Ice is back with a brand new invention!

Ok, now that we’ve got that out of our system, lets talk about ice (ice, baby – alright I’m done now).

Tiki Lounge and Bar has recently been experimenting with mankind’s greatest creation (after fire, wind and rain), ICE! We were of course inspired by the tireless research of the man without whom I believe this world would never have rediscovered the joy of a well crafted Tiki Cocktail – Jeff “Beachbum” Berry. Beachbum Berry wrote The Book on Tiki Cocktails (and then for good measure wrote another two, his latest masterwork being the thoroughly entertaining and informative Sippin’ Safari).

In Berry’s books he delves into old cocktail books and the hand-written records of past Tiki mixologists and emerges with wonderfully complex recipes containing secret ingredients and techniques that have been lost in the mists of time. One skill that has been forgotten since the fall of the great Tiki Temples is the manipulation of ice in creating impressive new ways to present drinks. Beachbum Berry’s work has encouraged us to work on recreating some of these effects – one of which is seen in our new Get Smart inspired Cocktail the “Cone of Silence” (pictured). Beachbum Berry has written some kind words about our humble ice sculpting effort over at his “Grog Blog” .

We salute you, Mr Berry! Your work has reinvigorated an entire genre of drinks and is continuing to show us that fun drinks can still be serious (or is it that serious drinks can still be fun?).

Cheers,

Kev

Today is World Cocktail Day! 202 years ago today, the word “cocktail” first appeared in print on the pages of “The Balance and Columbian Repository”.

The Museum of the American Cocktail have arranged for this day to be one of the best excuses to drink a cocktail all year!

Happy Birthday, Cocktail!

In the lead-up to producing the new Cocktail menu we have been trying our hand at creating some new and exciting signature drinks. During the course of this whirlwind of creativity an uneasy realisation has dawned upon us… we tend to invent mostly pink drinks. Of our six most recent inventions, 5 drinks have been some sort of rosy shade of pink. This is not to say that the drinks are particularly feminine. Lord no! One of them is called a Skull and Crossbones for heaven’s sake! It may have something to do with the ingredients that have been finding their way into the bar, or it may have something to do with an unconscious desire to match the predominantly red decor of the bar, but the frightening truth is there for all to see; pink drinks are definitely on the rise in the land of Tiki Lounge and Bar…

One drink that we’re particularly proud of at the moment is called the “Bruce Mangosteen” which has as its primary ingredient mangosteen juice and is named after “the Boss” himself. Mangosteen is one of these fancy and exotic Asian fruits from around Malaysia which is becoming very popular as a health drink. By all reports mangosteen fruit is packed with antioxidents. Personally I don’t have a problem with oxidents and I believe it is a worrying trend that people are focussing so much ill feeling towards oxidents, but being anti-oxident appears to be the will of the people, and who am I to stand against popular opinion?

The Bruce Mangosteen is a pretty complex drink and we’re quite proud of it. It’s certainly a “different” flavour, which brings together the vaguely medicinal taste of the mangosteen with a nice floral London Dry Gin, a citrus and ginger liqueur made with an agricole rhum from Reunion Island, and a dash of aromatic maraschino liqueur garnished with dried juniper berries.

Unfortunately the Bruce Mangosteen is only going to be available for a limited time, once we’re out of Mangosteen Juice it’s gone. Until then the drink will definitely be available so please be sure to drop in and ask for one! You won’t be disappointed, and you’ll also be doing your bit to drive out the undesirable oxident element in the community!

Cheers,

Kev

Hiya!

Just received an email from the wonderful people at Absinthesalon.com, Australian distributors for some very fine Absinthes from throughout Europe. I have met some of the guys from here, and they are some of the most enthusiastic spirits people I’ve met.

Anyhoo, the email I received pointed to a new blog with a focus on Absinthe – www.absinthe.com.au. I’ve only had a quick poke around, but this place looks like a great source of absinthe reviews of product available in Australia.

The first post on the page at the moment talks about a new Absinthe called “Mansinthe” which just happens to have been commissioned by famed absintheur Marilyn Manson. A few months ago I bought a bottle of Mansinthe after having tried some at the Sydney Bar Show and my verdict is: it’s better than you would expect. As the guys on absinthe.com.au say that you would expect a product of this type to be purely a marketing exercise. Thankfully that is far from the truth. I’ve tried a few absinthes in my time, and this is up there with the better ones.

For those of you think you’d like to partake of the green fairy, I’d suggest starting with the Pernod Absinthe. It’s a really nice place to start. Be sure to steer clear of the Green Fairy absinthe available in Australia, it’s pretty much rocket fuel for the masses and doesn’t really tickle my highly refined palate

Cheers,

Kev

For the last couple of years I’ve produced a couple of Podcasts for the world’s first Podcast company “The Podcast Network” run by the unstopable Cameron Reilly.

One of the Podcasts I run is dedicated completely to cocktails, cocktail bars and drink culture, specifically as it relates to the Melbourne bar scene. The show is called “Society for the Orderly Uptake of Spiritously Enhanced Drinks” or SOUSED for short, and can be found at soused.thepodcastnetwork.com.