largely blue collar suburb (Whitehall) that included a military supply base, so I assume that this was the highest in high class for folks that didn't know any better but liked the evenings' escape. The Kahiki's best days were behind it in the 90's when I was able to experience it for myself ( I of course loved it because I didn't have any other comparison). Having said all that - authenticity may have to take a back seat in the case of the Headhunter, to make it palatable. I prefer their Port Light.

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

Very interesting. Thank you for your insight about the place!! I love hearing those old stories.

[@MileHighGrowler]

This is where the comedy of tiki comes into play. It's something that for many people and several decades was being made up as it went, it was designed to have some level of flexibility, and was meant to be a place (mentally and physically) to unwind and escape and live in the moment, and yet some are more uptight and rigid about tiki than some other things in life, which never fails to make me stop and remember the purpose of the movement then and now. Coors (whether you could get it east of the Mississippi or not - and you couldn't at that time) is fine as well, because the reality of the macro beer boom for the beer they likely would have used is super similar across the board. Adjunct lagers were cheap, but inspired by the same ingredients and style German immigrants used since the 1800s in their cream ales (because the type of barley - 6 row vs 2 row needed corn or another adjunct to help with the differing protein levels). Rice (Budweiser) is drier than corn, and corn was more authentic to the cream ales. Coors uses corn in their recipe, so in terms of overall beer choices, I'd say this is most likely pretty darn accurate, even if not the actual bottle used for the original cocktail. I've been brewing over 15 years ago and was a dedicated beer snob long before I got into tiki, and anyone who commented on the "historical inaccuracy" of using Coors is missing the point and most likely the true nuance as well. I love that you did another video on this and dove back in, but I just can't help but shake my head a little bit at what sets some people off 🤷‍♂

[@rbbearthwormjim]

Don't worry about the haters Spike they're always going to be around just keep on doing your best man and leave the rest.

[@rbbearthwormjim]

Ps. I just got back from a party where I made my first ever jungle juice and everyone there loved it

[@sthjr112358]

Guava is definitely an interesting but tricky flavor to play with in tiki cocktails. Might I suggest swapping to a guava nectar or puree syrup to get more sweet into the drink and swapping out the don q for white rhum Agricole (which is a rum that plays well with guava). Swap the rum ratios such that 1.5 oz Gold rum 0.5 oz Rhum JM Agricole white That would be my next try

[@deadhappy1]

I’m having my first ever Mai- Kai drink ever ( the Black Magic) and watching the breezeway cocktail hour. What a great Friday.

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

Yum. Thanks for watching!

[@deadhappy1]

@@BreezewayCocktailHour thank you for turning me onto such great drinks and local history.

[@BadlanderOutsider]

Drinking my first Mutiny tonight.

[@chunkymurps]

Mai Kai.

[@Karlfalcon]

Looked up a Kahiki drink menu in hopes it might shed some light on the basic ingredients. All it says of the Headhunter is "take care you don't lose your head." Sage words in this case, I think!

[@benm8605]

Cheers Spike-- I like guava, but haven't done too much with it yet. If you like gin, here's a gin and tonic I did recently with a can of guava nectar I'm calling my Guava Tonic: 2 oz Gin (I used Manifest Florida Botanical) 2 oz Guava nectar (Kern's) .25 oz lemon juice (about a wedge) .25 oz lime juice (about a wedge) top with ~4-5 oz tonic

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

That sounds great!

[@jimmyvegas3834]

We spent a lot of time at the kahiki in the end days and own a lot of artifacts from the place. I spent many evenings talking to the bartenders jim and his brother skip. The headhunter was the keep the mug drink, and they had a non alcoholic version also, it was never a great drink, weak and fruity. In the later days they cheaped out on a lot of drinks, they gave me the mai tai recipe and it contained frozen lime aide from a local grocery store. We were at the closing event and it was fantastic. We had a tiki party the next day, which was also Sven’s birthday, someone brought a moai cake, he didn’t show up, but many others did, good times.

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

I love to hear stories like that. Thanks for sharing!

[@jjdawg9918]

Nice try Spike and thanks for the histiory. Every few year I forget and retry Guava and even though it sounds exotic, it's very bland and almost sucks the flavor out of everything else around it. Thanks for the confirmation. P.S get yourself a stainless steel juicer. Those pretty polished aluminum ones corrode in a kind of scary way...and you end up drinking it.

[@codyburns4393]

So much salt and vinegar in the first 4 minutes. Lol I'm siding with Spike on this.

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

😂 thanks

[@scottgoyette3154]

Aloha Spike and Sparky. Great show as always bring back bamboo Ben when you can

[@michaelgurvitz9310]

Beautifully done Spike. Why not the Luxardo's? You have turned me on to Luxardo's cherrys. The classy of cherry's.

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

Because this is what the drink was pictured with on the menu. 👌

[@ChazSmithProductions]

WoW. I feel bad you felt like you had to apologize for that episode/recipe. I really liked that show. I've duplicated some drinks that have also tasted terrible. Not EVERY Tiki Drink is wonderful. Keep up the Great Work!

[@jasmeerlabeer4591]

But hey! That mug!

[@eatmusic16]

Thanks for another great episode !

[@VaultDweller804]

Can't thank you enough for this one, Spike! I've been looking for this recipe for over a year now, and thanks to you I finally have it! Cheers, man!

[@CAfontguy]

Trader Sam's puts guava nectar in their Krakatoa Punch cocktail so it does pop up from time to time in tiki drinks. :) Great video! Wish I could have seen the Kahiki for myself as well.

[@ryanmcgeary4939]

Thanks for revisiting the headhunter! Appreciate all your hard work with these videos

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

Thank you 🙏🏼

[@sunflowerman3528]

Perhaps you should've drank those metal shavings as an act of contrite penance for the previous cocktail recipe. Also, love the outro music!

[@rocnred]

Dude, I loved the last Headhunter Recipe Episode. It was informative and funny as hell. "Squeezing metal into my drink" is the name of my new band. Love your show. I totally dig the new Breezeway. The production level of your videos is always top-notch. I never thought I would ever say this, but I really want to got to Indianapolis.

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

Hope you can make it!!

[@edwardburke4027]

Great episode, Spike. I appreciate your diligence in diving back in to the drinks of the legendary Kahiki. I would have liked to have visited it.

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

Thanks!!

[@ken_tiki5241]

Love your shirt collection but this week’s choice was extremely cool. 👍

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

Thanks!!

[@sffoto1969]

That just looks soooo much better.

[@jackwilliamson1929]

Never heard of that place or the drink before watching your videos witch were well done and complimentary so nothing but good on you man. I really enjoyed the flaming top knots on the moai outside the bar in the spirit of them maybe you could set your hat on fire in one of your next videos, just a thought.

[@Fireslingerpirate]

Very interesting watching these videos on The Headhunter. I've done a lot of Googling about this specific drink because there is an awesome tiki bar in Fort Worth, TX called 4 Kahunas Tiki Lounge (swing by there if you are ever in town...) that serves a Headhunter. One of my favorite drinks on their menu for sure. It is a frozen drink that is incredibly banana flavoured and is nothing at all like these recipes. From having had a few, it's a dark rum drink with coconut and banana flavour as well as cinnamon. Not sure if they add Cinnamon syrup or some sort of cinnamon liqueur. Great cocktail but vastly different from what you've gone going on here. Sorry people were after you. Sounds like they need to relax with a tiki drink before watching your videos ;)

[@ShiverMe22]

Spike, don't let the buzzards get you down!

[@BROVERLANDER]

Stand your ground! That was a great video! Can not fix some peeps. Get on with your life’s. It to short, you are all closer to the end than the beginning.

[@MarioHxc89]

Always a blast watch’n ya, I’m currently at Forbidden Island in Alameda,Ca. Ever been?

[@billbrydon3725]

I like the new wider shots.

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

Thanks!

[@Greedman456]

A lot of these recipes you know from the get go will not work. I guess to make it work, cut the guava, acidify the orange juice and maybe replace pineapple juice with Giffard's pineapple of the carebean liquer? It could be better. Using an overproof rum could help as well I guess.

[@timarling6033]

Leave it to Swanky to have a random handwritten secret recipe to save the day

[@darrenandtinasale1502]

As a Patreon member I’m excited to see what little surprise is in store?? Maybe a Panties Pin! 😂

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

😏

[@LunarWind59]

This recipe makes a lot more sense. I wonder if the original bartender forgot an ingredient when he was scribbling down the recipe for your friend....

[@WhoKnowsNose]

I've not tried a Headhunter myself yet, but I'd suggest using stronger rums! Neisson agricole Blanc and Smith and Cross would work well, imo. Maybe a dash of bittermens tiki bitters?🤷

[@wfsterling]

Let’s gooooooo!

[@tankbuggeru]

Welcome to the internet, Spike, home of the hostile pedants! Great channel, have a nice day!

[@jlreger]

MOUNTAINEERS!

[@clellandm]

Luv the mug, sorry to hear about all the negative comments. On the drink… guava nectar would be sweeter than the juice. The recipe didn’t specify, so maybe that would be an improvement?

[@jonathankimbrell7309]

I used nectar, nectar is just the Spanish word for juice I think. It didnt make a difference, grenadine (homemade) helped.

[@jasmeerlabeer4591]

See. Now you got me wanting to concoct a drink using guava juice that's going to be one tasty beverage.

[@wandererrob]

Yeah… that’s a ho-hum kind of drink, isn’t it. It’s not bad, it’s just kind of there. Don’t worry, the rum won’t go to waste! 😆

[@wandererrob]

Is your juicer aluminum? Pineapple juice is pretty acidic. It’ll dissolve aluminum foil pretty quickly. Hopefully you didn’t trash your squeezer.

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

Ooooh... yeah, I did 😂🤷🏻‍♂️

[@wandererrob]

@@BreezewayCocktailHour :sad trimbone: 😆

[@Karlfalcon]

Yeah, a late 90s recipe from a place sadly in decline. I would expect it to be pretty nondescript. But at least it fits in the mug this time!

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

😂 true

[@davidsilve5943]

I’m not sure how this is still different from the headhunter recipe I have! I even use a different dedicated mug from orchids of Hawaii I use Lime orgeat Peach nectar Guava nectar Myers 151 rum And grenadine With bitters I think mines an excellent drink, you should try it!

[@johnnymetallica1039]

Spike only now realizing that toxicity is the fuel of(anti/Karen) social-media? This is what sobriety gets you: the depressing reality. Time for another drink! 🤙

[@jonathankimbrell7309]

So yeah, this was disappointing, I used Appleton 8 year and some Real McCoy 3 year and then I had to add some grenadine because it needed something Spike, cause it was flat as Hell.

[@christophermelnyk186]

It's unbalanced. They had to have used sweetened juices.

[@thedoctor755]

Man, F them internetz!!! I've never had either version, so whatever. This version sounds better on paper, but I dunno.

[@alexnchainz]

Tiki Karen’s don’t play. Lol

[@patriciasouchik-stock7521]

How about acid adjust the orange juice.

[@rickbrown5642]

Totally agree, very bland

[@seabasssimpson4547]

Off to cancel my patreon subscription...BRB.

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

Hahaha...

[@mmaxaira]

the previous recipe was A headhunter cocktail not THE headhunter cocktail

[@BreezewayCocktailHour]

Okay, what is the recipe for THE Headhunter cocktail?