We continued our Tipsy Tech Summer Series last week with a discussion of all things Tiki. Our tour of the tropics began in the early days of Repeal and Don the Beachcomber's bar in Hollywood, and we sipped our way through the rise and demise of postwar Tiki culture, before docking at the recent Tiki revival of Smuggler's Cove, Painkiller, etc. I introduced the group to 'sage of the seas', Jeff "Beachbum" Berry, and gave a plug for his new book, Beachbum Berry Remixed.

Thanks to Tipsy Tech intern Zach Rose for the pictures:

The first article of business with any cocktail class is of course a cocktail. We made Singapore Slings, Mai Tais, and Trader Vic's Navy Grog.

I found this ginormous shell punch bowl at the Goodwill and decided that if I filled it with enough rum I could claim it as a Tiki artifact.

The small figure is a Benihana-style tiki mug of which there are numerous variations. The larger item is a ceramic "Gurgling Cod" water pitcher that I intended to convert to a giant tiki mug by filling it with a potent elixir, to be sipped from 18" long straws