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Tiki Talk with Ben Willis: What Makes a Mug Tiki? · Mega Rock On Demand

• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's Friday afternoon.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: That means it's time to light the torches.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Once again, for Tiki Talk on Mega Rock.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Ben Willis with you.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: 99% of the time when you're being served a tiki cocktail these days, it's gonna come in a tiki mug.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: What is a tiki mug?
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: In its basic, basic definition.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's a ceramic drinking vessel, with or without a handle.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to have a handle, they usually don't.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: With a face, a tiki face, carved into the mold.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that's it.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's as simple as that.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: However, things sometimes get more complicated than that.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Especially if you're looking at what are considered historical tiki mugs, and even modern ones can go way off the reservation in some cases as to what constitutes a tiki mug.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Back in the day, of course, initially, with Donda Beachcomber and Trader Vic, they didn't use mugs, they used glassware to serve 99% of their drinks, and it wasn't until the mid-1950s that tiki mugs became a staple of exotic establishments.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Not just tiki Polynesian establishments, but Chinese restaurants as well had things like ninja-themed mugs or geisha-themed mugs and things like that.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: And to this day, Benny Hana has a slew of themed mugs that you can get drinks out of.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: But are they tiki?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Not necessarily.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Although they kind of mix and match into that aesthetic and that general vibe.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Historically, tiki mugs may have had a face, they may have been in the shape of an exotic maiden's head that you drink out of the back of her skull.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: In some cases, there were decapitated heads that you've been drinking out of the stuffed-up neck.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Or in some cases, they're in the shape of a coiled snake for the Sidewinder's Fang mug in particular.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: And today you can get tiki mugs in the shape of parrots, pirates, ninja turtles, Star Wars characters, The Terminator, and almost any other pop culture figure you can think of, someone has probably made a tiki mug version out of their head.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Suffice to say, there's a lot to sort through out there, vintage and new.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: And two great resources if you want to go looking online to see if you found a tiki mug or something adjacent.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: One of the websites is my tiki.life, excellent mug resource, and for other collectibles as well.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: The other one, also great resource, thesearchforti.com.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Check them both out.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: And you can also check out the selection of my personal mug collection that I've got up on our Facebook page at Mega Rock PA on Facebook.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Just as a few examples.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: And just as there are classic ubiquitous tiki mugs, there are classic ubiquitous tiki drinks and those that came later.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like the Jungle Bird from 1978 at the Kual Lumpur Hilton made at the Aviary Bar.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: The Jungle Bird is as follows: in a shaker with lots of ice.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Take three-quarter ounce of Kampari bitter aperitif, one half ounce of fresh lime juice, one half ounce of sugar syrup, a full four ounces of unsweetened pineapple juice, which is going to make this a very frothy drink, and one and one half ounce of dark Jamaican rum.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Shake that very well with lots of ice, pour everything into a double old-fashioned glass or your favorite tiki mug, pack with more ice, garnish with an orchid if you have one on hand, or at least a cocktail cherry speared to lemon and orange wheels.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: And whatever you do, don't let it fly away.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's the Jungle Bird, a delicious, bracing, bitter, and refreshing sip on a hot day.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: So until we meet on another island out there, somewhere, this is Ben Willis saying Aloha, sending you off with who I consider and is widely considered the premier surf rock instrumental rock bands of the last 30 years.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's Los Straight Jackets for their 1999 album, The Velvet Touch of Los Straight Jackets.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's Kawanga on TikTok on Mega Rock.