Tiki Thursday: Number 5

Welcome back!! I hope you have been enjoying the series and have tried to make some of the drinks.

I was happy to see that some of you looked up the Bamboo Club website to check out the shorts I bought. It’s too bad that they only had small sizes available…

As the old Spanish soccer phrase says, “No hay cinco malo” and this is episode numéro cinco of the new weekly post series that will delve into the various aspects of Tiki ranging from bars to drinks to décor to history. Ready? Let’s begin!

History Minute

Today, I want to focus on two drinks that could be considered the first two “Tropical” drinks as far as Europeans were concerned. The first was the Kava Bowl and the second is Navy Grog.

Kava is a root that is found on multiple islands of the Pacific. The kava plant contains a powerful narcotic that can get you quite buzzed. Natives of the islands would chew pieces of the roots and then spit the macerated mass into a bowl. They would mix it with coconut milk and drink quickly (think Polynesian shots) for a quick buzz.

Fun fact: the kava plant is so revered, that there is a mythology about the source of it. Some legends say it came from either the skin of a foot (ref: Rex Ryan), the hair of an armpit, or from a vagina. A sacred vagina at that.

These days, the Kava Bowl is a standard mixed drink found in almost every Tiki bar that contains rums and juices. Now you know where the name came from.

The Navy Grog came about from the daily half pint rum rations that British sailors were given while on board Navy ships. A British admiral named Edward Vernon, who was nicknamed “Old Grog” because he wore a grogram cloak, decided to mix the ration with a quart of water so the sailors would not drink it too quickly and end up drunk while on duty.

Over time, lime juice was added to prevent scurvy and voila!, the Navy Grog was born. The drink was named after Admiral Vernon, “Old Grog”.

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Tiki Bar O’ Da Week

Today’s featured bar is The Tonga Hut in The Valley (North Hollywood, to be specific). They also have a location in Palm Springs that looks nicer than the one in LA.

The Tonga Hut is LA’s oldest surviving Tiki Bar. It was opened in 1958 by two brothers, Ace and Ed Libby in the wake of the success of Don’s Beachcomber, Trader Vic’s, and countless others. Like the others, it endured hard times when Tiki went out of fashion.

However, “The Hut” made it through the tough times. Even when it was derisively called “The Tonga Butt”. Now you know why I like this place. The prices are nice, too!

Ownership changed hands during the Tiki revival and now the place is run by a manager that has updated the décor, the drinks, and the way the bar is run. It is now thriving and has opened up a second location in Palm Springs.

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Tiki Drink O’ Da Week

This week, I want to branch off and do a variant of one of my favourite vacation drinks, the Piña Colada. I’m taking about The Painkiller. It has similar ingredients, but it’s a much different preparation and result. This one is for when you don’t want to clean up a blender. I’m giving you the recipe as written in the Beachbum Berry Remixed book (see section below):

Ingredients:

• 2 and 1/2 oz Pusser’s Navy Rum (or dark Jamaican rum)
• 1 oz Lopez coconut cream
• 4 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
• 1 oz orange juice
• Powdered cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg
• crushed ice (about 4 oz)

Directions: Pour juices, Lopez, and rum into a shaker with the ice. Strain into a Tiki glass/mug/shoe and top with cinnamon and nutmeg. Drink and repeat.

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Tiki Purchase O’ Da Week

In this space, I’ll highlight one thing I recommend that you purchase if you are at all interested in what you have read so far. This could range from books to furniture to decorations to barware to costumes. Today’s item is:

Another recipe book! This time, it is Beachbum Berry Remixed.

This book is actually two books in one. It contains updated editions of Intoxica! and Grog Log with new recipes and updated versions of recipes found in the previous books. There are a TON of drinks in this collection!

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Ballsy’s Tiki Corner

Each week, I will upload a picture of one of my personal Tiki items. Today’s item is:

An old school (and I mean OLD SCHOOL) Hawaiian shirt. I believe my parents got these matching shirts when they were in Hawaii ON THEIR HONEYMOON.

As the kids say these days, these shirts are FIRE. Or at least they look like they’re on fire. That is one bright orange! You’ve gotta have balls to wear this shirt…

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New Feature: Tiki Event O’ Da Week!

If any of you have any doubt that you are constantly monitored on the Internet, let me eliminate all doubt: Since I’ve started this feature and browsed the Internet for info, Tiki-related stuff keeps popping up in my inbox and feeds.

I received an email from the El Dorado Golf Course in Long Beach. Here is what I got:

That seems like a lot of fun! It’s a Monday, so it’s a bit difficult for me to join in, but depending on what’s in the goodie bag, the price is rather nice.

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That’s all for now. If you are into any aspects of Tiki, I would love to hear your stories in the comments. I’m off to Bali with Lady Balls and her palm fronds…