Tiki Culture

Big J · Aug 29, 2017

@BlueTrain, always better to have more imagination than none!

@PeterGunnLives, some top pointers there for a novice like me, that also won't get me incarcerated! Thanks!

Fading Fast · Aug 29, 2017

Big J said:
... Err...look, I'm not going to kidnap anyone to put in my bar!

Look, if you're not committed to this, then just forget it.

Kidding aside, some palm fronds plants / trees (depending on your room size, ceiling height and window light) are a good addition.

Tiki Tom · Aug 29, 2017

Well, you guys seem to have the basics covered. I'd suggest adding:

Tikis in the corners or Tiki masks on the wall;
Little paper umbrellas for the Tiki mugs;
Gotta have a velvet painting of a waterfall plummeting into a lagoon from between jungle-clad volcanic peaks;
A parrot on a perch is a nice touch. Extra points if it can curse like a sailor and pull a cork out of a bottle of wine;
I once visited a Tiki bar that had a tin roof over the bar and, once every hour, a tropical shower would Rain down onto the tin roof;
Speaking of sound effects, get some exotica music and vintage Hawaiian music for the sound system;
Ceiling fans are preferred, but fish nets and floats on the ceiling work, as do surf boards suspended from the ceiling;
And, of course, behind the bar, a big salt water aquarium complete with living reef and garish fish. (Nothing like the light of an aquarium to give the room an exotic glow);
Got any shrunken heads to hang up? Or menacing sharks jaws?
If you can set up your entire Tiki bar inside the fuselage of a wrecked DC-3, you are golden.

What's your budget, anyways?

BlueTrain · Aug 29, 2017

Skip the painting on velvet.

There is, or was, a restaurant chain called the Rain Forest Café. It wasn't exactly a Tiki theme, if memory serves (the one around here closed years ago) but it had sound effects like thunder and lightning and rainfall, tropical fish in tanks, elephant trumpeting and so on. Lots of totally fake tropical vegetation, too, but I don't think there was a bar. So it fails on that point alone. No roulette wheel, either. Pure Disney, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Zombie_61 · Aug 30, 2017

Big J said:
Asian woman, sea captain, gangster. Err...look, I'm not going to kidnap anyone to put in my bar!

I don't know...a few Shanghaied sailors might just be the perfect touch.

Big J · Sep 8, 2017

@Tiki Tom, I don't really think in terms of budget, if I like something I just buy it, but having said that, I'm supposed to be getting ready to put the heir and the spare though college, so...

Has anyone got any pointers as to where I can get a wooden surfboard without selling one of my kids kidneys? It's just for hanging on the wall after all.

PeterGunnLives · Sep 8, 2017

A purely decorative surfboard that's not actually made for surfing would probably be cheaper than a real one. You can get them in various sizes at all kinds of souvenir shops at the beaches around Los Angeles.

Here's one that's actually a cutting board: Linkie

Zombie_61 · Sep 9, 2017

PeterGunnLives said:
A purely decorative surfboard that's not actually made for surfing would probably be cheaper than a real one. You can get them in various sizes at all kinds of souvenir shops at the beaches around Los Angeles.

Here's one that's actually a cutting board: Linkie

At 23" it wouldn't quite have the impact of a full-sized surfboard, but for a smaller at-home tiki bar it would make nice wall art when it's not being used as a cutting/serving board. Maybe get a Sea Turtle cutting/serving board or two to accompany it?

PeterGunnLives · Jan 5, 2018

I think another good decorating idea is to put LP covers from classic exotica albums in wooden frames, i.e. Arthur Lyman, Les Baxter, Martin Denny.

Tiki Tom · Jul 31, 2018

This weekend I discovered an on-line radio station called “Quiet Village Radio”. It bills itself as 24/7 Tiki music. I had fun listening to it as I did chores on Sunday. It can be found on a couple of different e-radio platforms. Worth a google. Guaranteed to drive teenagers out of the room.

Zombie_61 · Aug 1, 2018

Tiki Tom said:
This weekend I discovered an on-line radio station called “Quiet Village Radio”. It bills itself as 24/7 Tiki music. I had fun listening to it as I did chores on Sunday. It can be found on a couple of different e-radio platforms. Worth a google. Guaranteed to drive teenagers out of the room.

Found it here. Thanks! I clicked on the "Launch Web Player" knob and it automatically selected Adobe Flash Player.

No teenagers here, but I'm sure it'll annoy my wife after she gets home from Chicago tomorrow.

Tiki Tom · Sep 3, 2019

it's been 75 years since Vic Bergeron, of "Trader Vic's" fame, invented the Mai Tai.
I think we all know how to properly celebrate the event.

https://abc7news.com/food/trader-vi...anniversary-for-creating-the-mai-tai/5494131/

Zombie_61 · Sep 4, 2019

Well, there's an excuse to use my Goon tiki mug...

Tiki Tom · Sep 4, 2019

At my favorite Tiki Bar on Skull Island...

Fading Fast · Sep 4, 2019

⇧ Those glasses are awesome. I assume that is a rum float darkening the top?

And great shirt.

Tiki Tom · Nov 12, 2019

New Tiki Bar in Phoenix. My friend gives it a good review. They certainly spared no expense on the decor. Go to the bottom of the website and take the tour! Mahalo.

https://undertowphx.com/

GoetzManor · Dec 11, 2019

While I was in Disney World last month, I came across Trader Sam's Grog Grotto at the Polynesian Resort. Since we went there on a whim, we didn't have reservations and couldn't sit inside the bar, but the brief few minutes I was in there, it was pretty cool.

Ended up sitting in the outside part where a girl dressed in island getup was playing a ukelele and singing. Ordered a zombie and it came in a ceramic shrunken head mug that I got to keep. Neat little place, with the expected Disney price tag.

Tiki Tom · Mar 29, 2020

Our favorite bartender at our favorite Tiki Bar... Lining 'em up for me!

Fading Fast · Mar 29, 2020

Tiki Tom said:
Our favorite bartender at our favorite Tiki Bar... Lining 'em up for me!

View attachment 223505

Love, love, love the glasses. Looks too yellow to be a Planters Punch, but that does look like a dark rum float.

Tiki Tom · Mar 31, 2020

I don't know exactly what fruit drink base she uses, but, yes, thats a dark rum floater on top. I think she uses Meyer's dark, but I might be mistaken. Pretty potent stuff. As a friend says: Mai Tais are like [insert anatomical reference]; one is two few, three are too many. That little bar is right across the street from the building our condo is in. Great place to end the day on a barstool, looking out on the tropical foliage on the street. As noted, this is my wife's home town. Funny to think that, theoretically, I'm supposed to retire there in less than a year. The thought has crossed my mind that, thanks to the current travel restrictions, I might have to postpone my retirement a year. Either way, I have mixed feelings.

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