Falernum and the One Eyed Willie

Coconaut (left) One Eyed Willie (right)

A few weeks ago my friends Mike and Charisse brought Charisse's sister to Psycho Suzi's for a drink. The sister ordered the Coconaut (which I love) and Charisse got the One Eyed Willie (which I've never had). With my curiosity raised, I decided to give the cocktail a try in the near future. 

One of the ingredients for the One Eyed Willie is falernum which I've never heard of. According to Wikipedia: 

"Falernum (pronounced fal-learn-um) is a sweet syrup used in Caribbean and tropical drinks. It contains flavors of almond, ginger and/or cloves, and lime, and sometimes vanilla or allspice. It is used in cocktails in a manner similar to orgeat syrup or can be drunk on the rocks."

"The syrup from can be alcoholic or nonalcoholic."

"The consistency is thick, the color can be white to light amber, and it may be clear or translucent."

"Some reports have the origination of falernum dated back to the 18th century."

In the literary magazine All the Year Round, owned by Charles Dickens, Jr. at the time, an unnamed author wrote of falernum in 1892, describing it as 'a curious liqueur composed from rum and lime juice.'"

Another drink in which it is used it the Zombie.

Lunchtime at Psycho Suzi's

On Friday, July 14, I had a meeting in Nordeast Minneapolis. We finished around 11:30 which was a bit earlier than expected. Since it was lunchtime I hightailed it over to my favorite tiki bar, Psycho Suzi's, to grab a little lunch. I started with a One-Eyed Willie tiki drink and ordered the 8-inch Hawaiian pizza (Canadian bacon and pineapple). 

I asked the bartender what was in it. He told me he  could not divulge that information as he was sworn to secrecy. The drink menu describes the One-Eyed Willie as follows:

"This salty dog is a dangerous and deadly potion. Dark Jamaican Rum, house made falernum, orange, pineapple, fresh lime, and 151 rum. Circa 1962."

I like it a lot. It had KICK!

Since I was dining alone, I sat at the bar and had a great view of Suzi's patio which overlooks the Mississippi River. It was a gorgeous day and it felt just like I was sitting outside as my bar stool was at the end of the bar closest to all the open doors to the patio. There was a large contingent of older folks on the deck who looked like they were all together. There must have been 20 of them and they took up two large tables.  My perch was also excellent as it was next to the station where all the servers picked up drinks from the bar so I had a chance to engage in light conversation with them. One server lamented to my bartender that one of the older ladies wanted someone to come out and trim the palm fronds of the thatched umbrella over the table as it was hanging in her hair. We all got a smile out of that (and no, no one went out to trim the fronds - I think the lady just scooted her chair in a bit more). No judgement, just amusement. I find the older I get the more I'm willing to make requests like that where I know the answer will most likely be no, 'cuz, hey, at the worst you'll be denied but maybe, just maybe, the answer will even be yes.

Anyway, my pizza arrived and it was scrumptious. First time I've ever been to Psycho Suzi's outside of the evening and I loved it. Less busy and it allowed me to engage in some casual chat with the servers and my friendly and highly attentive bartender. Sorry I didn't catch his name. Maybe next time...

Aloha Shirt

Photo from June 21.

Aloha Shirt

Pretty nice aloha shirt considering it came from a Walmart in northern Wisconsin.

Photos from June 21.

Tiki Tuesday

While going through photos I found this one from about 5 years ago. I was in Uptown for some reason and came by this house with a big ol' tiki on its second floor porch. Not sure if it's still there. Maybe I'll swing by just to see...

Puffer Fish Friday

From Pagan Idol's Doc Park's Instagram account. My favorite puffer fish, Puff Daddy, when he was a wee fish.

Tiki Tuesday - Brad "Tiki Shark" Parker

Who is Brad "Tiki Shark" Parker? I'd say he's my favorite artist in the vein of tiki pop/lowbrow art.

On  his website he is quoted as saying:

"I'm a 'Tiki Artist': a low-brow artist who specializes in Hawaiian pop-culture. I don't paint historically correct tikis. I paint 'souvenir tikis'. I paint tiki's summer holiday reflection. I celebrate the tiki tourists enjoy on their holiday vacation - found in gift shops and in tiki bars. The tiki I paint is an urban myth; a figment of holiday vacation superstition, like Mr. Jack-o-Lantern, the Easter Bunny, or Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. My mission as a tiki artist is to give this fun fictional figure an upgrade, and to help it keep up with our always evolving tiki-pop-culture."

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