Summer 2025 - Arizona

 

Recent trip with Dale to Arizona to visit family. We stayed with John and Dianne and had a great time. 

Usually when in Phoenix we visit a couple of our favorite tiki bars. However, this trip did not allow it due to Ericka visiting and needing to just spend time with family.

Didn't partake in any rum drinks either, However, I spent LOTS of time by the pool with other cocktails and smoked a few cigars after dark when it was cooler outside. 

We'll be going back in September for about 10 days and I'm already looking forward to that!

Summer 2025 - And Then Even MORE Cigar Time & Tiki Cocktails

 Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Today a Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur.

A couple more Orange Speedos. The orange pop was used up so I added back the orgeat and topped it off with blackberry Bubly water. Looked a bit more yellow-y than orange-y. Maybe next time I'll use grapefruit juice rather than orange juice to orange it up a bit more. 

Esquival for cocktail music. 

Summer 2025 - Even More Cigar Time & Tiki Cocktails

  Sunday, July 27, 2025

More cigars today. In fact, 3 little Macanudos. 

Hot as hell but beautifully sunny. 

Chilled out with my signature cocktail. 

Listened to The Exotic Moods of Les Baxter, a great collection compiled by Capitol Records. 

Summer 2025 - More Cigar Time & Tiki Cocktails

 Saturday, July 26, 2025

Another cigar today. This time a Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur and it was fantastic. 

Also made a couple more Joey's Orange Speedos. This time I left out the orgeat which made it a little less sweet.

                       

Not sure I'm gonna keep using the Sunkist Zero Sugar. Despite being sugarless it's still made to taste quite sweet. If I don't use it next time I may reintroduce the orgeat. 

I used a fun tiki glass I got from The Black Lagoon Room. I like their stuff. I got it when they a booth at a previous Big Kahuna Bash. 

Speaking of the Big Kahuna Bash we didn't make it to this year's event. This is the seventh year and as sorry as I am to miss it it's probably for the best since the heat and humidity are dangerously high today. Maybe next year. Shag designed the linocut print for the event (see below).

Dale joined me outside as I was getting to the end of my cigar. I was on my 2nd Orange Speedo and he had a glass of white wine. 

Listened to Arthur Lyman which is always enjoyable. 

Summer 2025 - Cigar Time & Tiki Cocktails

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Summer's in full swing and I've appreciated the time to relax and smoke lots of cigars. My cigar of choice today was a La Flor Dominicana also known a "the digger." It's one of my favorites and can take a couple-plus hours to smoke.

Set up shop in the garage and lit up shortly before 4 p.m.  Dewpoint and humidity were quite high so saying it was sultry is more than appropriate. 

                         

Made a tiki drink, the Joey's Orange Speedo. It goes really well with tropical-type weather. 

I'm continually playing with and slightly adjusting the recipe. This time I used 2 ounces of Captain Morgan spiced rum, an ounce and a half of orange curacao, one ounce of falernum, and half an ounce of orgeat. After adding these ingredients I eyeballed how much liquid was in the glass and then added an equal amount of orange juice. Next I added a few ice cubes an then, new to the recipe, I topped it off with Sunkist Zero Sugar. 

I gotta say that although the Sunkist orange pop made it a little sweeter than I like it really gave it the color I've wanted. 

Next time I think I'll leave out the orgeat to take the sweetness level down a skosh. 

Listened to one of my favorite Ultra-Lounge collections, Mondo Exotica. I remember when I first listened to this back in the late 90s and thinking that all the bird and animal calls were kinda weird but after getting used to that I found it quite wonderful and became a fan of exotica music.

Due to the length of time it takes to smoke a digger I also listened to a rather lenthy collection of Martin Denny music titled The Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny. Back in the days of CDs this would have been a two disc set. 

The combination of the sultry weather, tiki drinks, a cigar, and exotica music made for a fun summer afternoon. 

Hula Hula Cocktail

Saturday, July 13, 2024 

Before cocktail hour with Dale I had a cigar out in the garage.

Finished up the Blue Hawaiian I had left over from the other night. 

                     

Brought back the Hula Hula Cocktail. It's been a while. 

                      

This is one of the first tiki drinks I made on my own because it's so simple. It's one part gin (I used Bombay Sapphire), one part orange curacao, and one part orange juice. 

Dale and I listened to Ultra Lounge Vol. 1: Mondo Exotica. It's been a while since I've listened to this one. It's one of the best Exotica samplers out there. 

Also listened to Ultra Lounge: Hey Bartender which is lots of fun as well. 

Blue Hawaiian

 

Stopped by Ken and Norm's recently and they had a whole bunch of On the Rocks brand premade cocktails. One was a Blue Hawaiian. I decided to pick one up. 

Saved it for when Mike came over for cigars a few days ago. Good to see Mike. The Blue Hawaiian was okay. It was a little sweet for my taste. 

Hula's Modern Tiki - Phoenix

 Friday, February 2, 2024

Dale and I are in Phoenix to visit family so we took the opportunity to revisit Hula's Modern Tiki at the 7th Street location in Phoenix. 

Listened to Mondo Exotica from the Ultra Lounge on the drive in.

It took some effort to get there as we headed into town during rush hour. However, it turned out to be well worth the wait. I got a kick out of this picture hanging in the restaurant. It looks like the cover of a Pink Martini album cover. 

                     

Tiki drinks are only $8.00 each during happy hour. I started with the Blood Orange Martini which I've had before and is one of my favorites. According to the menu it contains vodka, blood orange liqueur, orange, lime, and cranberry juices. Not over sweet and the blood oranges provide a nice sharpness which gives it a great bite. Dale went with a house red wine during our time here. 

                    

Appetizers only 8 bucks as well. We had the Crispy Fish Bites. So delicious. We both loved 'em. 

                     

For my second drink I went with the Tiki Bastard. This one has gin, bourbon, pomegranate syrup, lime juice, and cock 'n bull ginger brew. Very unique. 

                      

For my third drink I had the Hula's Blue Hawaiian. This contains coconut rum, vodka, sweet & sour, blue curacao, coconut, and pineapple. A little sweeter than the other two but not overly so and the sweetness works well with the coconut flavors. 

                     

For dinner we each had Caesar salads. Dale got his with tuna but I had mine with shrimp. Again, delicious. 

                      

Our bartender took really good care of us. 

The place was lively and had great energy. 

Our drive back to Peoria was a bit quicker than our journey into town. 

Lit up a stogie once we got home. 

Fun outing today. Dale and I both had a great time.