Tiki Drink History: Donn Beach, Trader Vic, and Mariano Licudine / Tiki Month Preparation Part 1

[@AndyBHome]

7:42 Coolest drink menu ever!

[@justmutantjed]

Derrick spills the beans about Donn Beach, Trader Vic, and Mariano Licudine = TikiLeaks.

[@stevepen]

Great video Derrick... sets the stage for the upcoming month. Looking forward to the live stream tonight and the Tiki drinks this month. Thank you.

[@cmcocktails]

Thanks!

[@unorthodoxromance254]

Fascinating video; great job! Tiki is the only culture where more kitschiness seems to make it better. XD

[@cmcocktails]

thanks

[@Blastfence1]

Excellent!

[@philthyphil3324]

I love me some tiki. I wanted a trader Vick mai tai after work today but I had no orange Curacao, so I had to settle for a couple of pussers painkillers. Love the videos, keep up the great content please!

[@cmcocktails]

or...just use orange liqueur of any type :)

[@ericking1000]

Yessss Tiki on my bday month!!!! We're thinking about going to Trader Sams in the Disney hotel...!

[@cmcocktails]

yah, my birthday month too :)

[@ericking1000]

Common Man Cocktails what day? Mines the 23rd

[@cmcocktails]

I'm older :) 21st :)

[@HighKing9000]

Happy birthday guys 🤗

[@cmcocktails]

thanks! :)

[@aSuspiciousPete]

Bali Hai IS still open in San Diego. It is fantastic and you should visit the place.

[@cmcocktails]

nice

[@GoldPunks]

Yay tiki!

[@LuxDogCoats]

Great info!

[@cmcocktails]

thanks

[@philthyphil3324]

Speaking of the trader Vick mai tai, after senior Curacao (I can't get that in my area) what orange Curacao do you think is the best for that recipe? I like using high quality ingredients in my cocktails. Thanks

[@cmcocktails]

usually, I just use any orange liqueur within arms reach :)

[@CorySchoolland]

I prefer Clement Creole Shrubb. There's also a great comparison on Inu A Kena: inuakena.com/2017/04/28/new-article-almonds-oranges-the-mai-tais-unsung-heroes/

[@Tweezy786]

How do you feel about the Kahiki supper club that was in Columbus, OH? They were super famous in their area for their food, decor, specialty drink menu, etc. I'm pretty sure they had a specialty Tiki themed drink? However you can now currently buy their egg rolls in the frozen foods area in grocery stores.

[@cmcocktails]

Dunno, I just research and spit out the history, I have no personal feelings about any tiki bar.

[@MuchObligedTV]

Cheers :-)

[@ericking1000]

Skal

[@shenlun]

what is tiki exactly, hawaiian / polynesian drinks?

[@cmcocktails]

That's not a fair question, tiki isn't exactly anything; tiki is a state of mind, a motif of decor, a feeling to the type of drink you're drinking. It's a mythological island experience that does not really exist in the "real world" we live in. The concept is that Tiki is an island drink with a polynesian theme to it, however Polynesian people did not sit down and drink rum from coconuts with umbrellas. Most of the rum recipes designed to be "tiki" are actually Caribbean creations and far removed from the Polynesian area to begin with -- the creators used the Caribbean recipe design concepts (along with their own) to build a Hawaiian Island type experience ... in California (and later around the world). Sure, Hawaii adapted some of its culture to fit the standards of "tiki" to some degree (like tiki masks and all that) but that was just a vision Donn Beach made up in his head.

[@sgillman16]

Is this the place Warren Zevon mentioned? 😅

[@cmcocktails]

dunno

[@popebogan]

There weren't mugs with tikis on them until the late 50s, sure. but there were ceramic souvenir mugs with hula girls and bamboo on them in the 40s in 'tiki' bars. Probably most of the 'tiki mugs' today dont have tikis on them - such as rum barrels, cthulu, etc. and if we call them tiki mugs, then there were tiki mugs in the 40s.

[@cmcocktails]

My main point being that the recipes like The Zombie, Mai Tai and such were designed in traditional glassware, no tiki mug concepts existed. Tiki Mugs may have existed in a few places in the 40's (that I can't provide evidence of) and they definitely existed by the 50s with Bali Hai and Mai Kai opening up. But, I guess if someone served something in a bamboo designed ceramic mug in the 40's at a tiki restaurant you could "back date" the term to say that they were served in Tiki Mugs in the 40s even if it was one place with one mug design that didn't exactly have the shape of traditional tiki mugs (but the concept was there). But, they wouldn't have really associated them as "tiki mugs" until 10 years later when they were blowing up and found in all the crazy places.

[@popebogan]

Common Man Cocktails www.tikiroom.com/img/3224x4f352cae.jpg here is a page from the 1947 trader vics bartender guide. note the fogcutter mug, the skull mug, and the bowls. some interesting stuff I learned recently.

[@cmcocktails]

Eric the link was broken but that would be 10 years after they designed many of these iconic cocktails

[@cmcocktails]

Eric the site also suggests via printed documentation that mid 40s he had specified the mugs on a select group of drinks, I believe those drink designs are older than the mug designs. No doubt a great marketing tool to differentiate from donn

[@BossaNovaLife]

Sadly Don the Beachcomber is closing this week! After like 60 years.

[@cmcocktails]

yeah, I heard that

[@spikesproductions1096]

Is Haitian rhum anything like Martinique rhum?

[@cmcocktails]

A bit, but that’s in the next vid :)

[@lamepanic7031]

Can someone tell me what is Tiki?

[@cmcocktails]

sure here is a quick google link for you: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiki_culture

[@CorySchoolland]

Here's another: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ip2UaqdqrtaokKM

[@bryangillett2685]

What about Steve Crane?

[@cmcocktails]

Luau and Kon Tiki where great no doubt, I think we cover those in a few videos during tiki week. Alas, I cannot cover everyone, the video was already edited for time and still was 12 minutes long. That's about 9 more minutes than an average youtuber attention span so... you gotta cut some stuff to make some stuff resonate. :)

[@SwankPad]

It's pronouned Mariano "Liquid-iny" "The Houdini of the Liquids"

[@davidcollier6156]

*Trader Vics is still kinds out there a little bit* Huh? I'm not saying Vics is the best tiki bar, but they have locations all over the world. It's more than just kinda a little bit, buddy.

[@cmcocktails]

They have 20 locations around the world (tradervics.com/our-locations/), three in the entire United States. As someone from the east coast (north), that means the closest location is about a 17 hour drive. Anyone leaving on the east coast trying to find one, or anywhere from the east coast to mid-west will probably have expectations dashed if I were to say "there are many of them." ;-)

[@CorySchoolland]

They still have a good number of locations, but many have closed in the last couple decades, and they've struggled to capitalize on the current tiki revival in a meaningful way. It's a big corporate entity that is very much a "follower" these days. So they're "there," but nowhere near as important as they used to (or should) be.

[@cmcocktails]

@@CorySchoolland yeah, when you look at Lost Lake / Smugglers Cove and other smaller establishments it's clear that tiki is not dead. What is dead, however, is innovation in large chains :) They live off the brand until it dies vs. living to serve a great product.

[@davidcollier6156]

Except you didn't specify locations. Again, they have locations all over the world. I never said they had 1,000 locations in the U.S.@@cmcocktails

[@2535Win]

Mariano’s last name is pronounced Li-coo-dee-knee (sound like liquid)

[@cmcocktails]

ah, cool, thanks

[@DanteTraveler]

Why does he keep talking about Chinese restaurants? I've never once in my life been in a tiki-themed Chinese food restaurant.

[@cmcocktails]

because I'm talking about the history and origination of tiki, which is based on what we today call American Chinese restaurants.