Cigar Time

Sunday, October 22, 2017

The glorious weather of MEA weekend continues! Although a little cooler today, it was still pleasant enough to sit outside with a cigar in the backyard. The tiki pictured was a bargain I picked up at Bachman's yesterday.

Mermaid Lounge

Saturday October 21, 2017

Cocktail hour tonight on the porch in the Mermaid Lounge. More beautiful weather today on this MEA weekend.

Tilted Tiki - There's a New Bar in Town

Friday, October 20, 2017

Recently through Critic I discovered that Minnesota has a new tiki bar - The Tilted Tiki.  Although a slight jaunt from Minneapolis it's well worth the trip. On break for MEA weekend, Dale and I decided to make the trip to Stillwater to give it a go. The long weekend has been gorgeous so far with highs in the upper 70s. It was 77 degrees in Minneapolis when we left. The bar opened just under a year ago in November of 2016. 

We discovered a coconut carving of a monkey as part of the Tilted Tiki's decor. 

Our friend Julie bought one of these for us at a gas station in Florida more than 20 years ago on a trip  she took there. It was a gag so we named it Amy and regifted it to her slightly destroyed. The regifting went on for a couple of years with Amy in slightly worse shape each time.

Before making the trip I checked out the Tilted Tiki's drink menu online and decided I'd start with the Mai Tai. More to follow. It's fantastic by the way...

Tilted Tiki - Lay of the Land

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Tilted Tiki is located in an old building on Stillwater's Main Street. The architecture of the building doesn't really go with tiki but they do a great job of making it all work with the tiki-centric decor.

The bar has a fantastic patio. When Dale and I arrived at the restaurant there was no one sitting inside but the outside was packed. Temperatures in the upper 70s will do that I guess.

Tilted Tiki - Menu

Friday, October 20, 2017

The back of the menu says it all.

Tilted Tiki - Drink Menu

Friday, October 20, 2017

Tilted Tiki has a nice looking drink menu which highlights their beautiful drinks. Although they don't feature tiki mugs, the clear glasses the cocktails come in shows off their gorgeous colors.

Tilted Tiki - Ordering Drinks

Friday, October 20, 2017

For my first drink I ordered their Mai Tai which was insanely good. The drink menu blurb describes it as "Vic Bergeron's drink of legend - Mai Tai literally means 'The Best.' The finest most authentic Mai Tai in Minnesota." I'd say they're right.

Dale order a beer. A Fulton Lonely Blonde to be exact which is an American blonde ale.

I ordered the shrimp poor boy for lunch which was delicious by the way.

Tilted Tiki - Mai Tai

Friday, October 20, 2017

Dale asked for a sip of my Mai Tai. Judging from the pictures I'd say he enjoyed it.

Tilted Tiki - Tilted Hawaiian

Friday, October 20, 2017

For my second tiki drink I ordered the Tilted Hawaiian.   Yum. Yum. Yum. The drink menu blurb for the drink says: "Dive into the refreshing blue waters of Hawaii and enjoy the flavors of rum, pineapple and coconut." I was drawn to its blue color which reminded me of the Blue Hawaiians I used to order back in the 1980s.

Tilted Tiki Shooter - Shark Bite

Friday, October 20, 2017

After lunch I decided to try a tiki shot. I went with the Shark Bite. The good natured bartender told me to "watch out" when he brought it over to me. Taste-wise it really did have something of a bite. The drink menu says it contains blue curacao, pineapple juice, and grenadine.

Tilted Tiki - Until Next Time

Friday, October 20, 2017

The bar has a small sitting room near the entrance that's, I'm assuming, for people waiting to be seated. When the bar isn't full I'm sure it's fine to use it as a lounge for cocktails. Before leaving Dale and I checked it out.

Can't wait until next time....

Tiki with Ray

Friday, October 13, 2017

Watched Tiki With Ray for the first time this afternoon.

The focus was on non-alcoholic tiki drinks which looked and sounded rather appealing. They also spoke a bit about how much tiki can encompass - food, drink, art, fabrics, decor, music, etc.

Puffer Fish Friday

Friday, October 13, 2017

Pufferfish clocks by Shag.

Tiki Mug, Aloha Shirt, Cigar

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Purchased the Beachcomber tiki drink along with the mug.

Psycho Suzi's - October 7, 2017

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Today I spoke at a luncheon at Elsie's, a Nordeast Minneapolis institution, at the request of a friend. After the luncheon I headed over to Psycho Suzi's, another Minneapolis institution, just up the road. 

I ordered the Beachcomber which was a new one for me. See the description from Suzi's drink menu below.

I have to say I rather enjoyed the drink.

Mermaid Monday

Art by El Gato Gomez (elgatogomez_art) on Instagram.

Tiki Mug Monday

Monday, September 25, 2017

Here are both of my parrot mugs side by side.

Psycho Suzi's - September 16, 2017

This past Saturday I had a union meeting which started at 9 a.m. and was to go until 4. However, we finished our work by 11:45 and since my favorite tiki bar, Psycho Suzi's, is so close I decided to grab a little lunch there.

I sat at the bar and ordered a Paralyzed Polynesian. The blurb for the drink which appears on the drink menu is as follows:

"New Polynesian Paralysis: 'A screaming desire not to work, nor do anything that requires any substantial effort either physical or mental.' That's the right attitude. Made with 4 different rums, hibiscus, and citrus. Circa 1966."

Sounded just right for where I was at the moment.

For lunch I ordered the Hawaiian Surf pizza which is topped by Canadian bacon and pineapple.

When I'm there alone I love sitting next to the drink station at the bar where the servers pick up tiki cocktails (and other drinks) to deliver to customers. After my pizza arrived my bartender asked how everything was. I told him it was great. One of the chatty waitresses who was waiting for an order right next to me and flirting with the bartender said, "although I bet he wishes we would just shut up. I turned to her and said that I actually love to sit in the very spot I was in to hear the banter between the servers and the bar staff. She said, "Yeah, I call all this Psycho Suzi TV."

Moments later a woman walked by holding what looked to be a two year old who was screaming bloody murder. Every time I hear a kid screaming like this I wanna tell him it all just gets harder the older one gets so he may as well not sweat the small stuff. My bartender pulled a cord to blow a really loud boat horn to startle the kid out of his misery. I don't know if it worked. The woman holding  the kid was walking pretty fast. Now, this horn was really loud and I had no idea Suzi's had one. When I asked the bartenders what it was for they told me it was actually to blow for boats passing by the restaurant which is located on the Mississippi River. They said the port authority recently closed the lock and dam just past the restaurant so big boats don't go by anymore and now they just pull it to amuse themselves. The effects of my Paralyzed Polynesian had started to kick in and I cam really close to asking if I could pull it but I chickened out. 

For dessert I ordered the Fu Manchu. I think it works as a dessert drink due to the fact that one of its ingredients is coffee. It's also got some kind of sweet syrup in it so it reminds me a little bit of Bailey's.