Getting to know the Rum Pack, the story behind the tiki drink era.

books:


	• Sippin' Safari: In Search of the Great "Lost" Tropical Drink Recipes... and the People Behind Them Jeff Berry SLG Publishing, 2007 - 184 pages average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

One of the best reference books ever on the Tiki Bar and drinks

Jeff "Beachbum" Berry has heavily researched and gone to great lengths to find the true recipes that were guarded with total secrecy to prevent competition from copying the concept. When tiki bars started popping up, only a few people held the real drink recipes that translated to job security. Written in code, the books have finally been cracked by Jeff, and are being shared with the public for the first time ever. He did this by finding the original bartenders (not many of them are still with us, and most, including the inventors such as Don the Beachcomber, took them to the grave). So, you think you've tasted a Zombie? Sorry to say, that it was probably a poorly watered down version of the original. That original recipe and many others are revealed here, with the stories behind the men that made them at the peak of the Tiki Bar craze.
Not much was known about the book's central study: Don The Beachcomber, the originator of the Polynesian bar, restaurant concept. (New recommended book: "Scrounging the Islands with the Legendary Don the Beachcomber: Host to Diplomat, Beachcomber, Prince and Pirate" (Paperback) by Arnold Bitner) Here you get an in depth look into his life, his competitors who tried to steal his ideas (with success in some cases), and the rise and fall of the Polynesian craze.
You'll understand exactly how the tiki craze took off, and be able to concoct some of the greatest drinks of its era, with the help of this book. Awesome full color photos, graphics and illustrations. It's a must have reference!

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How Much Do I Love This Book?

Well, a lot. Enough that I learned how to make my own "grog mix," cinnamon syrup and, yes, my own pimento liqueur after reading it. It's indispensible as both a bar guide and a history lesson.

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Happy Sippin'

I could not get this book in a book store, but found it on Amazon after reading about it in the New York Times Food and Wine section. It was a great gift and appropriate to our tropical setting. We'll enjoy it for a long time.

Getting to know the Rum Pack, the story behind the tiki drink era.

Jeff Berry is my hero! He has save the history of the post war tiki/tropical drink way of life. This book introduces the "Rum Pack", the folks behind the drinks we love, back when a drinks with a tropical twist ruled the bar. Jeff shares his treasure chest of research and passes on some of the finest drink recipes ever made. Some of these gems (stories and drinks) were almost lost forever! The drinks are on me if I ever meet Jeff Berry in person.

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The Very Best Tropical Cocktails

If you like tropical cocktail (and I do) then there is no way you should be without this guide. You should also own it's companion "Intoxica." With these two books, you pretty much have tiki and tropical drinks covered. These are the original (and sometimes with modifications) recipes. They can't be beat. I gave it only four stars for the simple reason that the layout of these books leaves (for me) a lot to be desired. It'd not that they're hard to read or anything, they just look like some guy in a print shop threw them together with a box of old clip art that they found. Just ill considered layout. A noted tiki/lowbrow artist laid them out and Mr. Berry should have gone with a professional in this line of work. It's not that particular artist's cup of tea and it shows. That sort of thing is my profession so I may be a little over critical. Alas. Buy them.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

The new book by the Author of The Grog Log, Intoxica and Taboo Table. Beach Bum Berry as he is better known is America s leading authority on tropical drinks and polynesian pop-culture. In this all new book, Berry not only offers up tantilizing new drink recipes, but tells stories about some of the most famous figures of their time. The Bum applies the same dogged research to the untold stories of the people behind the drinks. Stories culled from over 100 interviews with those who actually created the mid-century Tiki scene -- people as colorful as the drinks they invented, or served, or simply drank. People like... Leon Lontoc, the Don The Beachcomber's waiter who served Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando by night, and acted in their movies by day...; Henry Riddle, the Malibu Seacomber bartender who fed items about his famous customers to infamous gossip columnist Louella Parsons, till the day Howard Hughes found him out...; and Duke Kamanamoku, whose manager turned him from Olympic champion into reluctant restaurateur.

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