Smuggler's Cove

Starred review from June 6, 2016
Martin Cate and his wife, Rebecca, are the proprietors of San Francisco’s Smuggler’s Cove, one of the nation’s top tiki bars. Here, the duo share not only the recipes for many of the bar’s potent potables, but also the history and lore of one of cocktailing’s most iconic trends. Beginning with profiles of Ernest Gantt, aka Don the Beachcomber, and Victor “Trader Vic” Bergeron, the two bar owners who created and defined tiki culture, the Cates walk readers though the evolution of the genre as well as the iconic style and music that has personified tiki from its peak in the 1950s, through its decline at the end of the 1960s, to its resurgence in the ’90s, as well as the genesis and evolution of Smuggler’s Cove. Even readers who don’t care one whit about who came up with tiki mugs are sure to appreciate recipes for drinks such as Don the Beachcomber’s Port Au Prince, a lime-pineapple-rum progenitor of the types of fruity rum drinks that would become tiki cornerstones, such as the zombie, as well as Cate’s own creations such as the Formidable Dragon, which calls for three different rums and two types of simple syrup, among other ingredients. Tiki culture is enmeshed with rum, and the authors offer a master class on it, covering its history and many varieties, as well as digressions on coring pineapples for cocktails and where to score cocktail umbrellas. It’s a terrifically fun and informative read, and the definitive resource on the topic.

Starred review from June 15, 2016

The unlikely resurgence of the tiki craze--all punch, pineapple, and questionable Polynesian lore--is the subject of this comprehensive coffee-table book by Martin and Rebecca Cate, founders of San Francisco's acclaimed nouveau rum joint, Smuggler's Cove. Both book and bar respect tiki history while adapting the fruity classics for modern tastes and high-quality modern rums. Included are more than 100 recipes for single-serving classics such as the Mai Tai, Zombie, and Hurricane (lemon juice, passion fruit syrup, black blended rum, and a partially destroyed cocktail umbrella), as well as tiki bowls and punches for all seasons. Readers are introduced to tiki titans Trader Vic and Don the Beachcomber, whose friendly rivalry and love of specialty drinks and forget-your-worries hospitality drove the fad throughout the 1950s and 1960s. By the late 1980s, the kitsch trappings (cocktail umbrellas, grass skirts, etc.) had fallen so far out of fashion that the trend seemed dead. Yet the craft cocktail movement's eye for novelty, plus the efforts of lifelong devotees such as recipe-chaser Jeff "Beachbum" Berry, have managed to turn tacky tiki tasteful once again. VERDICT Even the most serious single-malt sipper will be charmed by this richly illustrated ode to escapism.--Joanna Scutts, Astoria, NY

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