The Home Bar Guide to Tropical Cocktails: A Spirited Journey Through Suburbia’s Hidden Tiki Temples

by Tom Morgan, Kelly Reilly

Come and explore suburbia’s hidden tiki temples with Kelly and Tom. Sample over 150 of their original tropical cocktails!

These drinks chronicle their time spent bartending at home tiki bars during the rise of the craft cocktail revolution, among them Kirby's Rumpus Room, which hosted weekly parties for many years.  Included are riffs on tropical classics and original concoctions crowd-tested at home bars across the U.S. You’ll also find recipes for home-made syrups, including ancho chilli, lemongrass, sesame, hibiscus, and more.

Sven Kirsten—the authority behind The Book of Tiki—provides the Foreword. The book features full-page cocktail photos and glamour shots of some of the coolest home tiki bars around. Additionally, you’ll find lavish illustrations by Tiki Tony, chapter heading illustrations by Jake Geiger—a tiki aficionado and game designer for such hits as Guitar Hero and Call of Duty—and select featured art by Doug Horne, who is a true lowbrow Leonardo familiar to the tiki scene.

This guide is proof that you don't have to go very far to sample the best tropical drinks in town. Belly up to your basement Bali Hai or backyard Bora-Bora and mix yourself a tropical vacation!

272 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 2019

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Reviews

[Andy Montero · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a fun read, with lots of pretty pictures and illustrations, stories, and recipes. Kelly Hiphipahula and Trader Tom speak from a wealth of experience on the home Tiki bar scene. Although it was frustrating to see how many ingredients I don’t have to make most of their recipes, I am excited to try a few of them. Okole maluna!

[Taylor Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an excellent guide to setting up a tiki bar in your home. Additionally, it also comes with a great set of photos of some amazing home bars. Seventy-five percent or so of the book is made up of drink recipes. I’ve tried a few and they were fine. It’s good to know that many recipes use very specific ingredients that you probably don’t have in your home bar (even it it’s an extensive one). I picked five recipes at random to give you an idea. The rare ingredients in those five include passion fruit nectar, chamomile syrup, creole shrub, prickly pear syrup, botanical gin, and blood orange liqueur. If you’ve burned through other cocktail books and are looking for new recipes this might be the book for you, but I would start with Smuggler’s Cove and various books by Jeff Berry before buying this one.

[Nadina · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I skipped through the introduction/background. I also didn't make any, there was only one that interested me though (the Chocolate Orange) but so many required many ingredients and that is just daunting to me, especially if you don't know if you'll like the drink.
May be some good drinks for some people. It was well organized and easy to follow.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing photos and a good overall tiki cocktail book. Absolutely beautiful for any mid-century modern coffee table to tiki bar enthusiast (aka "tikiphile" -- I am one!)!