A tiki bar is a themed drinking establishment that serves elaborate cocktails, especially rum-based mixed drinks such as the Mai Tai and Zombie cocktails. Tiki bars are aesthetically defined by their tiki culture décor which is based upon a romanticized conception of tropical cultures, most commonly Polynesian. Some bars also incorporate general nautical themes or retro elements from the early atomic age.
Kalua Restaurant (Seattle, 1953)
Clifton's Pacific Seas postcard
Exterior view of a tiki restaurant in New Orleans (1950s)
A Mai Tai
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced in nearly every major sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Philippines, where Tanduay Distillers, the largest producer of rum worldwide, has its headquarters.
A glass of dark rum
Rum display in a liquor store (United States, 2009)
Government House rum, manufactured by the Virgin Islands Company distillery in St. Croix, circa 1941
Pirates carrying rum to shore to purchase slaves as depicted in The Pirates Own Book by Charles Ellms