I’ll never the forget the first time I set foot in Tacoma Cabana.
Standing behind the bar was this dude wearing an Aloha shirt and fez on his head. I didn’t know anything about this guy, but he had a presence to him that made him really stand out. Without saying a word, the message was clear: I’m here to make Tiki cocktails and trust me, they will blow you away. This man was and is Jason Alexander. He is the owner of Tacoma Cabana. Let’s get to know Jason a little bit more…
It meant the actual distance between two points via a straight line. The town of Olalla is only 15 miles away from Seattle, but that doesn’t mean it’s close—let alone easy—to get to. The Puget Sound stands between Seattle and Olalla, which means you have two ways of getting there: taking a ferry or driving around and below the Puget Sound. A ferry trip is not cheap, so that means driving is the best way to get there. Why all the fuss about getting to Olalla? Because Debbie and Mark Whitehead live there and down in their basement lies the Fuzzy Smudge…
Going downstairs to The Fuzzy SmudgeThe Fuzzy Smudge bar
There has always been a connection between Asian culture and Tiki. Food served at Tiki restaurants back in the day was pretty much Chinese food. (Shhh! Don’t tell anyone!) If you step up to the bar inside a Chinese restaurant, don’t be surprised to find some Tiki drinks on the menu. Jeffrey has a love for both Chinese and Tiki cultures. So Jeffrey and his partner Erik created a bar in their home that combines both. It’s called Shangri-La 66…
When it comes to a full Tiki experience, there are three factors: décor, music, and drinks. These three factors are what I look for when I visit a Tiki bar. The décor and music are major factors that can make a Tiki bar great, but the most important thing for me is the cocktails. But what happens if the cocktails were taken out of the equation? Would a Tiki experience be the same without a Mai Tai in my hand? This is something I never really thought about until I talked to Daren Ford…
Cave Of Kungaloosh owner Daren
Daren has turned his home and backyard into a Tiki getaway. His place is called the Cave Of The Kungaloosh and it’s truly amazing. But there is one thing that’s different with Daren: he doesn’t drink alcohol. Can someone enjoy the Tiki lifestyle without drinking? Let’s find out…
It was the summer of 2015. Some friends of mine asked me if I would be interested in going to a Tiki party that was going on up in North Seattle. I was totally down!
We arrived at the house where the party was happening. We knew it was the right place because there were Tiki torches burning outside. We could hear the sounds of people having a good time nearly a block away. Surf music was pouring out of the basement, so we followed the sounds as we walked along the side of the house and finally downstairs.
I didn’t know it yet, but I was about to take my first step into a larger world.
The other night, I watched a really great documentary about Tiki culture called Plastic Paradise: A Swingin’ Trip Through America’s Polynesian Obsession. It’s a must see for anyone into the Tiki lifestyle. There was one point that they brought up which I thought was fascinating. Don the Beachcomber borrowed many of his cocktail ideas from the Caribbean! When you dig into the roots of Tiki culture as we know it, many of the ideas were actually constructed and imagined. Let’s be honest: do you really think ancient Polynesian societies were sitting around drinking cocktails with umbrellas in them?
I’ve known about Rumba for some time and I’ll be honest, I never really had any interest in checking it out. I knew they serve great drinks, but Rumba isn’t really a Tiki bar…
Well, a couple weeks ago I was going to a concert at the Paramount in Downtown Seattle. Rumba is literally two blocks away from the Paramount. My friends and I had some time to kill before the show started, so I suggested we check out the place…
When I got the invite for Tikifest, I just had to laugh. I messaged back, “Well, it looks I’m going to Tacoma!” Tikifest was set up by Jeffery from the Ukadelics. The idea was simple: have some Tiki bands play at Bob’s Java Jive and have a prefunk at Tacoma Cabana beforehand. Easy enough.
Nothing makes my day more than finding out that a new Tiki bar has opened. It’s even better if that Tiki bar is in your own city! Up until a few months ago, Seattle has had only one Tiki bar: Hula Hula. Now it has two. The new Tiki bar is called the No Bones Beach Club.
