It’s the old “hold an event at the bar” trick!

Join us at the Tiki Bar this Saturday from 8pm onwards to celebrate the release of the new Get Smart movie! Take in a cabaret show whilst enjoying our new “Cone of Silence” cocktail - made with the most exotic and excellent 42 Below Feijoa Vodka, lime juice and Chartreuse.  Dress in “secret agent” costume or bring your Get Smart ticket stub for special offers throughout the night!  Email info@tikiloungeandbar.com for more info!  Steve Carrell or someone who may or may not look a little bit like him in certain light may be in attendance*!  We may or may not be playing old school Get Smart episodes which may or may not include favourite characters such as Hymie, Larabee, and Siegfried!

Be sure that you don’t “miss it by that much”.

Kev

*Tiki Lounge and Bar does not guarantee that someone who may or may not look a little bit like Steve Carrell in certain light will be attending the event.

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

Aloha!

Our menu gnomes have been hard at work putting together our exciting new Cocktail Menu concept.

The new menu will be a beautifully illustrated A3 menu in the style of menu common in the middle of last century. Below is a sneak peek at one of the hand illustrated colour effigies of our wonderful tropical drinks. The drink in question is a Zombie :

Don the Beachcomber’s classic Zombie represents all that is great about Tiki Drinks – heaps of great Rum, fresh fruit juices, bold flavours and a bit of showmanship, our Zombie is good old-fashioned fun. Full of four premium Rums, lime, lemon, passionfruit and pineapple, our Zombie is brought to life with a bit of fire and some Voodoo magic… Don’t singe your eyebrows!

The superb illustration was done by friend-of-the-bar Fiona Palmer a gifted Melbourne illustrator and designer. The colouring was done by her partner Mike who is also an illustrator working in graphic design and is responsible for our great tribal tiki logo. The two of them have been dragged kicking and screaming into producing Tiki themed work for us against their will and have embraced the aesthetic with gusto.

Here is a great example of a vintage illustrated Tiki bar menu that I found on display in a Hawaiiana exhibit in Waikiki Beach. Our menu will be like that but better!

Cheers,

Kev

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