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. 

Phoenix Sunday, July 16, 2023 - Cocktails, Dinner, and Cigars

Visiting family in Phoenix. This past Sunday it got to at least 112.

John and Dianne recommended a cigar store and I picked up a couple of Macanudos.

Made some Navy Grog. Was precise with the ingredients if not the proportions. Regardless it was awesome. 

I've been enjoying the pool. 

We picked up a rotisserie chicken at Safeway. Dale cut it up and made salad. 

Had King's Hawaiian rolls too. 

Delicious. Ate outside. 

After dinner cigar. 

Undertow - Gilbert Arizona

Saturday, April 1, 2023

Dale and I are out in Phoenix visiting Brenda, Irv, John, and Dianne, and we made it to Undertow's new location in Gilbert, Arizona. The above photo is from their website and is better than anything I could've taken due to the darkness of the place. 

Our seating was set for 3:30 and we arrived just in time. Dianne, Dale, and I met John's son Pete at the restaurant. Pete lives only a few blocks from the bar. He's been quite excited to go for a while. I guess the Gilbert location been's open for about a year and he's been waiting for us to come out to visit before checking it out himself which is very sweet. Above photo is my own and was taken from the bar which is where we were seated. 

Above photo is from Undertow's website and is a clearer shot of the barrels across from where we were seated sat the bar. 

The booth that was behind where we were seated. I wish we could've been seated here since we could have seen each other better. 

My first cocktail was the Missionary's Downfall which, according to the menu is from the 1940s and is attributed to Don the Beachcomber. This version was made from Flor de Cana 7 year aged Nicaraguan rum, Giffard peach, pineapple, mint, and honey. Nicely sweet, and not overly so. I adored it. So well made. 

Dianne started with a non-alcoholic cocktail called the Captain's Apprentice. This featured a non-alcoholic spiced gin, green chartreuse, mint, strawberry, cream of coconut, lime leaf, and lime. She really liked it. Dale had a beer and Pete started with a Mai Tai. 

For my second drink I went with the Three Dots and a Dash. A true classic which was sharper and had a wonderful hint of bitterness which really provided a great contrast with my first drink. Loved this one too. 

Dianne's second drink was another non-alcoholic choice called the Shipless Sailor. This one featured non-alcoholic Jamaican rum, heirloom Alechemeres, orgeat, hibiscus, lime leaf, lime, and pineapple. I think she like this one just a little bit more from her first drink. Dale got another beer for his second round. Pete asked what I recommended for his second drink. I told him the get what I was having, the Three Dots and a Dash, because it complemented the sweetness of the first drink. He loved it. 

I asked the bartender if they had any tiki mugs for sale and he brought out the little guy pictured above to show me. He was hand carved and made into a mold. The tiki mugs were a limited edition of only 500 mugs. I made him mine. He was to cool not to pass up. Dianne marveled at the detail and liked how his eyes would follow you when you look at him. 

The Undertow bar experience was slightly similar to that of Pagan Idol in San Francisco. The bar takes place in the hold of a ship which sets sail after being seated. When you reach port after your hour and a half seating time you're expected to exit the ship. The experience at Pagan Idol takes you a port as well but you can stay as long as you like. 

We all had a great time and it was worth the hour and a half drive to get to Gilbert from Peoria. 

Everything was amazing: the drinks; the service; the decor; the atmosphere. We all felt the same way. I can't wait to go back. 

Until next time....

Cigar Time

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Not a bad day for a cigar...

...despite the heat.

While doing some rum tasting I listened to Hawaiian songs Apple Music selected for me. Shown above is Plantation Rum. Music selections included the following:

Joey's Orange Speedo - My Signature Tiki Cocktail

We had Warren over recently. He loves my signature tiki cocktail, the Joey's Orange Speedo. This signature tiki cocktail has evolved a bit over the  past however-many years. Following is the most recent iteration of the recipe. 

Joey's Orange Speedo

3 ounces Plantation Rum

1 1/2 ounces Orange Curaçao 

1/2 ounce Falernum

1/2 ounce Orgeat

3 ounces Grapefruit Juice*

Ingredients may be combined in a lowball glass and then stirred or combined in a cocktail shaker, shaken on ice, and then poured into a lowball glass. 

Add ice cubes and top off with Club Soda.

*Note: Drink may also be made with orange juice or an orange/pineapple blend. 

Quarantiki - Grog

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

For cocktail hour tonight I made grog. It's a traditional tiki drink which I've heard gets its name from Admiral Edward "Old Grogram" Vernon of the British Royal Navy in the 1700s. It's basically just line, juice, sugar syrup (I used Demerara sugar), and rum. Simple and delicious.

I've wanted to make this drink for a long time.


I looked over three different recipes, came up with something of an amalgamation, and ended up with the following:

3/4 oz. lime juice
3/4 oz. Demerara sugar syrup*
3 oz. rum**
lime wedge as a garnish

Shake in cocktail shaker and then strain into a lowball with ice cubes.

*I used Beachbum Barry's way of making sugar syrup. One cup sugar (I used Demerara) and one park water shaken until the sugar dissolves in the water. I like it because it's a tad easier and faster than the boiling method.
** I used Hamilton 86 Demerara Rum

I had a sense of deja vu while drinking the grog. I was similar to something I'd had before. On a hunch I looked up the Barbados Rum Punch recipe in Martin and Rebecca Cate's Smugglers Cove book from 2016. Yep, I'd hit the nail on the head. The only difference between the Barbados Rum Punch and the Grog was a dash of Angosture bitters. I added that to my third grog of the evening and, voila, I revisited the first (and so far only) drink I'd made from the Smuggler's cove book. 

Quarantiki - Floridita Daiquiri

Wednesday, March 26, 2020

The drink from Shannon Mustipher's book I chose to make is the Floridity Daiquiri. Now I've never made a daiquiri before and if I've ever had one it was a long time ago. Anyway, this one seemed pretty simple to put together. It calls for 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice, 1 bar spoon granulated sugar, and 2 ounces aged white rum. 

I upped the lime juice to one full ounce, used a tablespoon of bakers sugar, and added 1 extra ounce of the aged white rum (I used Diplomatico Planas - recommended by Mustipher).

The end result was simply fantastic. I can't believe something that simple could be that good! The rum was great, the sugar added a certain effervescence, and the fresh lime juice added a wonderful sharpness and tang to the whole thing!

This is one I'm definitely gonna make again!

The Bikini Lounge - Phoenix Arizona

Friday, October 19, 2019

Can I just say I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this place. 

Dale and I are in Phoenix visiting family and decided to give the Bikini Lounge a try. Last year we visited Under Tow, and on Spring Break of this year we hit Hula's Modern Tiki. 

Tiki snobs need to check their attitudes at the door. Comfortable, kitschy, unpretentious, fun, and friendly are all words that come to mind as I try to sum up the place. 

Yep, it's a dive and that adds to the charm. If you can't appreciate that then you really don't belong. We arrived shortly after it opened at 3 p.m. so it wasn't anywhere near crowded which allowed our bartender, Michelle, to give us lots of attention and tell us stories about the history of the place. 

The place has been open since 1947. It's been mostly a beer joint for most of that time but more recently since the tiki revival actual tiki drinks have been added to the menu. 

I started with the Mr. Howell which, according to the menu, contains coconut rum, spiced rum, mango puree, pineapple juice, and sweet and sour. 

Michelle told me I could make it a Mrs. Howell by drinking it half down and adding champagne to top it off. I tried it. That was pretty awesome too.

The place was ready for Halloween. Spider webs had been put up all over the place. Michelle told us the place was laid out pretty much the way it originally was when it opened and that a lot of the decor is original too. 

I believe some of the paintings are newer. 

For my second round I went with the Blue Hawaiian. Dale stuck with beer. The menu describes it as light rum, blue Curacao, pineapple juice and cream of coconut. I remember one of my first if not the first tropical drink I had was the Blue Hawaiian. I ordered it back in college when it was legal for me to drink. Not sure what prompted me to order that particular drink and it was the 80s and I not sure where I heard of it. Any way I loved it. I don't remember it having cream. However, I think that's was made it especially good. Michelle told me they mix coconut milk and coconut cream. It made it hearty and rich. 

The place had a pool table toward the back. 

And a vintage condom machine in the bathroom. 

Michelle told us the story about the ledge to rest your feet on while sitting at the bar. It used to be a urinal trough so men could drink and pee and never have to leave the bar. The grating that used to be over the trough was replaced with a floor covering so now it just looks like a foot rest. Go figure. 

I loved the place and as did Dale so I'm almost positive we'll be making a return trip! 

So much more to see.

And so many more drinks to try.