What are tiki drinks?

They are cocktails originating in Californian bars of the 1930s, usually built on several rums at once, with fresh citrus, spiced syrups and a spice element. The distinctive mugs and decorations are an addition, the proportions are the point. A good tiki is fruity but finishes dry, not sweet.

Which tiki drinks are on the Cocktail Room menu?

Six drinks: Golden Rift on two rums with Planteray OFTD Overproof at 69 per cent, Coconut Tide, Mango Current, Banana Banana, Halny Ritual on śliwowica łącka and the alcohol-free Zero Tiki is Still Fun. The menu is called Tiki Prelude and is the second of the two cocktail menus.

What is Halny Ritual?

It is our own cocktail on śliwowica łącka at 70 per cent, the regional plum spirit, with pomegranate, lime and Monin Ruby chocolate. The only drink on the menu that uses a local distillate instead of rum. In the finished drink the plum gives a dry structure, and the pomegranate and the chocolate build the rest of the flavour around it.

Which tiki drink is the strongest?

Golden Rift, based on Bacardí Añejo Cuatro and Planteray OFTD Overproof rum at 69 per cent, with passion fruit, lime and angostura. It is a drink for people deliberately looking for something strong. If you are after something lighter, Mango Current or Coconut Tide will suit you better.

Is tiki the same as a piña colada?

No, although piña colada is sometimes counted as tiki. Classic tiki is drier, based on several rums and pronounced citrus rather than on cream and coconut milk. From our menu the closest to that direction is Coconut Tide, which gives you coconut without the dessert-like heaviness.

Is there a tiki drink without alcohol?

Yes, Zero Tiki is Still Fun with passion fruit, ginger, coconut and lime, at 34 PLN. It is made in the same build as the other drinks on the menu, only without the alcoholic base. It is a full cocktail, not juice with syrup.

How much does a cocktail from the tiki menu cost?

Drinks with a price listed on the menu cost from 34 to 45 PLN, and the alcohol-free Zero Tiki 34 PLN. The full price list for all drinks is available at the bar. The prices are comparable with cocktail bars in large cities.

Where can you drink a rum cocktail in Zakopane?

In Cocktail Room at ul. Zaruskiego 5, where the whole tiki menu is built on Bacardí and Planteray rums, including rarer bottles such as Planteray OFTD Overproof and Cut & Dry Coconut. Rums also appear on the classic menu, in Pornstar Scandal and Jungle Bird. The bar is open from Thursday to Sunday.

Tiki in the Tatras: rum drinks from the Tiki Prelude menu

Where tiki came from

Tiki did not arrive from Polynesia but from 1930s California. It was invented by Ernest Gantt, later known as Donn Beach, who after travelling around the Caribbean opened a bar in Hollywood decorated with masks, bamboo and fishing nets. He served drinks built on several rums at once, with citrus juices and spiced syrups, in mugs that resembled nothing known from a classic bar.

The format proved strong enough to survive eighty years, live through the period when it mostly meant sweet juice with an umbrella, and return in a craft version. Today's tiki is still play with form, but with proportions counted just as carefully as in a Negroni.

How to read a tiki menu

A good tiki cocktail stands on four pillars and they are worth looking for in the description:

Rum, often more than one. Combining rums of different character gives a depth that one alone will not reach. Hence descriptions along the lines of "two rums" or an overproof rum next to a gentler one.
Fresh citrus. Lime is compulsory here. It is what keeps the sweetness in check.
A syrup or liqueur with real character. Falernum, orgeat, spiced syrup, chocolate. They build the second layer of flavour.
Spice or bitterness. Angostura, chilli, bitter. Without it the drink is only sweet.

If the description mentions nothing but rum and fruit juice, you will probably get something sweet rather than a tiki cocktail.

Tiki Prelude: six drinks

Our second menu has six drinks and is deliberately shorter than the classic one. Tiki works better as a choice between a few well considered drinks than as a long list of variations.

Golden Rift is the strongest drink on the menu: Bacardí Añejo Cuatro and Planteray OFTD Overproof at 69 per cent, plus passion fruit, lime, sugar and angostura. Two rums of completely different character, one gentle and barrel led, the other sharp and overloaded. A drink for those who know what they want.

Coconut Tide stands on Planteray Cut & Dry Coconut rum, with morello cherry, lime and pineapple. Coconut led and fruity, but without the heaviness you associate with a piña colada. If you like the coconut direction but do not want a drink as thick as a dessert, this is the one.

Mango Current is Bacardí Ocho, mango, chilli syrup and prosecco. A fruity start, a sharp finish and bubbles, which tiki usually does not have. The most summery drink on the menu.

Banana Banana combines Bacardí Añejo Cuatro, Planteray Black Cask, Monin Green Banana, lime, falernum and pineapple. Banana in its ripe, spiced version, not the candy one. It is the drink that best shows why rums are blended in tiki.

Halny Ritual, a drink that could only have been created here

The most interesting drink on the menu does not stand on rum. Halny Ritual is built on śliwowica łącka at 70 per cent, the regional plum spirit, with pomegranate, lime and Monin Ruby chocolate.

The idea is simple: since tiki has always relied on bringing local distillates into cocktail form, then in the Tatras that distillate is śliwowica, not rum. Seventy per cent sounds alarming, but in the finished drink the plum moves into the background and leaves behind a clear, dry structure that the pomegranate and the chocolate frame from both sides.

It is the only cocktail on our menu that cannot be repeated in Warsaw or in London without having a bottle sent over from Podhale. If you are to order one thing in Zakopane that you will not drink anywhere else, this is it.

The version without alcohol

The tiki menu also has an alcohol-free drink: Zero Tiki is Still Fun with passion fruit, ginger, coconut and lime, at 34 PLN. It is not juice with an umbrella but the same build as the other drinks, only without the alcoholic base. We write more about our alcohol-free menu in the text on alcohol-free drinks.

When to order tiki

Tiki works best in the middle of the evening, after the first dry drink and before moving on to the dance floor. These cocktails are filling and have plenty of ingredients, so they are rarely drunk in a series. One well chosen does a better job than three at random.

On Fridays and Saturdays it is worth ordering one before 23:00, when the bar is still relaxed and the bartender has time to explain what exactly is in the glass.

Practical details

Cocktail Room: Thu and Sun 21:00-2:00, Fri and Sat 21:30-4:00
Address: ul. Zaruskiego 5, 300 metres from Krupówki
The Tiki Prelude menu: six drinks, one of them alcohol-free
Bookings: +48 530 331 531
Dress code and door selection, women from 18 years of age, men from 21