Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails

by Shannon Mustipher

The IACP 2020 winner in the Beer, Wine, & Spirits category, Shannon Mustipher's book on exotic cocktails offers a refreshingly modern take on tiki. With original recipes, techniques, tasting notes and recommendations, and tips on style and music, Tiki is an inspirational resource for cocktail lovers ready to explore fine Caribbean rums.

Tiki is the endless summer, an instant vacation, a sweet and colorful ticket to paradise with no baggage fees. Romanticized since midcentury but too long overlooked as the province of suburban lodges and family resorts, the tiki cocktail is stepping into its moment with sophisticated spirits lovers, skilled mixologists, and intrepid foodies. In Tiki , Brooklyn-based rum expert Shannon Mustipher brings focus on refreshing flavors, fine spirits, and high-impact easy-to-execute presentation.
Dozens of easy-to-follow recipes present new versions of classic tiki drinks along with original cocktails using quality rums, infused and fat-washed spirits, liqueurs, fresh fruit juices, and homemade syrups. Tastemakers in the contemporary tiki boom, including Nathan Hazard, Brother Cleve, Laura Bishop, and Ean Bancroft, contribute their recipes. As a true aficionado, Mustipher breaks down Caribbean rums and spirits with practical tasting notes. Fans of classic tiki bibles such as Smuggler's Cove and Potions of the Caribbean can embrace Tiki 's modern style and spirit
while new tiki fans learn from Mustipher's expertise, accessible recipes, and clear instruction.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cocktails, Food, Nonfiction, Food and Drink, Reference

192 pages, Hardcover

Published March 19, 2019

Reviews

[Cristhian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me hubiera encantado un poco más de historia sobre las recetas pero bueno, es lo que hay.


3.8/5

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beautiful and creative - an aspirational cocktail book for those perhaps at my level looking for ideas and innovations to take my cocktails to the next level. Wherever Shannon Mustipher is, I want to be drinking what she is making.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

much more usable than smuggler's cove in terms of individual recipes; i found the recommended spirits for each cocktail especially helpful. i wasn't as sold on the rum categorization scheme (largely locale-based) and found myself learning heavily on smuggler's cove to make sense of possible substitutes. in a similar vein, there is no advice on how to build up a rum bar, which makes it a little hard to know where to start. a great book that i would pair with an additional intro to tiki for new tiki entrants like myself

[Josh Fogelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. The book itself is beautifully written with great photos. But the actual recipes are overly complex to the point that a home bartender would probably only make 1 out of every 20 recipes. So it is not a very useful book. I did learn a lot about all the different types of rum though, with specific brands listed.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prepare yourself for difficult to find and create ingredients. I have not tried any of these recipes yet, but I am intrigued.

[Konrad S · Rating 3 out of 5]

For this home tiki enthusiast it was a one star. Maybe for the wealthy with a ton of time on their hands it could be a five star. So I'm settling in the middle at three stars, to be fair. The recipes are just incredibly difficult, with liquor and other ingredients I've never heard of and not sure I could even source in my home state. And some of the methods to infuse alcohol with other ingredients seem like cooking an entire meal, only to use 1/4 ounce in a recipe, even though the shelf life is just 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Who would do this at home? Bottom line... if you're the average person looking to easily make a quality tiki drink... it's a hard pass on this book.

[Kristin]

I opted not to give any star rating for this book. For the right audience, I think this book is a beautiful and creative resource - and I think that audience needs to be professional bartenders whether on the job or entertaining at home. For the amateur cocktail fan, this book is definitely out of reach. The number of highly specialized ingredients/liquors required or the complex blends, infusions, and washes needed for all but the very simplest of recipes make this book non-approachable for the masses. The last 20 pages do contain some useful reference material.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book with great details and descriptions. Found the recipes in the first part of the book to be very doable and delicious, second half required ingredients that are generally too difficult to find or stock in a home bar.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is more of a “cocktail” than “tiki” guy which is fine. That means there’s some different stuff here than in other tiki cocktail books. Unfortunately there’s also a lot of oddball ingredients so you need a pretty extensive back bar to make very many of these.

[Christiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty photos, but a little too hard and fancier ingredients than I am in for as a first foray into making tropical cocktails.

[Carrie Honaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved all the inventive takes on tiki! Mai Tai was my first tiki drink, and I can’t wait to try Mustipher’s variations.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional writing and recipes. Would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about Tiki, get better at home mixology, or both!

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the photos and the first two chapters of the book containing the simpler recipes, but as I got further into it, the recipes were overly complex and by the end I felt it was too pretentious and not worth buying for a home cocktail enthusiast.