Quarantiki - End of the Week

Friday, March 20, 2020

Four days of social distancing and staying home except for shopping for essential items. We headed to the grocery store today but also made a stop at the liquor store (talk about essential items). I picked up some gin and orange curaçao. 

It's been interesting. Dale's working from home too. I never thought we'd be able to have work lunches but that's a part of the new reality. Had a couple hula hula cocktails tonight. Very refreshing. Very delicious. 

Quarantiki - St. Patrick's Day 2020

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Wow. So much has changed in the U,S. since I last posted. Two days ago the governor of Minnesota ordered all schools closed starting tomorrow. My district, however, started their closure today. We had school yesterday but only 5 of my students showed up. 

Decided to have a cocktail today for St. Patrick's day. I only had rum and OJ on hand so I mixed that together. Not very Irish, but what the heck. Also, calling it tiki is a bit of a stretch but I guess we work with what we've got.

Spring break starts at the end of next week and Dale and I were supposed to leave for Arizona. We've decided to cancel due to the epidemic. It's a bummer as we were going to explore some tiki bars in Phoenix and also Palm Springs. Decided I'll mix up some tiki drinks here so I've been reading Tiki - Modern Tropical Cocktails by Shannon Mustipher to get some ideas. It's a great book and beautifully photographed.

Tiki Tuesday - Corey Smith

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

I love the artwork of Corey Smith (aka coreysmithcreative on Instagram).

Psycho Suzi's - 1st Visit of 2020

Saturday, January 25, 2019

Dale and I took Mom to pick up some chairs she had had refinished at a place near Psycho Suzi's where we stopped on the way home.

Dale needed to be told to leave the Maori outside alone. 

Dale and I are doing a dry January. Mom is not so she ordered a beer. Dale got a non-alcoholic beer. I got the one tiki drink on the menu that doesn't contain booze. It's called the Virgin Cockatiel and according to the menu it contains coconut, ginger, and a blend of fruit. I found it to be quite tasty. 

The wontons at Suzi's are fantastic. Mom loves 'em so we got a couple orders. We all talked for a while and had a great time. 

Before leaving I of course stopped by the gift store. I bought one of the tumblers that Suzi's is now using for their drinks instead of tiki mugs. 

The gentleman who rang me up asked if I'd like to see one of their limited edition discontinued mugs. Of course I said yes. When he brought it out I reached for it in my excitement thinking he would let me hold it. He wouldn't. The mug was of a shrunken head and it was awesome. He told me it would cost $60. I declined the offer but now I'm thinking I should have gotten it. Maybe next time. 

11th Psycho Suzi Visit for 2019

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Looks like Suzi's gone the way of other Tiki bars and only serves their drinks in a tiki mug if you want to buy the mug. Otherwise they give it to you in a regular glass. Stopped in tonight before a union meeting and started with the Psychotic Suzi. No dry ice in this one. 

My second drink was the Coconaut.

At least the glasses have the Psycho Suzi's logo on them. 

Afterward I checked the gift shop but didn't see any of the glasses available there. 

Obviously too cold for the patio as it's November. However the sunset was beautiful. 

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. 

10th Psycho Suzi's Visit for 2019

Monday, October 7, 2019

Sara contacted me a few weeks ago to tell us that she and her husband Tim would be in town  this week due to Tim needing to be here for a business conference. We decided to meet up at Psycho Suzi's tonight.

We arrived at around 6:15 to grab a table and successfully did so. Sara arrived at 6:30 and told us Tim's company decided to surprise him and a group of managers with a riverboat cruise tonight. This prevented Tim from joining us for dinner. 

However, Sara's brother Carter lives in town and Sara invited him and his girlfriend  along. 

Drinks and dinner were great and it turns out Tim's event ended in time for him to join us at Suzi's for a drink afterward. 

It was great to see everyone and a good time was had by all!