For every tiki geological era there is a germinal tiki book of account . In the forties , Trader Vic’sBook of Food and Drinkwas the end all ofpu - pu plattersand heavy - dutyrumdrinks . After some inauspicious decades , tiki had a rebirth in the early aughts when Jeff “ Beachbum ” Berry’sBeachbum Berry ’s Sippin ’ Safarishowed a fresh generation how to swizzle . Now , as tiki becomes a staple of mellow - conclusion cocktail programs , Martin and Rebecca Cate , proprietors of the Bay Area tiki loyalist Smuggler ’s Cove , have given usSmuggler ’s Cove : Exotic Cocktails , Rum , and the Cult of Tiki .
With slews of obsessively crafted recipes , along with all-important rum , bar recommendation , account and more , Exotic Cocktails is a tiki treasure pectus for our clock time . We sat down with Martin to talk about tiki today , its time in exile , and what makes the Pearl Diver such a pain in the butt .
Supercall : There are already so many tiki book of account on the market . Why did you feel the need to write one ?
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Martin Cate : We desire to represent tiki cocktails in context of use . They do n’t exist in a vacuum . They were part of a larger pop culture movement that involve fine art and computer architecture and sculpture .
SC : What take a leak tiki so special ?
MC : Before K travel , before color magazines , before the cyberspace , tiki drinkslet you take a journeying to an fanciful island at evenfall where you were presented with serious and mysterious thing amid a soundtrack of far-off hobo camp drum . Today ’s best tiki places give you the complete experience . They make it an escape . They melanise out the window so you forget where you are . It ’s a vacation in a chalk . A trip-up down to the box that takes you somewhere else . Good tiki saloon also keep carvers , statue maker , thrower and other artists . cultivate with them go along these tradition active . Tiki ’s not about being tawdry or kitschy ; it ’s art . We recognize that some of our guest think it ’s silly . That ’s fine . They ’re smile , and that ’s all that count .
SC : Tiki is popular now , but only after a three decade slump . What led to tiki ’s benighted ages ?
MC : No cocktail class has been as naughtily demoralize as tiki . And we ’re still run catchup . You have people out there establish Mai Tais with orange succus or other noncanonical component . You ’d never say , “ I ’m going to make aMartiniwithryeandtequila . ” The trouble was , in the 1980s , the first generation of tiki bartenders retired , and took their secrets with them . No one recognize how to make any of the drinks ! recipe turn into a game of telephone set . Plus these drinks are fourth dimension consuming . It got intemperate to discover bartender who wanted to make them . Meanwhile you had patronage operators say , “ Why squeeze fresh citrous fruit ? We have instant sweet and sour mixing . ” somewhat soon no one knew what was in aMai Tai . So there ’s a level of re - training at play .
SC : What ’s the most underrated tiki ingredient ?
MC : Coffee is really interesting . It act like a spiciness , and if it ’s hard enough , it can be a bittering agent like an amaro . We apply aliqueurfromBittermenscalled New Orleans Coffee Liqueur . It ’s espresso found and passing acid with chicory . I use a half apothecaries' ounce in billet of two ounces of regular chocolate .
SC : What ’s the most underrated tiki drink ?
MC : I’d care to see thePearl Divermake a comeback . It ’s a really ambitious drink . It ’s tough for mixologists because you have to cream butter with honey and keep it at room temperature . It ’s cold and citrusy and rummy , with a lovely creamy quality to it . But it ’s such a pain in the nates .
Security Council : What ’s your favorite new tiki drink ?
MC : TheDonn Day Afternoon . It was something that came to me as a meadowlark . Beer cocktailswere veer , so I thought , “ Can I make an interesting tiki beer cocktail ? ” Don the Beachcomber loved mixing grapefruit and cinnamon , so I mixed grapefruit beer with calcium hydrate and cinnamon and agricole rhum . It seems like an unacquainted day drink like a Shandy . But it has two ounces of 100 - proof agricole in it . It ’s a barman ’s twenty-four hours drink .
