Zen Tiki Lounge

ZTL 249 The Road To Tiki Caliente 4

Sunshine Tiki — Sun, 13 May 2012 03:28:34 +0000

Sunshine, Starshine and Kalani are tingling with anticipation over the upcoming weekend tiki event in Palm Springs. Tiki Caliente 4 is May 18-20! This week on the podcast we sip the two very cocktails we will be serving at our TC4 room party. Gingers Passion and the Luckubus are two lovely drinks sure to tickle most fancies. And, if you are attending the big shindig you will get to try them. Just remember to tip your bar tender. When in Palm Springs there is lots more to do besides the event. Try the aerial tramway and ascend to the top of Mt. San Jacinto in just minutes. Walk around town and get in some great shopping and visit some local art dealers and museums. There are two casinos in town for those who want to try their hand at slots and tables, or maybe a las vegas style buffet. Palm Springs is filled with posh boutique hotels worth visiting for their bars and cocktails alone. See, plenty to keep you busy. This week we also share some gardening tips for those with lots of space or just a few potted plants. Sunshine has recently discovered UrbanZen.com where you can find out where to share in your community or learn more about choosing a life path that is better for your and those you care about. Enjoy the show. Cheers and Mahalo!

The Luckubus

1.5 oz Sunshines very spicy rum, click for recipe

1.5 oz white grapefruit juice

.25 oz lime juice

.25 oz lemon juice

.5 oz Orgeat syrup

Shake all with crushed ice and pour unstrained into a double old fashioned glass. Garnish with lemon and lime wheel on rim.

ZTL 248 Animals Drunk On Tiki Drinks?

Sunshine Tiki — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 06:24:06 +0000

Ok, so our title this week is a little misleading. But we did find out that there is a fairly long list of animals that actually enjoy inebriation as much as we do. Those elephants, bears, moose and the like sure love a good bender after a long day in the wilderness. Who wouldn’t? Sunshine and Starshine are in the Zen Tiki Lounge discussing a lot more than drunk furry friends. We have a good deal of listener email, including a great question that explains what a “room crawl” is. For those that correctly engage in such an activity, crawling can very well become part of the fun. Sunshine recalls a time when he had to pick himself up off the floor of a random hotel room and try to remember his own room number. Ohhh, the fun. Starshine is simply along for the drink this week. Speaking of, our cocktail of the week is a sneak peek at just one of the two NEW drinks we will be serving at the Tiki Caliente room crawl and room party. You want to try it? Go to tiki-caliente.com and get your room and tickets so you can be there May 18-20 and experience the live music, vendors, sunshine, pool, cocktails and weekend long party. We toss in a good deal of tiki related news this week as well. Be sure to visit Ooga-Mooga.com for the updated website and news about better search features and the ability to add new collections of your tiki schtuff. Ooga-Mooga isn’t just for tiki mugs anymore. And thats just the stuff we can recall. There is plenty more tiki and non tiki banter in this weeks episode. Cheers and Mahalo!

ZTL 247 Tiki Caliente 4 Countdown With Rory Snyder

Sunshine Tiki — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 08:52:34 +0000

This weeks show is full of everything you need to have the full experience at this years Tiki Caliente 4. Music from the bands and a very special interview with event guru himself, Rory “Wildsvilleman” Snyder.

Please stay tuned for full show notes, we just need to sober up a bit.

ZTL 246 How Much Rum Can You Put In A Jello Egg?

Sunshine Tiki — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 02:39:27 +0000

Pumpkin is back in the lounge after many weeks away. She brings vegan pineapple upside down cake to pair with the Yellowbird cocktail. Then, outrageous talk of this and that.

ZTL 245 The Return of Campari Kraken, Tiki Bar Psychic

Sunshine Tiki — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 02:42:42 +0000

Aloha, and welcome to the Zen Tiki Lounge. It has been a few weeks since we got back in the lounge and recorded a podcast. Sunshine, Starshine and Campari Kraken are all here this week. On his first visit, the renowned Kampari Kraken introduced himself as the worlds most famous tiki bar psychic. This time, Campari sips a cocktail that Sunshine named in his honor and reflects on the difficulties of traveling via flying carpet when the weather is damp. No one likes a wet carpet. Campari also answers a few listener questions, if you consider his responses answers. Starshine shares of her excitement for a quickly approaching Las Vegas trip that will include a visit to Frankies Tiki Room and the Rhum Bar, our two favorite places in sin city to grab well crafted rum drinks. If you haven’t been to Frankies, we recommend going while the sun is still up. This helps you experience the stark contrast of the Vegas sun and the dimly lit interior of a classic looking tiki bar complete with bamboo decor, carved tikis, hanging puffer fish and a few of their exclusive tiki mugs. And don’t forget the cocktails. A complete list of drinks is available by clicking the link above. Sunshine will tell you not to be afraid of their high proof drinks like Bender Ender and Wild Watusi. And, over at Rhum Bar you can find some Cuba and Florida inspired libations. Their zombie isn’t quite the traditional because it lacks the anise flavor, which for some is why the like this zombie so much. An ample selection of rum for mixing and sipping is also available at this bright and airy watering hole. Well, there is plenty more squeezed into this show. So listen for all the rest. Sunshine plays one of his favorite tunes at the end, Passage to Papeetee by Kahuna Kawentzmann. A true gem of a tune that takes you to the mystical island of your choice. Cheers and Mahalo.

Campari Kraken Cocktail

1.5 ounces Kraken Rum

.5 ounces Campari

2.5 ounces white grapefruit juice

.5 ounce Orgeat

1 dash bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled glass. Now you will be able to see the future.

ZTL 244 We Found Whitney Houston with The Tiki Time Machine

Sunshine Tiki — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 10:05:11 +0000

Step once more into the tiki time machine. Our stop this week takes us to 2007, episode #70 of ZTL. Sunshine and Pumpkin decided to listen to feedback from fans and try a gin drink instead of the usual rum. Well, they had several. And, Pumpkin became more surly than usual. Sunshine was showing difficulty remembering specific tiki tid bits. Pumpkin even uses a Whitney Houston reference that seems quite poignant as of now. Can you believe this show was back in the day before Facebook? Yep! We were just setting up our page and giving ourselves official aliases. Other subjects include a recap of a cocktail symposium with Beachbum Berry. Sunshine tries a few drinks and gives This is week two of our Gin drinks. The Kamaaina should be pronounced Kah-ah-mah-A-nuh. Pumpkin says it a little different but thats most likely because booze makes her mind go a little on the dirty side. After we get the drink going it only gets less professional from there. We welcome lots of great new listeners from myspace and read an email or two. Remember, this is tell a friend about the show month. Get out there and send a few emails to your friends, tell them how much you enjoy the podcast. We just want everyone to love us as much as we love doing this show.

Click HERE to visit the official Trader Vic’s

Drink of the Week
Kamaaina
2oz Lemon lime soda
1oz Gin
1oz Coconut syrup
1/2oz Triple Sec
1/2oz Fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups ice cubes
Blend all ingredients with ice for 20-30 seconds. Pour into tall tiki mug and garnish with a mint sprig and a pineapple wedge.

ZTL 243 Drink Enough Rum And Your Tiki Bar Becomes A Time Machine

Sunshine Tiki — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:57:43 +0000

Some treats are sweet. Some treats are good simply because it’s a surprise. We really aren’t sure which category this weeks podcast fits into. But, we dug deep into the annals of Zen Tiki Lounge and found episode #28. This was recorded so long ago we weren’t even sure of the date. Your original ZTL hosts were Sunshine and Pumpkin. We had not yet found our true tiki selves yet but just wanted to get behind the bar and record. And thats what we did. You will recognize the voices even though the audio quality is a bit rough, the rest of the show will seem foreign to those of you that have been listening to the most recent episodes. Some things remain a constant. The show starts with a cocktail, the Yellowbird. Which, continues to be Pumpkins favorite drink after all these years. For whatever reason there are random bits of music and sound effects in the background that don’t seem to have anything to do with what we are talking about. Hey, it was 2006! Before posting the show we put in an intro with a little context, a great big shout out to Tiki Caliente 4 which has rooms and tickets on sale now. Then, we added music from The Revomatics at the end of the show. Visit their site for details on upcoming shows, how to get their limited edition vinyl and also find their music in iTunes. If our friends and fans like this throwback we may do more of them in the future. Let us know what you think and post replies to this blog. Cheers and Mahalo!

Yellow Bird

2 ounce pineapple juice

2 ounces fresh orange juice

3/4 ounce creme de banana

1.5 ounces amber rum (Appleton or Cruzan are great in this drink)

Simply shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a glass with more crushed ice. Garnish with orange wheel and cherries on a skewer. Careful, this one sneaks up on you.

ZTL 242 This Tiki Bar Welcomes Gay Marriage And Cocktails

Sunshine Tiki — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:36:53 +0000

You don’t have to tell us twice that a tropical drink is a well deserved treat at the end of a long work week. Sunshine mixes up Colonel Beach’s Plantation Punch which he pulled up on the Tiki Plus app by Beachbum Berry. This gingery, citrus rum drink is full of vitamin C and helps you quickly lose all memory of your worst demons. Our music this week comes from the most recent Tikiyaki Orchestra album, “Aloha, Baby.” The latest CD is another lovely stroll down the beach with the guys whom we have all come to respect for their modern take on exotica and lounge. We have to mention a couple of our friends out there: Listener Stefan from Germany has a podcast aptly named The CocktailPodcast and is suited for our friends and fans who speak German. Yes, tiki does exist all over the globe! Check out the drink centric podcast by a man who knows a thing or two about drinking and the art of making drink. You can also check out a blog we just became aware of, The Pegu Blog which has been temporarily renamed The Tiki Blog for the month of February. Blogger Doug Winship has written both many of the great tiki podcasts that are currently producing shows and some that are dormant. Other fun stuff for this week includes creating a Las Vegas disguise kit, exotic story time based on a randomly selected song and the much over due ruling in California: Prop 8 has been ruled to be unconstitutional by the 9th circuit court. This isn’t about gay marriage people. It’s about civil rights and allowing all adults to be equal in the eyes of the law. Religion has nothing to do with it. Can you feel me? Good! Enjoy the show and Mahalo.

As mentioned, visit the blog of Tiki Chris Pinto and grab a Tiki Noir book for the pool or settle into a dark corner of any bar.

Colonel Beach’s Plantation Punch (courtesy Beachbum Berry’s “Tiki +” app for iPhone)

1 ounce lime juice

2 ounces pineapple juice (unsweetened)

2 ounces dark Jamaican Rum

1 ounce gold Puerto Rican Rum

1/2 ounce Barbados Rum

1/2 ounce falernum

1 dash bitters

6 drops Pernod or Anisette

2 ounces ginger beer

Shake all but ginger beer with ice in a shaker. Pour ginger beer into shaker, stir or swirl and pour unstrained into large tumbler filed with crushed ice. Garnish with lime and mint.

ZTL 241 Campari Kraken Is The Tiki Bar Psychic

Sunshine Tiki — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:10:10 +0000

After a recent trip to a local casino, Starshine and Sunshine are back in the lounge to tell of their travels. This is mostly to lampoon the worst psychic experience we have ever had. Sylvia Brown attempted to put on a “show” or “reading” but really just ended up leaving us with a heated desire to run back into the casino and find the nearest mai tai. And we did just that. That disappointment led us to finding our own tiki bar psychic who makes his first appearance on this episode answering listener questions. But we couldn’t be in the mood for predicting the future without a cocktail. Since Starshine wasn’t here when we first tried the Puka Shell, we brought it back for a another taste. Sunshine was hearing he islands call so our music this week is all Danny Stewart and the Islanders. Good ukelele to drink by. And to prove we are somewhat cultured there is a little bit of island inspired art via the old fashioned X ray machine. The art of Bert Meyers is not only beautiful, but shows us the creatures of the deep and long long ago in a totally new light. Listener mail includes some tips and tricks for easy party planning and how to choose the party to go to. Before we called it a week it was another update for Tiki Caliente 4. This event is something not to miss. Not only will you have a chance to join our ZTL room party but the entire weekend is filled with great musical acts like Martini Kings, Hula Girls, Smokin Menehunes, Sand Devils and The Deadbeat Daddies. Rooms and tickets are on sale now and are going fast. Book NOW and be sure to grab one of the limited edition event mugs when you check out.

Puka Shell

2 ounces white grapefruit juice

1 ounce Okolehao (Hawaiian ti plant liquor)

3/4 ounce spiced rum (Seven Tiki or Voodoo)

1/4 ounce cinnamon infused syrup*

Shake all with ice and pour into highball filled with crushed ice. Garnish with single cocktail cherry on a pick layed over top of drink. *Cinnamon Syrup: simmer 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar and 3 cinnamon sticks for 5 minutes. Turn off heat, set for 30 minutes and bottle. Keep in fridge for use in cocktails, coffee, on ice cream etc.

ZTL 240 Hawaiian Bruschetta And Grapefruit Daiquiris

Sunshine Tiki — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:42:13 +0000

It’s been a while since we invited a new host into the Zen Tiki Lounge. This week we are joined by Krista! A huge fan of tiki and pop culture herself, Krista fits right in here in the ZTL. Now Who’s ready for a cocktail? Try a simple grapefruit daiquiri. Sunshine and Krista sip this low calorie drink while Xavier Cugat and other great latin artists of the day. This week is full of tips for entertaining with less calories, both food and drink. You must try the Hawaiian Bruschetta paired with the Grapefruit Daiquiri. Simply magical together. And for the veggie lovers Krista has some tips on platters with dips that won’t break your waist. We’re also talking about reusing things around the bar, keeping that cocktail lifestyle as green as possible. Theres plenty more but my inebriated fingers are growing weak. Listen to the show for all the rest. Cheers!

Grapefruit Daiquiri with just 182 Calories

2 ounces white grapefruit juice

2 ounces light/amber rum (10 cane or Rhum Barbancourt)

1/4 ounce cinnamon infused syrup

Shake with ice and pour over crushed ice and sip away your cares.

Hawaiian Bruschetta just 40 calories per piece

1 pack Kings Hawaiian Rolls

3/4 cup chopped red onion

3/4 cup crushed pineapple

2 tsp butter

2 tablespoon dark brown sugar

Saute onion and pineapple with butter, adding sugar after onions have already gotten soft and translucent. Stir till sugar dissolves completely. Set aside. Slice rolls into three each, creating three thinner slices from each roll. Toast on a baking sheet in a 350 degree until corners start to brown, remove from oven. Top each piece with a teaspoon of sauté mixture. Garnish with chopped cilantro.