A Spirited Journey Through Suburbia’s Hidden Tiki Temples
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 USA. You’ll also find recipes for home-made syrups, including ancho chilli, lemongrass, sesame, hibiscus, and more.
Kelly and Tom were kind enough to create a signature cocktail for Korero Press called the El Korero. It’s got a nice rum kick with a hint of caraway. Watch them drop by The Vinyl Pad and mix one up.
The Home Bar Guide To Tropical Cocktails has it’s very own website. Check it out to find out about pendants and other swag as well as events.
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. Venture down to your basement Bali Hai or backyard Bora-Bora and mix yourself a tropical vacation!
Illustrations by Tiki tOny
Tiki Tony lives in a beachcomber shack made of driftwood and bamboo on the beach in Ventura, California with his wife, Alene. He spends his time daydreaming and creating exotic objects of curiosity out of found materials on the beach. He also illustrates and paints, and produces limited edition handmade tiki mugs and art.
Foreword by Sven A. Kirsten
Sven A. Kirsten is the author of the Book of Tiki, which is widely acknowledged as the bible of the style, and Tiki Modern, which further explores tiki style’s relation to mid-century modernism. His most recent work, Tiki Pop, represents the complete chronicles of America’s obsession with Polynesia.
Kelly Reilly is a Los Angeles mixologist and bartender who is highly respected in the discerning world of Craft Cocktails. At the famous Tonga Hut in North Hollywood, she was instrumental in revamping their cocktail menu and helping to organise their Loyal Order of the Drooling Bastard programme. Kelly guest bartends for small events and large gatherings such as Tiki Oasis and Tiki Caliente.
Tom Morgan lives in the West Hills of Southern California’s San Fernando Valley. He teaches film, screenwriting and public speaking across Southern California. This may not appear at first to be connected to tiki cocktails, but all that writing and teaching has given him a powerful thirst.
