Posted by TraderTiki on October 5th, 2008 — Posted in Drinks, Events, Places, Teardrop Tiki Menu, Tiki Drinks
Well folks, hopefully you’re hearing it here first.
Tuesday, October 21st will be the Final Tiki Tuesday at Teardrop Lounge.
With the summer sun dwindling mighty fast, the time has come to let it set on the monthly fun. But this is no time to mourn! No time to weep into your rum barrels! If it’s going to be the last one, it’s going to be the best one!
Tiki Drinks will be available from a special menu all night, from 4pm to closing. Here’s a sneak preview of the menu.
151 Swizzle
The Don the Beachcomber classic, inspired by his travels to Montego Bay. It’s a potent and well frosted punch of 151 Demerara, tempered with Donn’s 1-2 of Bitters and Pastis.
Dark Magic
By Craig Hermann, of the NW Tiki Kon. This is his riff on a Mai Kai Classic, the Black Magic. Coffee and Passion Fruit play to tingle your tastebuds with this tasty tempter!
Golden Monkey Grog
A new classic from Patrick Callahan, forged for a recent Forbidden Island Cocktail competition! A real traditional tiki tippler with lots of spice, and an out of this world texture.
Lei Lani Volcano
This drink hails from Disney’s Polynesian Village resort. A balanced sweet and sour combination of Guava, Lime, Coconut Rum and Pineapple juice is no Mickey Mouse cocktail.
Mai Tai
Trader Vic’s most famous creation, and easily the most recognized tiki drink in the world. This lightly sweet combination of aged Rum, Lime, Curacao and Orgeat put Trader Vic’s on the map.
Navy Grog
That good old Don the Beachcomber classic, with a mix of aged rums, grapefruit, and agave nectar.
Nui Nui
Don the Beachcomber’s spicy classic, with Aged Rum, Orange and Lime juices, and Don’s Spices #2, a secret only recently unearthed by Jeff “BeachBum” Berry.
Old Gold
A Trader Tiki original, this one’s a sweet treat with 12-year Aged Demerara Rum, Ginger, Orange, and a touch of Vanilla Extract and spice.
Rum Pot
Trader Vic’s sweet and complex original, recently unearthed for Tales of the Cocktail 2008.
Shrunken Bum
Taken from the Bum’s own notebook, this is our tribute to Beachbum Berry, author, lecturer, and one helluva guy. Slightly Sweet and Cinnamony.
Zombie, 1950
The most infamous of all Don the Beachcomber’s creations, any more than two and you’ll be joining the living dead with this combination of tropical juices, passion fruit, and plenty of dark and light rums.
Zombie Punch, 1934
Unearthed from the depths of an old Don the Beachcomber bartender’s notebook. This is the original Zombie, the inspirer, the downfall, and the resurrecter! This is a potent one.
If that’s not enough to drag you in, there will also be a few special surprises… you may just be taking home a new Tiki Mug or Beachbum Berry Book! What else could you want, a 96 oz. Volcano Bowl? A live Ukulele act? Well, we’ll see about that.. meanwhile, get ready for a tropic escape from the autumn weather! See you there!
Teardrop Lounge is located at 1015 NW Everett Street, in the Pearl District of Portland, OR.
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Posted by TraderTiki on September 14th, 2008 — Posted in Don the Beachcomber, Events, Teardrop Tiki Menu, Trader Vic
This is going to be a good one. Drop on in and check it out at Teardrop Lounge in Downtown Portland. Drinks from this menu will be served 4pm to closing!
Tiki Cocktails
September 16th, 2008
Amuse bouche ~ The Mai Tai 3000, by Jamie Boudreau
Coconut Kallaloo
Lime, coconut, and rum, the trinity of tropical tastes!
Ginger Grant
A Beachbum Berry Original, featuring Ginger Liqueur and Trader Tiki’s own Tiki Bitters!
Lei Lani Volcano
This drink hails from Disney’s Polynesian Village resort. A balanced sweet and sour combination of Guava, Lime, Coconut Rum and Pineapple juice is no Mickey Mouse cocktail.
Mai Kai Barrel o’ Rum
A heaping helping of Rum, Citrus, and Honey, as served at the Mai Kai in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Mai Tai
Trader Vic’s most famous creation, and easily the most recognized tiki drink in the world. This lightly sweet combination of aged Rum, Lime, Curacao and Orgeat put Trader Vic’s on the map.
Navy Grog
That good old Don the Beachcomber classic, with a mix of aged rums, grapefruit, and agave nectar.
Nui Nui
Don the Beachcomber’s spicy classic, with Aged Rum, Orange and Lime juices, and Don’s Spices #2, a secret only recently unearthed by Jeff “BeachBum” Berry.
Pahoehoe
A blend of light rum and passion fruit, from the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. Watch your hair, it’s served flaming!
Pirate’s Grog
A Forbidden Island interpretation of the Pirate Grog from Blackbeard’s Galley in Newport Beach, CA. Strong Citrus and a bit of spice.
Puka Punch
A boisterous blend of booze from the sons of the ninja down at the Tiki-Ti, featuring a blend of light, dark, and Jamaican Rum, topped with a paper parasol, in case of impending rain.
Rum Pot
Trader Vic’s sweet and complex original, recently unearthed for Tales of the Cocktail 2008.
Trade Wind Cocktail
A non-rum drink? Blasphemy! Well, the Gin and Citrus won’t do you wrong. From the Trade Winds on Long Island.
Zombie
The most infamous of all Don the Beachcomber’s creations, any more than two and you’ll be joining the living dead with this combination of tropical juices, passion fruit, and plenty of dark and light rums.
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Posted by TraderTiki on September 14th, 2008 — Posted in Bitters, Brandy, Classic Cocktails, Drinks, MxMo, Recipes
Many thanks to this Mixology Monday’s hosts at Bibulo.us, sending us back in time (and into the library) for some 19th Century Cocktails!
As read in Imbibe!
by David Wondrich, in 1860, diplomats from Japan made a few weeks stay in New York City. While there, they stayed at the Metropolitan hotel, about a block away from Jerry Thomas’ Palace bar. The likelihood of the legation stopping in was about 100%, given their penchant for cocktails, and The Professor’s renown.
Created to commemorate this occasion was the Japanese Cocktail. A tender and delicious little concoction of Orgeat, Brandy, and Bitters.
Somehow, years later in Harry Johnson’s Bartender’s Manual (1934 edition), the recipe changed dramatically. This version adds a good dallop of shaved ice and Maraschino Liqueur, and replaces the Brandy with Eau Celeste (Himmels Wasser), which in searches shows as a sort of plant fungicide.
Seeing as I don’t appear to have a ready supply of large quantities of Copper Sulfate, Ammonia, and whatever the heck Sal Soda is to make the eau celeste, I think we’re going to have to go with the original good Professor’s recipe, adapted by David Wondrich, with some further adaptation of technique.
Japanese Cocktail
- 1 Tbsp Orgeat
- 1/2 tsp Bogart’s Bitters (sub Fees or homemade Boker’s)
- 2 oz of Brandy
Stir with Ice, strain into champagne saucer. Garnish with 1 or 2 twists of Lemon Peel.
It’s a delightful and creamy little bite of a drink. The large amount of Bitters adds a lot of flavor, making a sort of mulled Brandy, while the Orgeat balances out the harsher notes in the bitters and any burn in the brandy. Daniel at Teardrop Lounge made a lovely variation with Filbert Orgeat and Barsol Pisco, garnished with shredded chocolate.
I can’t recommend this drink enough. It’s easy to concoct, and extremely pleasing to just about any palate. Drink and enjoy!
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Posted by TraderTiki on March 1st, 2008 — Posted in Don the Beachcomber, Drinks, Grog Log, Recipes, Rum, Teardrop Tiki Menu, Tiki Drinks
When celebrating Don the Beachcomber’s legacy, or his recent birthday (Feb. 22d), what better way to remember the man than through his signature 1-2 punch of Bitters and Pastis (Herbsaint preferred, Pernod in a pinch), and the drink I think really brings it out best, the Test Pilot.
The bitters/pastis combination adds a lot of complexity and roundedness to the drink. Pastis, Herbsaint in particular (drop the R, rearrange the letters to find the origin), in small amounts, adds the strange sweetness of anise, while extending the life of the flavor. For my palate, it’s almost like an envelope, wrapping a bit around the rest of the flavors, keeping them together. The bitters, in this case Angostura, gives a nice spicy start and clove and sarsaparilla-like depth to the drink. Combined, the two are a bit of a circle and spike to the drink, if I can be allowed to make such a visual example of the taste.
The Test Pilot, according to the Grog Log, is by Don the Beachcomber circa 1941, and for my money, is one of the top examples of Don’s mastery of mixology.
Test Pilot (source Beachbum Berry’s Grog Log
)
- 1/2 ounce Lime
- 1/2 ounce Falernum
- 1/2 ounce Cointreau (3 tsp in Grog Log, same measurement)
- 3/4 ounce Light Puerto Rican Rum (Don Q Cristal recommended)
- 1 1/2 ounce Dark Jamaican Rum (Coruba recommended)
- dash Bitters
- dash Herbsaint
Mix/Blend with 1 cup crushed ice, pour into Double Rocks glass. Add crushed ice to fill.
One thing I notice while making this drink is that it really makes the falernum shine. Using more of a sweetening falernum, like Velvet Falernum, makes a very good drink, but using a spicy homemade, like Paul’s Falernum #8 really brings out all the spice and complexity the drink has to offer. My last batch of Falernum, similar to Paul’s but double the spice, and adding one whole star anise, comes heavily and heartily recommended.
And of course, this will be on the menu for the March 18th Tiki Third Tuesday at Teardrop Lounge! Shameless self-promotion? You got it!
Of course, I’m not the first cocktail blogger to put up my take on this drink. Enjoy Rick and Paul’s takes on this delicious drink!
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Posted by TraderTiki on November 6th, 2007 — Posted in Beer, Places
And so we continue from the previous post.
Thursday night found us warbling at The Alibi, a long-standing tiki bar, now featuring Karaoke. If you want authentic Tiki Bar, and can look past the sloppy drinks, Karaoke, and lottery machines, this is the place. How bad are the drinks? Try a Sailor’s Tattoo, which is Rockstar and Captain Morgan Tattoo. Yeah, and that’s one of the better ones.
Of course, what better way to soak up the booze then a nice trip to Voodoo Doughnut. Okay, I’ll admit it, we went TWICE. A few Tex-Ass donuts were consumed. It’s fried dough and sugar bliss.
New Old Lompoc is a brewery and pub with some great brews. If you’re into hops, their beers are very nice, with a lot of variety in the hop selection.
Meriwether’s, named for half of the Lewis and Clark expedition, makes their own produce at their farm, and their own ginger beer. I’m not sure if I was there on bad day, but the ginger beer in my Dark and Stormy was a bit flat and yeasty, with low carbonation and none of the sharpness and zest I look for in a ginger beer. The Fig Old Fashioned though, with a muddled fig at the bottom, was pure bliss.
We took a tour of Clear Creek Distillery, and I’d strongly recommend visiting any local distilleries you’ve got in your neck of the woods. Their products are outstanding. The Framboise truly captured the essence of Raspberry, the Doug Fir Eau de Vie was even better this time, with lots of perfume and sharpness. What really surprised me, however, was the Cassis Liqueuer. It’s pricier, but Kir Royales with this stuff and a bit of Veuve Clicquot will be on the menu for this year’s New Years party.
After touring the distillery, a visit to Daniel at TearDrop Lounge was in order. The drinks were just fantastic. My choice was the Winter Morn, made with egg, Vya vermouth, and a bit of the in-house grenadine. Amongst all the shared sips though, I must say there was no clear winner, just great stuff all around. I also got a nice Sazerac, shared a Last Word, TDL Toddy, and a drink with some smoked pear in it that was just a socks knocking interesting flavor. If you get a chance to visit, ask to sample some of the bitters.
Saucebox was visited actually as a sidenote, after knocking back a few PBRs at Mary’s. Bad strip club, but some fantastic wall murals. Saucebox was definitely the spot to be that evening, with the vibe a bit too trendy… not Portland trendy, but more Los Angeles trendy. The drinks were decent, but not spectacular. I had a very nice Alaskan, with Gin, Green Chartreuse and Bitters. There were a few Mai Tai variations on the menu, but I didn’t even want to dare it. I may have to sneak back in for a Mai Tai tour of Portland.
Apizza Scholl’s, well, if you’re anywhere in a 100 mile radius, you need to go, and go early. This is the place that was on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations that hand-mixes their dough, and only makes enough for the night. When they’re out of dough, they close. The pizza is like nothing you’ve ever had before, well, if you’ve never been to New York, and even then, it would fit into the top spots in the pizza for that city. They also have a damned decent beer menu, from which I had a nice Orval. Damn those monks and their magic with the brewing arts.
The Horse Brass Pub is one of those places you can sit on your butt, watch some darts, choose from an enormous beer and scotch collection, and just slowly sink in and turn English. Smoking is allowed, for now (johnny law’s changing that), and the food is pub grub. Had a Scotch Egg, which is a hard-boiled egg packed in sausage, breaded and fried. That’s a pretty unbelievable, but damned tasty item.
The Doug Fir was looked at, but briefly. There’s a chromed moose head, and the bathrooms are all done in marbled mirror. The drinks are nice, but the place is often so packed with hipsters and douchebags that your chances of getting a well measured one is about slim to none. Besides, why stay there when there’s a perfectly fantastic strip club the next block over.
Union Jack’s is, well, certainly one of my favorite strip clubs. I won’t go into any details, but I will say I found a new love that night. Amidst the smoke and the stripping, on the top shelf was a bottle of Ron Zacapa Centenario 23, which is some wonderfully smooth and sweet rum. I’d go into tasting notes, but that’s Scottes’ domain.
The next day, we (okay, I) had a few Brandy Milk Punches, and sent the kids up to Seattle to visit Murray and Jamie. The butterflies, whips and jingles were hitting a bit hard for me and the ms, so we were homeward bound.
Even outside of the places mentioned here, there was further drinking, and breakfast, and drinking, and mid-century modern thrifting, and drinking, and haircuts, and drinking. It was a good time! If you’re ever in the city and need a decent tour, now you might have a better idea of where to go.
And just a note to press, drinking at home is great, but don’t forget to get out there and support your local bars. Not the ones that’ll slug your liver with crap gin and fruitfly liqueur, but support those places that’ll make your Manhattan just how you like it, offer up some conversation about booze, whatever works for you, just get outside and drink in some life.
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