Tiki Central Canada

Hi everyone, I hope everyone is staying safe and doing okay with the second wave of COVID on its way. What better time to do a tiki show then now when we all need that getaway from it all?This show's cocktail is the mint julep cocktail. This cocktail goes all the way back to the 1800's. The julep term means "medicine" and this drink was made to prevent illness and bring health back to par. The American mint julep used to contain camphor which was a medicinal ingredient that today is used for Vick's Vapor rub and even turpentine. Yeah I know...crazy!!!The origin of the drink or who created it is vague but became the traditional drink of the Kentucky Derby in 1938. So, it's been around!! This unique drink is very simple in the recipe as it only contains: bourbon, simple syrup, mint and crushed ice. There are some specific traditions to this drink and how to drink it though. First, it is made with no fingerprints on the silver cup it is made in (fingerprints won't freeze and therefore will show up on the cup for

Hi Guys,I hope everyone is being safe out there. We are so glad that we bring you some sunshine to your day and an oasis for all of us.The drink on this show is the Rum Barrel (or known as Barrel O' Rum) cocktail. This drink started back in the 50's with Don the Beachcomber. But like every other tiki drink, it has others claiming its creation. First one, in Port O` Call in Tucson Arizona in 1960's, invented by Dean Short who owned several Polynesian restaurants. Second, it was designed at the Mai Kai, Ft. Lauderdale FL. The Mai Kai hired a mysterious bartender by the name of Mariano Licudine in 1956. He also used to work for Don. I am swaying towards Don on this one myself but you be the judge. Every tiki bar in North America (probably the world) has their own version of this drink. Some tiki bars like Smuggler's Cove will keep the recipe a secret even to their own bartenders as Don used to do in the days.We go through two recipes for you today: Don's and Steve Crane's. Who is Steve Crane? You have to listen

Hey guys,This is a special episode that has been on my desk for months to do and finally is here. With September 19th coming soon, we talk about "Talk Like A Pirate" day. We thought who better to be our expert than an expert pirate of the seas right now. We had to do this show via internet and yes, it is longer than our normal shows but trust me...well worth it!!!!Rob Brunner is a Canadian Lieutenant Commander of the Navy. He is also an expert on pirates as he writes a column in a pirate magazine called the Ècho des Mers out of Quebec, Canada. He also is part of the 1000 island pirates society that does re-enactments of the times. He always wanted to be a pirate but joined the navy instead. The drink we will be talking about today is called the Rum Runner cocktail which was based out of Florida at a bar called Holiday Isle Tiki Bar or today known as the Postcard Inn (speakeasy bar). The gentleman who created this cocktail is named John Ebert or “Tiki John” as he wanted to be referred to. This drink has two ty

Hi folks,We are back from our summer break and glad to be back. On this episode, we figured we would cover a nice refreshing summertime drink. The Cosmopolitan cocktail was created back in the 80's by a woman bartender named Cheryl Cook in NY. She was approached by Absolut to create a new cocktail using their new product of Absolut Citron vodka. She went off and created this drink which became an instant hit to the point that others claimed they made this drink years prior but never published it.A cocktail legend and man responsible for bring cocktails back to the forefront and part of our culture is Dale Degroff. He supported Cheryl's claim to the drink and refreshed the recipe with real ingredients like simple syrup and lime juice plus cranberry juice not out of a soda gun. The Grammy's in 1988 came to NY and Dale became the head bartender for the after party celebration. He was in charge of Madonna and her entourage. They insisted the only drink to be served and photographed with was the Cosmo. This hit t

Hi Guys,I hope you are enjoying your summer with delicious cocktails and of course sunny beachy weather (well, we are not on a beach but you get the point)!We figured for those hot summer days outside you can make some easy recipes you can make with things around your kitchen and some rum of course!!We will be covering three cocktails and some cool facts about them today: Daiquiri, Moijto, and Caipirinha .Daq: classic cocktail that through time we have seen evolve into other drinks. It is the bases of most tiki drink origins combining sugar, sour (lime) and rum. It history is not what you usually see or read on the internet. It wasn't created by a man named Jenning Cox in Cuba in 1902 but by the British Royal Navy and pirates (yes my favorite) back in 1600s. It started with rum rations on the ships daily plus lime juice to prevent scurvy. The rum was very potent and so you could add sugar (which you would receive for doing extra tasks onboard). It was also a fav with Ernest Hemingway the author whos statue is

Hi Guys,So this show will be different than our usual format as in there is no drinks (well we are having drinks) but no drink recipes or history of drinks today.This is Tiki Trivia today!!! Have you been listening closely to the show and remember all those cool facts? Well, today we find out as we ask you and my co-host some questions that are all about what we have covered in the past year. Don't panic to write the questions down or try to remember all the multiple options to each question as we have made you a trivia sheet on our website that you can follow along and see how well you do. We don't do all the trivia questions just like last year but we do some cool facts about the year.We cover topics like pirates, Cinco de mayo, Blue Hawaii (Paola's favorite drink), Voodoo MacBeth, and others.Here is the link to the trivia page: https://tikicentralcanada.ca/tiki-trivia/You will find all the answers at the bottom of the page under "2020" and yes, like the old days in the newspapers...the answers are upside

Hey Guys,Happy Canada Day or Independence Day (4th of July) for everyone. I know with these COVID times that the celebration is not its usual bang and big party BUT we thought we would help you with some cool drinks to use during your celebration. We made one sweet and one boozy (tart) for you to try. There is the Red, White and Blue Colada which I found in my research and tweaked a bit since the original recipe was too sweet (Yes, even for Paola)!! Then we also have the Red and White Cosmo for us Canadians to try out. You can actually try both and see which one is your favorite. I can tell you right now the Red, White and Blue Colada is now one of Paola's top drinks for her.The Colada is a blended drink with 3 stages (Red, White and Blue sections) that all get layered into a Hurricane glass. It will be topped with a maraschino cherry!!! Why a cherry? It's a USA inventions....yes!!!The Cosmo is made with vodka, Cointreau, white cranberry juice and Chambord. What is Chambord?? Listen to find out!!!We also dive

Hey guys,So this whole show is all about the Mai Tai because on June 30th, it's national Mai Tai day!! On another note, June 27th is national pineapple day (Paola's favorite)!So who made this drink that set tiki into a nation wide craze? Well, there are several facts and stories to this delicious drink that we will tackle today.We have Don the Beachcomber (the pioneer of tiki in North America) who claimed it and that he created this drink back in 1933. He did at times have this drink plus a Mai Tai Swizzle on his menus. Also, the QB Cooler which some say was the original Mai Tai but not let's get ahead of ourselves here. Next, Trader Vic claimed him and one of his bartenders created this drink and served it to some Tahitian friends who were visiting his bar and they called it “Mai tai-roa aé" which means "the best" or "very good".Don claims that Trader Vic stole the drink and renamed it Mai Tai. But we find that Don didn't have this drink on any menus til way later after Trader had it on his. Also, Don claim

Hi Folks, I hope everyone is doing well and we are glad that we get to bring you the show while you are stuck at home. This episode's drink that we will be covering is called the Ancient Mariner which is a Jeff "Beachbum" Berry cocktail. This drink was created by accident as Jeff was reverse engineering one of Trader Vic's recipe "The Navy Grog". This cocktail was a result of trying to re-create the drink and I must say that I'm glad he did as it is delicious. The two items of Trader Vic's that gave Jeff a hard time to figure out was the rum mix and the navy grog mix. Trader Vic and Don the Beachcomber would mix different rums from around the world to make their own special blend to make drinks. We found through time that Don would use honey syrup in his Navy Grog and Vic would use Pimento Dram and simple syrup. For the recipe to this drink, check out our website recipe page: https://tikicentralcanada.ca/recipes/The reason for the name of the drink is not the Rime of the Ancient Mariner poem that most peopl

Hey Folks,I hope everyone is being safe and doing well! We will always have shows and information for you to educated and entertain you as well in these times. And oh...like our new look...logos and headers are new so don't get confused!!! Besides, I'm sure you wanted to see our smiley faces!!!On today’s show, we will be talking about a legend Don the Beachcomber and his Cobra’s Fang cocktail. This was not as famous as the Zombie or the Three Dots and a Dash cocktails but it was on his 1941 menu and was priced for a $1 (today's world that is like $8-9). This unique tiki drink contains over-proofed rum, Falernum, Absinthe, bitters and even an ingredient called Fassionola. What is Absinthe? Listen to find out!! Another recipe: The Sidewinder's Fang was The Lanai restaurant's version of a Cobra's Fang cooler. The video for the Sidewinder’s Fang and the garnish video is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdE4UWG8vMMFassionola is a tiki ingredient that through time has lost its popularity for several reasons: 1) i

Hey Guys,I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe! We are so glad all of our listeners are tuning into us and enjoy a little piece of paradise for an hour. We will always bring you shows during this time!This show's drink is called the Captain's Grog which was created at Captain’s Inn, Long Beach, CA in 1962. This massive tiki bar has five dining rooms at its waterfront restaurant. It features three rums: a dark Jamaican rum,a light Puerto Rican rum, and a gold Puerto Rican rum. It features some cool ingredients such as Falernum, grapefruit juice, vanilla and almond extract, and even Canadian maple syrup! Yummy!!Go to episode #17: Test Pilot for the Falernum recipe on this page: https://tikicentralcanada.ca/recipes/We got these recipes from who else but Jeff "Beachbum" Berry and also it can be found in Smuggler's Cove. You can get those books at our cool link page: https://tikicentralcanada.ca/cool-links/We discuss the different types of shakers you can use. We go over the "pros" and "cons" of each an

Hi guys,I want to start off that I hope everyone is doing well in these COVID-19 times and that we are doing everything we can to bring the show to you. We know that people need something to take them to their oasis in these times and we hope that we do just that. This show was recorded through an internet software that we researched and worked for us at the time …future shows though will either be in the studio or a new improved software we found after. On this show, we want to thank Rob Brunner who is a devoted listener of the show and a Navy officer in the Canadian forces who assisted us on the research of this show. We will cover two cocktails using the British Navy Pusser’s rum (specifically Gunpowder) for the drinks. Both drinks can be found on the Pusser’s website: http://pussersrum.com One of the drinks, we have covered in a past episode but we will modify it a bit and give you some cool alterations to create a tropical delicious drink. For the recipes to both drinks, visit our recipe page at: https:

Hey Guys,This is part two of Tiki Jukebox TOP 10 list from Mark's and Craig's picks! NOTE: IF YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO PART ONE, GO BACK AND GIVE IT A LISTEN!!!Again, this list is just suggestions for some music to have for your parties or those times you are locked inside and just need your oasis, we all do!!This wasn't an easy list to make as this could have easily been top 50 or even 100 but we tried our best to narrow it down for you.Here is the link to our website page for this list and the album covers you will find to the songs. Also, on this page is the links to our Spotify lists to these songs as well. Link: https://tikicentralcanada.ca/tiki-jukebox/The list are broken (as we mentioned in the first part) into two groups: Mark's which is the exotic inside and escapism (oasis) AND Craig's is beach, palm tree party atmosphere.While you listen to the show, you can either "Shazam" the songs to find them through your musical source or you can search them by artist, song title, album title. The reason that I am

Hi Guys,We are hoping everyone is okay and staying home to be safe from the COVID-19 virus. We have something special for you today to help raise your spirits. We have come up with our top 10 list each (Mark and Craig) for you to enjoy while we are stuck at home. We thought of this months ago and finally was able to formulate lists (wasn't easy as we could have made this top 50 or 100). Mark's list will be one type of tiki style which is exotic and mysterious. His music is based mostly on the 50's to the 90's. Craig's list will be the other type of tiki which is the outside with palm trees, beach, and party sounds. You will find both very entertaining!!The show was so long that we had to split it into two parts and so this is part one of the show. Part two will be published next week with also some Spotify links to both our playlists. We will be continuously updating those lists with new songs, so check them out and refresh them when you can. Here is our special page from our website to see part one's songs

Hey Guys,This is part 2 of the great adventure to Antigua. The episode was so long that we split it into two. So if you haven't listened to part one of this episode, please go back and give it a listen!!On this episode, the drink we will be discussing is a Caribbean drink not just Antigua (we did enjoy many of these at the resort). The BBC (Banana, Baileys, Coconut) Cocktail. You guess it the main three ingredients are those. This is a blended drink and very tasty!! We do talk about the Margaritaville Blender on this recipe. To buy one on Amazon, here is the link: https://www.amazon.ca/Margaritaville-DM1946-000-033-Buffett-Anniversary-Concoction/dp/B01DIXJIBM/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=Margaritaville&qid=1584907768&sr=8-5&th=1 I do go through some alternatives or additives as you may such as adding Amaretto, or Vanilla syrup, or even Cinnamon syrup. To check out the recipe go to: https://tikicentralcanada.ca/recipes/We continue discuss more about my trip and cool facts about Antigua. The island location,

Hi Guys, Just got back from my trip to Antigua and we have so much to cover on this amazing tropical island that we decided to break the one recording into two shows for you. This is part one. Thanks and shout out to the staff of the Starfish Jolly Beach Resort and Jermaine (our tour guide). We will be talking about new cocktails that we had down on the island and there is a nice range of drinks (one sweet, one middle, and one boozy)!!We first start off with the Purple Dragon (Thanks to Sharlene at the resort who gave us the recipe), second is a national drink in Antigua and we even found bottled in the liquor stores. We want to thank Johnny Tved on the Kon Tiki Floating bar to give us the recipe to this one...hi Johnny!! Yes, I did say floating as it is in the ocean and you can either swim there or a small boat will get you to and from the bar. The third drink will be featured in the next episode for you!The island is about 100 km east of St. Kitts or 500 km east of Dominican Republic. It is about 108 square

Hey guys,We want to start off by congratulations to Heather Sibley for winning our monthly contest!! Stay tuned for more of those to come!!This show, we are continuing with our discussion about the 18th amendment which was Prohibition (1920-1933). The cocktail we are talking today about is the Bee Knees cocktail which was created during this time. The sweetener (honey) was added to mask the bathtub or poor quality gin that was available at the time due to limited supplies. It was created by Frank Meier, the head bartender at the Ritz Bar in Paris. Get this, Frank lead a separate life as a spy...interesting! Want to know more then listen in. By the way Bees Knees in jazz lingo leans “great” or “excellent” or “the best”.Do bees have knees? hmm ...find out!!Recipe: 2 oz Gin, 1 oz Lemon Juice, 1 oz Honey Syrup. Shake with ice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with Orange Twist.On "Mark's adventures" segment: Mark talks about Death or Glory tiki bar today. From the ashes of the Kreepy Tiki Bar & Lo

Hey guys,We are doing today a Don the Beachcomber classic tiki cocktail called Shark's Tooth. It was on his original menus and competed against the famous "Zombie" drink in ever location Don had but never got the same recognition as the Zombie. We have a new newsletter out for February with new recipes from past shows, new tiki bar for Mark's Adventures to discuss, new tiki dates for your calendar and a Tiki cocktail book that every home bar should have in Tiki Books review. Plus more!!!!So the Shark's teeth in the Polynesian region is very spiritual and practical as tools are made with them. Check out other reasons why the drink got its name. It will keep you all wrapped up!!Recipe: 1 oz Barbados Rum, 1 oz Jamaican rum (now if you purchase Plantation rum you can use this single rum for both as it was produced by both counties), 0.5 oz lime juice, 0.5 pineapple juice, 0.5 simple syrup, 1 tsp of Maraschino Cherry syrup (sweet version) OR 1 tsp of Maraschino Liqueur (strong like Mark likes it), 3 oz crushed ice

Hey Guys,Happy New Year and we are back now from vacation!!We just had the 100th anniversary of the 18th amendment of the United States Constitution (Prohibition) which was on January 17th, 1920.Our contest will be ending on January 31st with the winner being announced in February on our social media. Check it out at www.tikicentralcanada.caSo the drink we will talk about on this show is called Mary Pickford from back in the time. It was created for our Canadian actress and producer Mary Pickford who worked in USA. She was also one of the founder of the Pickford-Fairbanks studio with Charlie Chaplin (which turned into United Artists Studios). It was later bought out by MGM studios. Here is a YouTube link to UA studios history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMUwEJgX81k. She was also one of the founders of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science which presents the Oscar Awards out every year.So the drink was created in Cuba for her by Eddie Woelke or Fred Kaufmann at the National Hotel of Cuba. Recipe

Hey guys,Well this is end of our year #2 doing this and hey what a year it has been?From Cam trying to get the perfect photo, to Dan and Mike helping us with the show, to new Co-host Paola, to Mark with "Tiki Adventures", to Norma doing "Travel Tips", to Cam returning with the Brady's.We have packed a lot in this year with newsletters, "Made with Love" competition, Disney expert Justin on tiki and Disney, Talk like a Pirate, and so much more...We figured we get together and talk about this year in a nutshell.So enjoy!!!