Real Tiki with Fur Friends
The book that started our home drinking adventure. This book has everything you need to get started in the world of Tiki. It covers the history of the movement, the basics of rum production and selection, plenty of classic and modern cocktails to try, and lessons on how to craft these Tiki favorites.
Jeff is THE tiki drink historian, and credited with Tiki drinks once again getting respect in the world of craft cocktails. When fruit juice and low quality booze ruled what people called Tiki drinks —we call those beach or boat drinks— he traveled into the secret world of the original '40 and '50s tiki bars. Often, two dashes of Don's Spices #2 or 1 ounce of Don's Mix #4 were all the bartenders had ever written down. The beach bum found the recipes, on hand scribbled notes, in pocket sized recipe books, buried in boxes of family heirlooms, to piece together these original flavors.
Want to take a deep dive on rum? This book has the when, where, how, and why. It includes tours of some of the finest rum producers in the Caribbean, where you can see photos of the cane being grown, the wash being fermented, and the distillation and aging processes. Some are super-scientific and high tech, while others don't look too much different than a moonshine still.