# Thursday, July 05, 2007

I just got a copy of the recently released

 


Sippin' Safari: In Search of the Great "Lost" Tropical Drink Recipes... and the People Behind Them

 

and it's proving to be quite an excellent book.  Jeff "Beachbum" Berry has authored three previous books on Tiki drinks ( Beachbum Berry's Grog Log, Beachbum Berry's Intoxica!, and Beachbum Berry's Taboo Table) and the food that goes with them, and this is his finest work to date. 

In his quest to recover the lost art of the faux tropical drink, he's done a truly amazing amount of legwork and research.  Sippin' Safari is as much a work of history as it is a drink book.  Mr. Berry tracked down an interviewed a number of famous (in the right circles) waiters and bartenders from the old tiki bars and gotten their recipes first hand, doing some detective work along the way.  There's a whole chapter on tracking down the Zombie recipe (which I still haven't tried, as it takes a bit of prep), tracking down leads and referencing a copy of a 1937 bartenders notebook.  Cool stuff, both from the tiki and research perspectives. 

The book is filled with pictures of classic tiki bars, old drink menus, the bartenders and their families, and other interesting details surrounding the original 30s-70's tiki scene. 

If you are into tiki, history, or both, this is well worth the read.

Thursday, July 05, 2007 9:29:52 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)  #    Comments [0]