Concocting Great New Island Recipes and Tiki Style Cocktails

We're always looking for new things to try and learn about when it comes to supporting our Tiki Lifestyle. More history, more culture or simply trying to concoct something new of our own that is influenced by the tropics. This weekend was no different. For starters, we had an unopened bottle of banana rum. Experiment #1 was inventing our own concoction... a combination of flavors that would not hide the banana flavor but at the same time being able to taste the rum with a blend of fruits to compliment the banana without making the drink too sweet nor too sour.

For reasons I can't explain, the Mai Tai came too mind. This is a very tropical drink. It can be a bit on the sweet side, but I thought the banana rum could be a promising twist on the recipe. So, I mixed in 3 lime quarters to provide the sour and balance out the sweet from the banana rum as well as the orange and almond liqueurs I added. To smooth it out... some Tommy Bahama dark rum. The drink turned out quite good actually. We'll probably play with it more to perfect it before posting it on TheTikiBarIsOpen.com. At the end of the night, we ended up just mixing equal parts Tommy Bahama dark rum with the banana rum over some ice. Smooth.

For our meal, we hit a home run. Inspired by summertime boardwalk foods mixed with a little backyard BBQ and a little bit of Hawaiian Luaus we created "Hawaiian mini burgers". This was a huge hit with kids and adults. The basic concept is use Hawaiian sweet bread instead of hamburger buns, toss on the ground beef along with some tropically inspired toping melded with the traditional toppings you would enjoy having a burger off the boardwalk at the beach in the middle of summer. The recipe is quick and easy. The burgers are fun to eat. The whole thing took as less than 30 minutes, then we sat down and enjoyed some great musics along with our cocktail and our newly invented recipe. This one will be posted on the site tonight with all the details. Making the video podcast on this one will be real fun too and something you won't want to miss!

Here's to the endless summer at TheTikiBarIsOpen.com!

Seeking the Island Lifestyle

I was very young when I made my first trip to Florida. I was drawn on my very first look. Drawn to the tropics. I was into everything from the scenery to the lifestyle. Palm trees and white sand beaches, Jimmy Buffett music and fine island foods, surfing and diving. I loved to be out and bare foot with my sunglasses on and soaking up the sun.

This was every summer for me and was what I lived for. Now its my everyday and has been for more than fifteen years now. It's where I live.

So many people from so may places are drawn to the tropics that they are the ultimate melting pot. Besides great weather, this is a big part of what make the tropics so wonderful and appealing. There is just one thing that have ever bothered me a bit about the lifestyle, and that is when those who are drawn to the tropics don't know why they are drawn there in the first place. It is important to understand the history and the culture of where you come from, where you are and where you are going.

The tropical lifestyle has evolved into something quite unique today as all tropical destinations have experienced this same cultural confusion over the years. Over decades, the love of the tropics has never ended, it has simply shifted from one place to the other as the world's eye changed focus from Cuba to Florida to the Caribbean to California to Hawaii and others. Why else would you where a Hawaiian shirt in Florida or eat Key Lime Pie and listen to steel drum music at a luau? It's what I call "The Tropical Melting Pot".

There are several icons of the island lifestyle and tropical culture. Perhaps the most popular is the Tiki. Today more than ever we pursue all of these things as we seek a finer living or just a means to temporarily escape. Today, more than ever the tropics has a wonderful identity. Today, this is what the Tiki has come to represent.

This is why a friend and I created http://www.thetikibarisopen.com. Ultimately, our goal is to build the web's largest online community (Tiki Nation) for those who pursue fine island lifestyle... for real or just temporarily in your mind. It's a place where people from around the world can come to relax, escape and enjoy life through our stories, cultural history lessons, recipes, cocktails, music, podcasts and blogs.

These things are important to us. If you've found this and are reading this, it is probably important to you too. So come visit us, visit often and share your stories too!

http://www.thetikibarisopen.com

Modern Tiki Culture - Island Lifestyle and All Things Tropical

Originally the Tiki represented a craze that started during the World War II era and up through about a decade past the time Hawaii officially became the 50th state in the United States. From Bing Crosby to Elvis to Trader Vic our movies, music, clothing, decor, food and cocktails reflected Americans' fascination with the South Seas. Meanwhile a surfing craze was growing on the California coast and yet another began on the other side of the world in and around the Caribbean as Americans became fascinated by Cuba, the Florida Keys and the Bahamas as the likes of Ernest Hemingway to Jimmy Buffett captured our imaginations with tales from the tropics.

America's love of the tropics has never really ended. Today more than ever we pursue all of these things as we seek a finer living or just a means to temporarily escape. Today, this is what the tiki has come to represent.

For those who cannot make this escape for real, my goal is to build an online community... Tiki Nation. A place where people from around the world can come to relax, escape and enjoy life through stories, cultural history lessons, recipes, cocktails, music, podcasts and blogs.

You can check out all of the above and participate in our blog at: http://www.thetikibarisopen.com