Ah the Tiki Bar, a side effect of being in Paradise. Paradise being Maui in my case, I decided to first hand sacrifice myself for the cause. I wanted to at least give a little history of them first; they have been around since 1934, when Don the Beach comber opened up in Hollywood. Yes, my friends the Tiki Bar was an American creation. A romanticized idea of Polynesian culture the Tiki bar is probably not going to be giving you any expertise in world history or anything but they are one hell of a good time. Originally Tiki came to popularity as way to escape the hardships of the depression, they were popular later on because Hawaii had just earned state-ship and canned pineapple was all the rage. The quintessential drink of the Tiki Bar is a Mai Tai. A Mai Tai is a rum based drink mixed with fruit juice. I ain’t gonna lie, I don’t really like rum, but I do love me a good Mai Tai! Supposedly, after Patty Hearst came home after her kidnapping, the first thing she wanted was a Mai Tai (who is Patty Hearst….ah the joys of youth….Google it fool)! I went to Duke’s and South Shore Tiki Bar. I liked both for different reasons, Gerry the bartender at Duke’s was a old school professional bartender and Duke’s was ocean side. South Shore Tiki bar was younger hipper and full of locals with that classy bit of old school tiki tacky that I love…plus the Mai Tai there was to die for, at Duke’s I preferred the house cocktail that had a ginger vodka base. Check both out on the web for yourself. One hint that I got from South Shore Tiki was using “Black Strap” dark rum, he claimed this is what set theirs apart. Check out maitairecipe.net so you can grab some torches and have your own Tiki party. In conclusion the Tiki bar is wonder escape from reality and if you are into the culture then it is sure to be a fun activity, it sorta like the 1950’s Disneyland of bars. Be there or be square!
