Happy International Tiki Day - What Music Will You Spin in Celebration?

[Teasing the Korean]

While International Tiki Day is technically August 11th, celebrations generally occur on the weekend before or after if it falls during the week.  

So, TTK will be celebrating today.  

I am assessing my lime supply.  I have a huge bag in the fridge, but I also have from frozen lime juice which I am thawing.  (Lime juice should be frozen and not refrigerated for longevity.)

I could mix Trader Vics Maitais, although I am out of mint.  I think I have all of the ingredients for a Shrunken Skull.  

I recently waddled over to Qobuz to buy some lossless Les Baxter albums which never appeared on CD, save for vinyl rips.  These will serve as part of the soundtrack this evening.

For now, while I'm cleaning the house, I am listening to Stanley Black's Exotic Percussion on Phase 4, and then Lalo Schifrin's Several Shades of Jade, which was released under Cal Tjader's name.  These are paired with a virgin fruit smoothie.  

I love Stanley Black's version of "Flamingo," with pretty ladies doing wordless vocals.  

 

And here is Lalo Schifrin's "Borneo."

 

Edited August 14, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[JSngry]

Tiki!

 

[Teasing the Korean]

Also, I have jungle sound effects on the docking station in our Bora Bora room.  I have these playing along with the music.  

I'm out of grapefruit juice, but a have this fizzy water called Spindrift that has real grapefruit juice in it.  Because a Navy Grog uses both fizzy water and grapefruit, I may attempt to mix one later using this stuff, and see how it turns out.  I will keep you posted.  

[Teasing the Korean]

Drinking some fizzy water with that thawed fresh-squeezed lime juice, which is still very good.

Now enjoying some Gene Rains.  Vibraphonist Gene Rains was Decca's answer to Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman.  He made only three albums, but these are creme de la creme exotica.  I'm guessing that the masters were lost in the Universal disaster.

 

Edited August 14, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[Teasing the Korean]

Next up is Tito Puente's Tambo!  Here is "Jungle Holiday:"

 

And the beautiful "Call of the Jungle Birds."  Ms. TTK and I used to listen to this album a lot when we first got together.

 

[Teasing the Korean]

Next up is Exotic Island by the Surfmen, a budget label album by a group of west coast jazz guys, including Paul Horn, Jimmy Rowles, Emil Richards, Alvino Rey, Jack Costanza, Milt Holland, and, as they say, many more!  

 

[GA Russell]

TTK, Whisky Advocate recommends tiki cocktails!

https://www.whiskyadvocate.com/summer-tiki-whisky-cocktails/

[Teasing the Korean]

44 minutes ago, GA Russell said:

TTK, Whisky Advocate recommends tiki cocktails!

https://www.whiskyadvocate.com/summer-tiki-whisky-cocktails/

Excellent!  If you need orgeat or falernum, and you don't want to take the trouble to make them, I would suggest getting the Latitude 29 brand, from Jeff Beachbum Berry, the world's foremost authority on vintage rum cocktails!

Ms. TTK is home, and we just had a middle eastern dinner.  We are now enjoying the Return to Paradise, and excellent exotica comp from the el/Cherry Red conglomerate.  Trying to decide if we want Trader Vic's Maitais or Shrunken Skulls.  We may do the latter, only because they are easy.  Four ingredients in four even ratios.  You can mix one or one thousand.  

[Teasing the Korean]

So I just mixed some quasi-Navy Grogs for Ms. TTK and myself.  I used the Spindrift grapefruit fizzy to make up for the lack of grapefruit juice.  I double the ratio, as it covers both angles.  I didn't have gold Demerara, so I used Puerto Rican gold, along with Cuban white rum and Jamaican dark.  And I did not have any honey syrup, so I used simple syrup.  And, I threw in a little bit of allspice dram, for fun.  It turned out great!  

[Teasing the Korean]

So from there, Ms. TTK and I moved onto Shrunken Skulls, and we listened to Les Baxter's classic Le Sacre du Sauvage and Tamboo.

 

Now I am mixing us Trader Vic's Maitais, paired with a custom CD I made of Thee Great Chaino with added jungle sound effects!  

 

Edited August 15, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[Teasing the Korean]

Well, overall, it was a very good night.  Ms. TTK and I enjoyed:

• Navy Grogs (variation)
• Shrunken Skulls
• Trader Vic's Maitais

And lots of great exotica. 

So while International Tiki Day is over this year, it lives on.  And like Johnny Mathis sang, "It's not the things you do on International Tiki Day/ But the International Tiki Day things you do the whole year through." 

Edited August 15, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[Teasing the Korean]

I feel great this morning!

The secret:  Hydrate during cocktails, and drink a coconut water right before sleepy time.

Edited August 15, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[GA Russell]

Sorry I missed it!

Are you thinking about putting up a bamboo hut for next year?

[Teasing the Korean]

2 minutes ago, GA Russell said:

Sorry I missed it!

Are you thinking about putting up a bamboo hut for next year?

Ms. TTK and I have a tiki room in our house.  We call it the Bora Bora room.  We have a mid-century Arthur Umanoff bar and matching barstools, and a jungle mural on the wall.  And lots of dollar tiki mugs we liberated from thrift stores over the decades.  Behind the bar, we have a Bose docking station that plays jungle sound effects on a loop.

Last night's festivities took place in our family room, though,  as we wanted to get the full effect of listening to music on the hi-fi.  

Do you also indulge in mixology?

[GA Russell]

On 8/15/2021 at 1:51 PM, Teasing the Korean said:

Do you also indulge in mixology?

No, I did most of my drinking before I was 30.  Enough for a lifetime!

But look what I have found today - a free Kindle eBook!

Vintage Cocktails and Drinks: Forgotten Cocktails and Retro Spirits Recipes for Home Mixologists (Lost Recipes Vintage Cookbooks)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082G7J742