Reddit reviews Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki
We found 22 Reddit comments about Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Smuggler s Cove Exotic Cocktails Rum and the Cult of Tiki
Buy a copy of the Smuggler's Cove book and go from there.
Dude, that's fantastic news. This comment immediately got me subscribed for updates.
Some other source recommendations off the top of my head...
Tiki drinks:
General cocktails:
...that's... not a bad list to get started. Good luck! I'll be interested to follow along with development.
If you really want to get into making tiki drinks, you should buy the Smuggler's Cove book to get a good grip on what you're doing. The book also has recipes for most of the common syrups in the back. It is under $20 on Amazon, so it costs about the same as a decent bottle of rum.
Photo of the Finished Product
This recipe is from San Francisco's Smuggler's Cove, which is absolutely one of my favorite tiki bars.
The bar's creator released a fantastic book loaded with Smuggler's Cove recipes but also history of tiki, a breakdown of different rum classifications, and even how to decorate for a tiki bar. I highly recommend it.
Recipe:
Combine all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake, open pour into Zombie glass or other tall drinkware. Garnish with mint. (The original recipe calls for a flash blend, open pour with gated finish.)
Obviously, this is a very strong drink, so being able to make it at home is nice, even if a little prep-work is required! It packs a punch but it is extremely complex, flavorful, and not cloyingly sweet. If you have the patience, it's a worthwhile, serious tiki drink.
X-posted to r/tiki as well
It's been hot in northeast Georgia, hot and humid!! To me, that means Mai Tais!
I've been drinking quite a few lately, because I'm also putting together a side-by-side overview of four different orange liqueurs to be posted on r/cocktails soon. This is a fantastic way to experiment a bit.
I start with the Mai Tai recipe from Smugglers Cove and tweak just a little...
Combine in a shaker tin with 12oz crushed ice plus a couple large cubes and shake until the tin frosts up. Dump everything into a double Old Fashioned glass and garnish with a spent lime shell and a sprig of spanked mint.
Notes on my Mai Tai:
The book, Smugglers Cove, is simply brilliant in how it handles rum. I've been a whisky guy for many years, and just in the past 6 months or so have begun exploring rum. The Smugglers Cove book, and the subreddits, r/rum, and r/tiki have all been fantastic resources.
As outlined in Smugglers Cove, the original rum Trader Vic had access to when he created the Mai Tai (J. Wray and Nephew, 17-year old Jamaican) is not available today. Fortunately, the tiki gods are generous and gave us Martin and Rebecca Cate, who go on to describe the history of the Mai Tai in fantastic detail. If you are a fan of rum, or tiki, or just general booze-lore, I cannot recommend the book Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki highly enough.
With that being said, the book describes mixing various rums to achieve a profile similar to Vic's original. I do not claim to have recreated the original with my mix of Doorly's, Denizen, and Smith & Cross, but based on some trial and error (is it really an error, when the result is still a damn good Mai Tai?!) I did find a flavor combination I absolutely love!
My "tweak" is to use 1/2 oz of Clement Creole Shrubb in place of Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao. Nothing at all wrong with the Ferrand, it's just that, to me, the extra little bit of spicy funk from the rhum agricole base adds a perfect note to a Mai Tai.
The Mai Tai syrup and Orgeat are both recipes from Smugglers Cove as well. The syrup is a 2:1 Demerara with a bit of vanilla extract and a pinch of salt added. The Orgeat is pretty standard stuff, almonds, water, sugar, orange blossom water and rose water. Both are well worth making and keeping around in the refrigerator.
~Cheers!
And a Bottle of Rum is absolutely the book you're wanting.
Smuggler's Cove has several decent sections on rum, including some history and a lot of subdivisions and classifications.
Potions of the Caribbean is another great book more focused on the influence of cocktails in the Caribbean, but has some good insights on rum as well.
Once in a while I get together with a friend (or two) and try some Tiki cocktails that we haven't tried before. Here's links to all the other times we've done this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Port Light
Combine egg white and bourbon in a drink mixer tin and flash without ice for 10 seconds. Then add remaining the ingredients. Fill with 12 ounces of crushed ice and 4 to 6 small "agitator" cubes. Flash blend and open pour with gated finish into a footed pilsner glass and garnish. (from Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki)
Kona Castaway
Combine all the liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with crushed ice. Shake until well-chilled and pour everything into a chilled wine glass or highball. Garnish with a lime wedge. (from Putney Farm)
Coffee syrup:
Combine a 1 to 1 ratio of coffee (preferably Kona coffee) and sugar. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer until it reduces by 1/3. Keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Don's Special Daiquiri
Add all ingredients except cherry to cocktail shaker. Shake with ice until well-chilled. Strain into chilled cocktail coupe and garnish with cherry. (Adapted from Don the Beachcomber original)
Manoa
Add the rums, lime juice, pimento dram, both syrups, and grapefruit juice to a blender with 6 oz. crushed ice. Flash blend for 10-15 seconds. Pour into Tiki mug or highball. Garnish with fresh mint. Place spent lime shell (cut side up) onto the ice with an absinthe-soaked sugar cube inside. Light the sugar cube on fire and dust with ground cinnamon. (from A Mountain of Crushed Ice)
Actually, you'll have better luck in /r/rum or /r/cocktails
But in the meantime, pick up Martin Cate's amazing new book Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki. Anyone working in a tiki bar should have read it.
Cocktail Kingdom is located in NYC.
36 West 25th Street, Fifth Floor, New York, NY 10010
Go check it out, good stuff there.
Honestly, if he has his OWN bartending equipment, a really nice leather bar roll-up would be nice.
http://www.cocktailkingdom.com/all-barware/bags-case
Depends on your budget.
If he wears an apron at work...
http://butcherandbaker.com/
I love their aprons.
Books are always good for inspiration.
https://www.amazon.com/Smugglers-Cove-Exotic-Cocktails-Cult/dp/1607747324
This one came out recently and I couldn't recommend it more. The people who wrote it are probably the foremost tiki and rum experts in the world. It's the best cocktail book since Death and Co.
Well, there's the old saints:
https://www.amazon.com/Hawaii-Tropical-Drinks-Cuisine-Beachcomber/dp/1566474914
https://www.amazon.com/Trader-Vics-Bartenders-Guide-Revised/dp/B000LY5HJY
And the new testaments:
https://www.amazon.com/Smugglers-Cove-Exotic-Cocktails-Cult/dp/1607747324
https://www.amazon.com/Beachbum-Berrys-Potions-Caribbean-Berry/dp/1603113800
Knowing rum is good. Knowing orgeat and falernum is better.
Will check it out. If you want to get further into the Tiki side of things, I recommend Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607747324/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_xrV7ybVRKN7FJ
The Bar Book - Jeffrey Morgenthaler teaches no bullshit techniques, recipes, and the reasons behind those techniques and recipes.
Liquid Intelligence - Dave Arnold goes full on science nerd on the art of making perfect cocktails.
Death and Co. - Excellent modern classic recipes.
Smuggler's Cover - Pretty much the only Tiki book you'll need nowadays.
Meehan's Bartender Manual - I just bought this as a present for someone, been flipping through it, really nice new book from Jim Meehan.
Not sure if you can get Cachaca there, but the capirinha is a very 'beginner friendly' cocktail that's clearly international.
Seconding maximswim's recommendation on tiki cocktails, they're basically all strong and generally on the sweet side, plus they can have cool garnishes/mugs. If you're willing to do complicated drinks, Smuggler's Cove is a great resource.
I would recommend getting a copy of the Sippin’ Safari 10th Anniversary and a copy of Smuggler’s Cove.
That should cover most of what you’re looking for.
I posted this in another thread so sorry its just a copy paste, but very relevant---
I dont recommend bartending school. i haven't been personally, but you dont need to pay for the education if you work at the right bar. I learned everything while getting paid.Death and Co makes amazing books to teach and inspire how to make great unique cocktails. The modern classics covers the fundamentals of bar tools and all the philosophy, plus theres a bunch of neat recipes. They also have a codex thats super interesting in that they simplify and break down the origins of most cocktails. Everything is a riff on a classic, in one way or another.
Another one I like is from Smugglers Cove in San Fransisco (i think?) This book touches more into tiki and tropical cocktails, but its a lot of fun and there are plenty of great cocktails without super esoteric ingredients.
On the opposite end of the relax tiki book is this book from Grant Achatz, 3 Michelin starred chef of Alinea in Chicago (hence the pricy book). He also owns bars in Chicago and New York, and have some of the most exceptional drinks I've ever had. He's big on molecular gastronomy, wether its juice filled caviar balls, dry ice used to chill your drink tableside (with lots of smoke) or this tableside infusion. A lot of it is super over the top and not necessary, but for presentations sake its incredible. really innovative and inspiring
Sorry for the lengthy post, but I suggest that if you want to get into cocktails and mixology, find a nice restaurant with a cocktail program. If you're near a big city, try bar backing at a nice cocktail spot or restaurant, it'll help you kind of see things from the outside for a bit and will make it all less daunting.cheers
Others have recommended Martin Cate's book from Smuggler's Cove. Get it. :)
Here are the only books you need:
They're all fantastic. But if you only buy one, start with Smuggler's Cove. It's just an incredible wealth of information and it's a lot more current than the others. It's also very useful if you're looking to expand your tiki repertoire since it has a lot of information on bar equipment, rums, syrups, etc. that the other books lack.
Ha, not a bunch more. I was looking at books on amazon and this came up in a recommendation or something. It's currently on pre-order.
Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Smugglers-Cove-Exotic-Cocktails-Cult/dp/1607747324?ie=UTF8&colid=2RWGZCCTUJPKG&coliid=I3RVGB3429Y92Z&ref_=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl
Cocktail Codex for understanding builds
Death and Co for technique, classics, and variations
Liquid Intelligence for understanding the “why” to the “how”
Smuggler’s Cove because tiki is sort of its own thing in a lot of ways
Imbibe! for historical context
Some honorable mentions include Jim Meehan’s Bartender’s Manual, Regarding Cocktails, and The Dead Rabbit: Mixology and Mayhem.
Here is the mobile version of your link
Get 3-4 tools;
A Japanese-style jigger or a 50ml graduated cylinder
Ice. (And learn how it is made properly)
A cocktail shaker.
A strainer comes in handy too.
The cheapest way to practice; mix whatever booze you have on hand that is around 80 proof with some form of sugar, (honey, 1:1 sugar-to-water, 2:1 sugar-to-water, agave, Demerara sugar, etc...) and some form of citrus (fresh lime/ lemon juice). Just play around with the ratios of each (booze, citrus, sugar) till you learn how each affects one another.
For beginning bartending, I recommend familiarizing yourself with how alcohol is synthesized, the different distillation processes, and the types of booze from around the world.
From there, look on YouTube.
u/CocktailChem has a nice playlist for beginners called Basic Cocktails
Here is a couple of other playlists for you
The Educated Barfly YT
Steve the Bartender 365 days playlist
How To Drink
United States Bartenders Guild (USBG) seminars
Additionally, look for some books;
Cocktail codex(here)
Savoy Cocktail book (here)
Liquid Intelligence (here)
Smuggler’s cove (here)
Tiki (here)
The Aviary Cocktail Book (here)
Is tiki considered "advanced"? If not, I'd add [Smuggler's Cove] (https://www.amazon.com/Smugglers-Cove-Exotic-Cocktails-Cult/dp/1607747324) by Martin Cate.