Archive for the ‘In Other News’ Category

As seen over on Deadspin, a company is selling their once beloved “Funny Boni“, a Zamboni revved up into a full throttle mobile tiki bar.  It’s available over at eBay Motors, and bidding ends March 11th.

Words fail me.

A Zamboni, in case you didn’t know, is a machine used to resurface ice on hockey rinks.  Each NHL team usually has theirs done up in some form of decoration, such as my home town San Jose Sharks’ team colors and sharkfin Zamboni.  This one though… well, apparently it isn’t working as a resurfacer, but if anyone’s looking to start an amateur drinking league, I think this would suit well.

Seen a wacky tiki bar in places you wouldn’t expect?  Let me know more in the comments!  Mahalo!

As pointed out to me by Craig, over at Boing Boing they’ve got an excerpt from a Boston Globe  interview with the author of Squeezed: What You Don’t Know About Orange Juice.

What isn’t straightforward about orange juice?

HAMILTON: It’s a heavily processed product. It’s heavily engineered as well. In the process of pasteurizing, juice is heated and stripped of oxygen, a process called deaeration, so it doesn’t oxidize. Then it’s put in huge storage tanks where it can be kept for upwards of a year. It gets stripped of flavor-providing chemicals, which are volatile. When it’s ready for packaging, companies such as Tropicana hire flavor companies such as Firmenich to engineer flavor packs to make it taste fresh. People think not-from-concentrate is a fresher product, but it also sits in storage for quite a long time.

To what degree is orange juice still made from Florida oranges?

HAMILTON: Most concentrate is now from Brazil. Shipping it is relatively easy. Until recently, you could count on [Tropicana] Pure Premium being from Florida, but shipping technology has advanced. Companies like Tropicana have started shipping full-strength juice from Brazil rather than buying and squeezing in Florida. The majority of not-from-concentrate is coming from Florida-squeezed oranges, but that’s certainly changing. The orange growing is moving to Brazil, which grows the most oranges for juice by far. Land is cheaper, and environmental regulations are almost nonexistent.

Squeeze fresh folks, as often as you can.  I squeeze fresh in low volume (at home), and in high volume (at work).  It means a few more trips to the store, but oh the difference!  Hell, even freezing your own might do the trick.  Got some secrets on keeping fresh citrus fresh?  Post a comment!

Not really, and it’s a bit late in this, but if you haven’t been reading The Pegu Blog, it’s all about Tiki this month, and what a month it has been!  Doug’s taken the heat up a notch, talking about Donn and Vic, checking out the History of the Mai Tai, and other assorted Tiki Tales all packed into one hell of a month.

So go hit up his site for some content, I’m working on a few new things for the site… soon to come, Easy Tiki drinks, for you lazy bums out there.

I’m sure somewhere, deep in the cockles of your heart, this question has been asked.  TDN stands for Thursday Drink Night, a Mixoloseum hosted event.  People login to the online chat room, suggest and make drinks featuring the topic for the week (Vermouth, Mata Hari Absinthe, Cinnamon Syrup, etc.), and it all gets mixed around ’til we find a few good ones. Hell, why don’t you just head over to the Mixoloseum Chat room and see for yourself?

Still not good enough for you?  Well, Los Scofflaws,  Rick of Kaiser Penguin, and a few fantastic others  are shown in some live footage in the video below, shot a few TDNs ago at the Tabard Inn in Washington, D.C.  Not all of them are live events, but hell, a few friends in a bar with a laptop, and you’ve got yourself a fun Thursday night.

Just noticed this over at NOTCOT, the lucky buggers there got a chance to visit the newly opened Frankie’s Tiki Room in Las Vegas, Nevada.  You can see their lovely pics in the blog post of their visit.

As another damn Bamboo Ben creation, Frankie’s offers fantastic decor, some lovely tropical libations, and even a few signature mugs that come with your drink, and are also available for purchase online.  It really looks like one helluva place, and I’m suddenly finding myself considering a stop there sometime this year. After all, what happens in Vegas… gets posted all over the internet.

There’s more info on Frankie’s over at their Tiki Central Info post.