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Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar

Located on the Terrace Level of Fairmont San Francisco Hotel, the Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar has been around serving decadent libations and Polynesian-fusion cuisine since 1945. They had a 75-foot indoor pool, but they transformed it to a "lagoon" with a floating stage in the middle with a live band. Yes... a floating stage!

While you don't normally think of tikis and whiskey drinks, although not on their menu at the time this was written, they do exist. Ask the bartender and they'll be more than happy to hook you up with something to the likes of a:

London Sour with scotch, orange, lemon, orgeat and simple syrup Port Light with bourbon, lemon juice, passion fruit syrup and grenadine

Or many others.

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Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 – New Orleans

Ahhhh New Orleans! The land of Sazeracs, great music and great food! Normally when we're in New Orleans I am all about bourbon and the great classic cocktails discovered and made there. Not that Bourbon St. crap, the ones at great watering holes. Beachbum Berry's Latitude 29 is a different stop though. With a huge drink list mostly full of rums, you'll have to hunt a little for bourbon.

At least that's what I thought! Low and behold, the 3rd drink was there.... the Paniolo. Kentucky bourbon, Hawaiian macadamia nut liquor shaken with lime, cranberry syrup and mole bitters. Mmmmmmm Mmmmmm!

That's it on the left with a side of and Old-Fashioned done with rum, which was awesome by the way!

So... If you're in New Orleans and need a break for something different or you just need to get out of the heat and cool off, I highly recommend Latitude 29. Check them out at 321 N. Peters Street New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130.

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Navy Strength – Seattle

A funky Seattle bar offering tropical drinks with a classical tiki flare and modern tiki explorations. I love when I get to do 2 things I like at the same time. I whiskeys and bourbon. The taste, the warm hug, the feel, everything about it. I also love the laid back tiki culture with it's sweet drinks that are great for daytime pleasure. These 2 worlds don't normally merge together but here, at Navy Strength in Seattle, they do. Along with the typical tiki rum drinks, Navy Strength also offers up several whiskey tiki cocktails that were awesome!

Navy Strength Cocktail: A mysteriously silky Old Fashioned with Bourbon, cognac, rum, roasted tropical fruit and bitters. Butuan City Soundrack: a bourbon slowjam that'll make you sing. Mango, toasted rice and kalamansi harmonize. Bellyflop Slushie: Maker's Mark slushie with tropical fruit, spicy ginger and fresh lemon. Toasted Coconut Old Fashioned: bourbon, toasty coconut sizz, bitters and lime oil.

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Peach Simple Syrup

Craving and Old Fashioned but wanting it to be a little more summery? Well... You're in luck! Peach Simple Syrup is here to help. If you're like me, simple syrup, although really easy, was something I shied away from for years. Once I really tried it I was like "Damn! What have I been missing out on and why haven't I tried this? Simple is in the damn name!" Once you start making it next step is to try other things. For this one, we're doing peach!

First, rinse and cut up 3-4 peaches, depending on how "Peachy" you want it. Put the peaches in a pot with 2 cups of water, 1 cup of brown sugar and 4-5 allspice berries. Bring it all to a boil and then let simmer for 15-25 minutes. When finished, mush the peaches up to get all of the juice out, strain and store in the fridge. It will last 2-3 weeks. I like to leave mine a little pulpy but that's a personal taste.

Now for the extra fun... Take the soft, sugary peaches and throw them over some ice cream t…

Peach Infused Bourbon Recipe

It's summertime and that mean's fresh peaches that this sentence means that I now have "Peaches" from the Presidents of the Unites States of America ringing inside my head. But I digress... Peaches means it's time to go down to the farmers market for a visit to the Peach Truck where a version of this recipe originally appeared.

Now that we have the delicious, yummy peaches it's time to slice them up and throw them into a jar with some other ingredient. I normally use 4-5 peaches per batch, it all just depends on how peachy you want it.

From there it's time for the sugar, I like to use brown sugar. Sure... you can use regular white sugar but it just doesn't blend as nicely in my opinion. then throw in a couple of star anise and 4-5 all spice berries. I then like to top it off with a little bit of honey.

next up... After trying several different versions, I like to use a nice a bottle of Buffalo Trace bourbon. Not too expensive so that you …

Chocolate Sazerac

I don't know which came first, falling in love with New Orleans or the Sazerac. Actually... I think it was at the same time. A Sazerac, to me, is a simple drink that is so easy to mess up but when it's right... Mmmmmm Mmmmm! When I thought about a chocolate one, well... why? Why mess with a perfect drink? Well, it's because we can and it worked out nicely. Don't worry, it's still bone forward, not a sweet martini. One large deviation I made from a traditional Sazerac recipe is that I didn't use the sugar cube, instead, the sweetness comes from switching out Rye Whiskey with Bourbon and Ballotin Chocolate Whiskey. I found that using the sugar cube made it too sweet. So... here's the recipe: Chill an Old-Fashioned or Coupe Cocktail Glass (Your choice depending on how fancy you want to feel) that has been rinsed with Absinthe or Herbsaint. You can also use a dropper at the end of the recipe if you like. In another glass full of ice, pour 2.5 ounces of bourbon and 1 ounce …

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Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar

Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 – New Orleans

Navy Strength – Seattle

Latest Whiskey/Bourbon Stops

Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 – New Orleans

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Navy Strength – Seattle

Westland Distillery – Seattle

Whiskey - Bourbon Reviews and Other Ramblings

Peach Simple Syrup

Peach Infused Bourbon Recipe

Chocolate Sazerac