To dismay I’ve spent several years on this show endeavoring to do something to myself which I’ve spent most of my life rebelling against. Trying to put myself in a box. Several, as a matter of odd fact. Am I a Tiki purist, or an innovator? Should Tiki be performative, or traditional? Can one have an educated palate for sipping rum, yet also enjoy the decadence of exotic drinks? Is it more important to travel to Tiki bars or to the actual tropical locales for which exotica is modeled after?
I imagine Donn the Beachcomber didn’t lose sleep ruminating over such tripe. Though, we’ll never know what he was truly thinking when he invented the genre of Tiki. For, in a world where our every move leaves digital documentation, the anonymity of history is both frustrating and refreshing.
However, from what I’ve learned about the man he was a dreamer. A visionary who wanted to show the world what his version of it looked like. A man, like so many of us, who may’ve simply wanted to be understood and accepted for his quirks. Can a person maintain individuality while also being embraced by others? Another liminal space between boxes, I suppose.
Donn did what poets do. He took in all the information he could ponder, allowed his mind to reshape it, then put it on display. In this modality I’ve come to realize the way to surmise how I truly feel about things is to stop complicating them. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so many people who are vastly different from one another coming together under the umbrella of Tiki. Some have leaned into their box affiliation. The Tiki bar travelers, the convention cultists, rum nerds, island hoppers, post mods, elitists, and plebes. Folks who swear by old fashioned traditional Tiki and those who favor modern twists. How about the age old controversy of can a Tiki bar have a lanai? I believe the fact that the man who invented Tiki opened a bar in Waikiki settles that.
There are other types of enthusiasts whose very existence abhors any rational placing in a box. Oh, they may visit the box. Perhaps even set up shop for a spell. But, there’s always something about the way they carry themselves that lets everyone around them sense that they are walking on a different plane of existence. Not higher or lower. Not wrong or right. Just … not like everyone else's. And those kinds of people don’t need the box nor do they need to explain themselves because they understand that existing in between boxes, experiencing what is needed or new, walking freely from box to box, dancing like so many whirligigs spinning on a spring day, is an elevated way to ride this relentless irrationality of life towards the invariable infinity.
I consider myself among those dreamers. What they don’t tell you about dreaming is that it’s awfully lonely. Kind of like the empty space between boxes. The problem with being outside the box is that it’s cold out here and the other people out here are weird. (He says with tongue shoved deep into cheek.)
I guess what I’m saying is that I’ve come to the realization that some boxes are ok. Having a stance on things, even Tiki things, while maintaining the balance an open mind affords, is nothing to be ashamed of. We sometimes equivocate our own feelings because something has made us to feel that we shouldn’t feel that way. That maintaining tradition means you can’t also be progressive. I don’t think Donn ever compromised his beliefs like that. How could he and still be brave and bold enough to invent a world? We could learn something from that. For example, I’ve gone back and forth on this for years, but, I’m here to let the world know I believe a cocktail should be made the way the person who invented made it. Otherwise it’s a riff and riffs are not that cocktail. It’s something new. Pizza with cauliflower crust is not pizza. I said it. I meant it. I’m here to represent it.
I’ve always claimed that this podcast is a journey we’re all going on together. I created it for newbies, like I was. It’s an expedition. Whatever that initial spark was that drew us to Tiki, the drinks, the dress, the art, we use it as a launching port from which to dive out into this vast sea of exotica to explore what we could find and come up with the version of it that now resides in our own minds. I put my version into the world via Pod Tiki and my idea of the Tropiki lifestyle. Some of you have created social media profiles dedicated to your version. Some have built majestic, impassioned home Tiki bars reflecting your exotica vision. In a way we’ve all created our own little islands within the world Donn the Beachcomber built for us. But, in order to discover your island you must first set sail. If you want to find a pearl you gotta be a Pearl Diver.
Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tony and this is Pod Tiki.
1937. The clamor of the roaring twenties had died floating in that pool with Jay Gatsby. Prohibition ended. However, within the throws of the Great Depression, bootleggers and honest folks alike were forced into more violent and scandalous ways of making ends meet. There was a tempest building across the Atlantic that would change the course of history. Yet, all the while, on the Pacific coast of the United States, one eccentric entrepreneur toiled away behind the bar of his restaurant trying to come up with the next exotic addition to his panoply of potent potions.
One of Donn Beach’s earliest concoctions was his Coffee Grog, which utilized a butter-based cream infused with honey and spices. As the consummate showman Donn made a spectacle of blending and serving the hot beverage tableside. See our episode on Coffee Grog for the full story. However, the idea of butter and spices in a hot rum punch is nothing new. In fact, it goes back to the early Flips and Toddy’s of colonial drinking.
When Donn wanted to carry that buttery texture and flavor into a cold drink, though? Well, that becomes science. Butter doesn't exactly melt and dissolve in crushed ice. He had to invent a process to infuse those qualities into an individual drink. He figured out that by blending his ingredients with a portion of his special butter-honey-spice cream he called Gardenia Mix and a small amount of crushed ice, then pressure straining the mixture through a fine wire mesh, the result would render a rum drink infused with the flavor and texture of the butter blend. What’s more, as Jeff “Beachbum” Berry points out, he did this 60 years before the advent of molecular mixology.
Donn the Beachcomber wasn’t some idea guy who passed the hard work onto more experienced bartenders. On the contrary he spent hours behind the bar perfecting his rhum rhapsodies like a felicitous Frankenstein of folly.
As we’ve learned he was also obsessively secretive regarding his recipes. It wasn’t until the early 2000’s that Jeff Berry was able to decipher the Pearl Diver’s recipe from a notebook belonging to Beachcomber’s Maitre' d the late great Dick Santiago, who we’ve covered in depth before. It took even longer to decode Donn’s Gardenia Mix, aptly named so because it was the mystery ingredient in Don's Mystery Gardenia Cocktail. Jeff achieved this by befriending and conferring with as many of the bartenders and old timers making up the milieu of Donn’s original coterie, as well as employing his own prowess in reverse engineering drink flavors.
The findings? Well, in true Donn Beach fashion it turns out the three secret ingredients in Coffee Grog, Don’s Mystery Gardenia, and the Pearl Diver are all the same thing. It’s all the same butter-honey-spice blend. I see people on social media and in online cocktail forums to this day still claiming they’ve “discovered” the secret to Donn’s Gardenia Mix - a recipe Jeff published in his book Sippin’ Safari 18 years ago. Some secret.
So, what’s the big reveal? Here goes. Gardenia Mix is made by mixing:
1 oz Unsalted Butter
1 oz Orange Blossom Honey
¼ oz Cinnamon Syrup
½ tsp Vanilla Syrup
½ tsp Allspice Dram
One wants to prepare this shortly before using and keep at room temperature as once it’s refrigerated it becomes a sticky mess that’s difficult to work with. In my experience this recipe makes enough for three drinks. If you want to make a larger batch and there is leftover it can indeed be refrigerated but you’re going to want to take it out at least an hour before use to ensure it’s ready.
As far as the history of the Pearl Diver drink? We never can tell where Donn garnered inspiration for individual drinks but one can surmise by looking at the time period that those early diving helmets we sometimes see in nautical themed bars played a part in influencing the name. He is known to have used his extensive travels to beget his offerings. From the mind of the intrepid wanderer comes the fruit of indulgence. Donn bit the apple so we could all know the sin.
We do, however, know a bit of practical history. In 1937 the drink began as Pearl Diver Punch and included two ingredients, gold Jamaican rum and Falernum, later omitted in the stripped down version simply called Pearl Diver. The latter first appearing after Donn’s ex-wife Sonny took over his U.S. based Beachcomber’s restaurants and Donn was made to reinvent the brand in Hawaii.
There’s one more unique aspect about the Pearl Diver that sets it apart - its distinct glassware. And, of course it has a story. This oddly shaped glass, a wide ribbed stem with bowl shaped opening, had not been seen since the early days of Tiki. Jeff Berry had seen them on vintage menus but even among adamant collectors nary a one could be found. The famed Tiki Ti utilized some in the 1970’s but discontinued use due to breakage and a large portion of them finding their way into customers' purses. Jeff scoured swap meets, antique malls, and later ebay to try to uncover the mystery of this glass to no avail.
In 2014 when Jeff partnered with Greg Boehm of Cocktail Kingdom Greg asked if there was any vintage Tiki-ware they could produce for Jeff’s brand. Of course, the first thing he did was send over a picture of this weird shaped Pearl Diver glass to which Greg, an avid collector himself, sent back a picture of the three he had on a shelf in his office accompanied by the message, “you mean these?” A year later, thanks to Jeff “Beachbum” Berry and Cocktail Kingdom, after a four decade absence, the Pearl Diver glass was once again available. Raise a glass to Jeff and Greg, but don’t cheers too hard, these glasses are very precious.
Let’s make a drink!
Besides Gardenia Mix we’re going to need two expressions of rum. A gold Puerto Rico and an aged Demerara. For the former the options are legion. I went with Bacardi 8 Yr because I also enjoy sipping that rum. You can opt for regular Bacardi or Don Q gold. I would advise against something too premium as the nuance will be lost amid other heavy flavors. For Demerara I’m still hooked on Hamilton 86. Also good for sipping this rum highlights the burnt molasses and vanilla notes of the Demerara river valley and compliments the Caribbean spice and butterscotch notes of Puerto Rican rum.
Then we’ll need fresh lime and orange juices and some Angostura bitters. For such a complex drink we see the complicated part comes in the preparation of Gardenia Mix, which holds most of the flavor profile of this drink.
Here we go. The Pearl Diver is:
1 ½ oz Gold Puerto Rico Rum
½ oz Demerara Rum
½ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Orange Juice
½ oz Gardenia Mix
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
4 oz Crushed Ice
Blend everything for 20 seconds and double strain into a Pearl Diver glass through fine wire mesh pressing on the solids to express all the liquid. Top with crushed ice to fill. Garnish with edible orchid and geranium leaf or pineapple frond. Note, the 20 seconds is a fast count. Too much and it will separate. One only needs to mix and dilute.
On my first attempt I was disappointed there wasn’t as much butter-cream flavor or texture as I expected. Though, I was taken aback by how somehow it was creamy and punchy at the same time. Another gustatory accomplishment by the Donn of Tiki. It’s redolent of a Nui Nui or Three Dots. Silky like a pearl, the gold rum adds to the sweet buttery cream while the demerara lends itself alongside the Caribbean spice notes of the gardenia mix. Slight floral notes, basically an orange rum punch with buttery island spice.
When I experimented with not straining, but open pouring the foamy solids portion into the drink I got more of that Gardenia flavor I was looking for. The foam in the drink looks cool and continues to melt into the drink helping to not dilute it too fast. But, this goes against my notion of making the drink the way the master created it. The issue, I found, comes from ice numbness. The Pearl Diver glass is so large that when filled with ice it makes the drink so cold that it numbs the tongue and lessens the nuance. My fix was obviously to not add more ice to fill the glass. I loathe the way a glass looks half filled, and it certainly doesn’t match the picture, but, it solved the issue … sort of. I don’t know how they do it in Tiki bars and if I had more time I would reach out to my connects in the industry to inquire. For the sake of brevity I’ve shirked my duties proper.
Additionally, Gardenia Mix being of a batter consistency, it could be difficult to properly measure ½ oz in a jigger. Thus, don’t be afraid to go all the way up to a full ounce in order to achieve the desired potency.
Upon my later attempts I believe I’ve uncovered a work-around. I was never happy with the color of the drink not resembling the pictures. And even with not adding ice or leaving the foam it didn’t truly taste like Pearl Divers I’ve had in the wild. Back to the drawing board. I don’t count this as riffing the process because Tiki bars and their respective tenders have always had to adjust certain procedures to accommodate the tumult of business and account for personal style. I found that even though Jeff calls to “cream” the Gardenia Mix, that is, leave the butter soft but solid, by melting the butter and using my hamilton mixer to blend the ingredients, the Gardenia Mix comes out smoother. This consistency is easier to measure and doesn’t create the solid foam.
Furthermore, using the hamilton mixer to mix the drink instead of a blender doesn’t foam up the drink as much allowing for an open pour into the glass that has a nice creamy top. Like the espuma on a cup of espresso. There are some Tiki drinks that certainly require a high powered blender to render that bubbly aeration inherent to the visual, but this isn’t one. I added a full ounce of Gardenia and now we have that opaque tawny pastel yellow. Now that the drink is thicker, with more Gardenia, you can top off the crushed ice without numbing the tongue.
All in all this is a wonderful drink and the addition of Gardenia Mix differentiates it just enough from other drinks on Donn’s menu to secure its place in the oeuvre of classic Tiki. Not to mention how cool is this glass! It was interesting to learn over these years how many classic Tiki drinks were not served in Tiki mugs. Mugs are almost an invention of 2nd wave Tiki and perpetuated more by the collector’s market than actually used in bars. Both Donn the Beachcomber and Trader Vic, as well as their successors, commissioned custom glassware for their bibations that defined cocktailia evermore. With the Pearl Diver glass it’s like Donn was foreshadowing post-mod Tiki decades before it would reshape the genre. True genius.
If you’re wondering, I also made the original Pearl Diver Punch. Jamaican rum and Falernum broaden the profile and fill out the body. Personally, this takes away from the dichotomy of light citrus punch versus thick buttery cream in the same glass but makes a better tasting drink. This in my ever humble opinion. The recipe for this version is:
1 ½ oz Gold Puerto Rico Rum
¾ oz Demerara Rum
½ oz Gold Jamaica Rum
1 oz Orange Juice
¾ oz Lime Juice
¾ oz Gardenia Mix
¼ oz Falernum
6 oz Crushed Ice
Blend everything, Gardenia mix first - ice last, for a strict 15 seconds and double strain through wire mesh pressing on solids to express all liquid. Top with ice.
Pearl Diver was the name of a French thoroughbred that won the Derby in 1947, it’s the name of my favorite bar here in Nashville, and it’s one of Donn the Beachcomber’s original Tiki drinks. I think classic Tiki appeals to me so much because of how different it was to anything else at the time. Donn refused to be put in a box regarding what a cocktail should be and when pop-culture tried to build one around Tiki Vic came along and kicked through that shit like a cantankerous Kool-Aid man.
But, I wonder, is the box simpler and does simple mean stagnant? Is outside the box truly an elevated perspective we should strive for or a pretentious pathos we use to prop ourselves over our peers? I thought perhaps by the end of this episode I would find some answers to my own ponderous queries, but like any good diving expedition we often come up with more questions than answers.
What I have learned is that whatever boxes we find ourselves in here and there throughout this wacky whimsy we call life Tiki is not a place for it. Don’t be trying to put your walls up around my island! Have your beliefs and utilize those beliefs to create your version of Tiki. I like to visit your islands. Horror Tiki, post-modern, and vintage Tiki are my favorite islands to visit. And, I hope you guys enjoy coming to my Caribbean leaning island of Tropiki. We can all have our respective versions of this world Donn made for us but, the only thing about Tiki that should be in a box is a newly purchased mug.
Sources: Sippin’ Safari By Jeff Berry, imbibe.com, liquor.com, beachbumberry.com
Thank you for listening and most of all stay safe and Keepi Tiki!