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Tiki’s Comeback
“Drink writing” is a hell of an occupation. There are moments when I stop to consider whether certain subjects of my scrutiny really should be subjected to scrutiny. Take tiki: Lavishly garnished drinks, sometimes served in anthropomorphic vessels, may seem the embodiment of silly excess.
But tiki is no joke. It began in the early 1930s at Don’s Beachcomber Cafe, where, Martin Cate writes in his new book, “Smuggler’s Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki,” the “entertainment was the space itself,” decked out in palm trees and other island-evoking ephemera. The Trader Vic’s franchise soon followed.
In its early years, a few hours at a tiki bar were a great night out — a minivacation to a tropical fantasia — welcomed by people who had just lived through the Depression. Then, for a time, kitsch overtook quality. And tiki’s determined “exoticism,” with its cultural appropriations and discomfiting evocation of otherness, reasonably put some drinkers off.
A new generation of bars has emerged, like Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 in New Orleans and Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco, seeking to build on tiki’s history and to respect the traditions from which it was taken. Jeff Berry, an owner of Latitude 29, connects this development to the rise of the “craft” cocktail movement, which insists on refined skills and the best ingredients. With tiki, this serious approach must be coupled with joy: If it smacks of sanctimony, you’re doing it wrong. There’s still room for flashes of kitsch: a paper umbrella here, a palm frond there.
At Latitude 29, I enjoyed the drinks and the hospitable fun that characterizes the service. A warm welcome is key. “This is the essence of ho’okipa,” Berry says, “the Hawaiian ‘hospitality of complete giving.’ ”
To bring ho’okipa into my home, I would have to master some recipes. At Latitude 29, the Rum Barrel is served as its inventor, Don the Beachcomber, intended. Its many ingredients coalesce into a memorable drink. I also wanted something that forgoes rum, so I opted for the gin-based Outcast of the Islands. It’s effervescent, but with a strong backbone.
One more piece of advice: Only invite people to your home tiki party whom you really want to be there, Berry said, “because ho’okipa only works if you really meant it.” Then tiki can be a great night in, too: a beach excursion in your living room.
Recipes: Outcast of the Islands | Rum Barrel
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