Usually when I write about a tiki bar, I mention what city or town it’s located, but when the tiki bar is collapsible and can pop up anywhere, location doesn’t really matter. John Betts was thinking of building a shelf to display his growing tiki mug collection but decided instead to build a tiki bar that he can set up outside on his deck and serve his guests tiki cocktails from. When it starts raining here in the Pacific Northwest, John can easily tear down his bar and pack it away for the Winter. John invited me over for drinks at his home in Redmond WA and we talked about his one of a kind tiki bar called, The South Pacific Libation Company …
What brought you into the ‘Tiki lifestyle” and how long has it been part of your life?
John- I’d be hard-pressed to point at a single moment and say “that was it”. Like with many things, there was a series of steps that got me here.
I think the first step happened about four years ago when my husband bought a subscription to Bitters & Bottles. They send you a kit every month with some spirits and mixers and recipes to make with them. The point, I think, is to build out a bar from nothing. A few months in, we received a recipe for a 1944 Mai Tai. That was the first step out of my “rum & Coke” world.
After that would be Geeki Tiki mugs. I’m a Star Wars fan from childhood (so many decades ago), and I thought they were cute. I bought some for a summer party we host, and set them out thinking a couple nerds would use them. EVERYONE used them! So, I expanded the collection for the next year. I’ve kind of grown out of them now, but they were my first tikis.
Finally, my first tiki bar was almost exactly two years ago: the Tonga Room in San Francisco. It’s really more of a classic Polynesian restaurant, but I loved it. Since then, I’ve been to most of the popular tiki bars in San Fran, but also Chicago, Vancouver BC, Tacoma, and Portland, as well as forays into other cities I’ve visited.
And now I own a home tiki bar.
How did you come up with the idea of building a foldable tiki bar?
John- Oh gosh, it started out as a shelf!
The Geeki Tiki mugs and Summer party I mentioned earlier … by the second year of the mug collection, it had grown too large to sit out on a table as I’d done previously, so I thought I might build a shelf for them. Then I thought that shelf should be out by the little bar the caterers set up on our back deck. Then in pondering where and how large this shelf should be, it grew into a small pop up bar, which eventually grew into the full-sized, fully-operational bar I have now: The South Pacific Libation Company.
Remember how I mentioned most things happen in small steps?
Of course, being an outside bar, I knew up front that it wouldn’t fare well in the Pacific Northwest’s long, cool, wet Fall-Winter-Spring season, so it had to be put away most of the year. I knew my husband wouldn’t be cool with a big, covered eyesore nine months of the year. Nor would I. So, it had to break down as small as possible and live in the garage when not open.
The modular nature of the bar was its greatest engineering challenge, especially considering I had NO experience in wood working. Prior to this all my “handy” skills have been in stained glass windows. It took months of musing and drawing out plans in Adobe Illustrator (my background is in graphic design) and revising and curbing my innate nature to over-engineer before I cut my first piece of wood. And while there were small changes en route, almost all of construction went to plan. It amazes me how little went awry.
In the end, most of the bar is held together with door hinges, bed frame brackets, eyehole brackets, and gravity. It’s shocking how solid and permanent-feeling it is.
One of the unanticipated advantages of building such a modular, break-down-able bar is the ease of renovating bits and pieces of it, which I did this past winter and spring. I was able to update the look of the exterior without tearing out much of anything, and adding major elements was pretty easy.
Any story behind the name of your bar?
John- I would hope every tiki bar’s name has a story behind it.
In my case, the South Pacific Libation Co. is inspired by the Dutch East India Co. from the 17th century. Not the actual company, per se, but the fictionalized version from Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean”. I like the fantastic feel of the age of exploration when Captain Cook sailed, discovered, and charted so much of the Pacific. I also enjoy the swashbuckling style of “pirate” movies in general, which seems apropos considering the original, mid-century “Polynesian” craze was largely driven by the books and movies of the time. And since I’m less charmed by heavy tribal motifs, I decided to go in a decidedly nautical direction with my bar’s décor. Why the Dutch East India Co.? I guess, in the end, I dig the bad guys.
Ask me about my Star Wars Imperial tattoo sometime.
What is your favorite Tiki drink?
John- Man, there are a LOT of great tiki drinks out there. The ’44 Mai Tai will always hold a special place in my heart, and I often use it to test a bar. But I’ve found others to love as well. Currently, I’m quite charmed by the Nui Nui and the Hawaii Sunset. That latter drink is a surprise since it’s vodka-based and I’m a rum guy, but the crisp, light flavor is hard to not love.
That all said, I’ve found very few tiki cocktails I don’t like. And when friends compliment me on my “mixology” skills, I have to admit I just follow the recipes, and stand on the shoulders of giants.
What is your favorite Tiki bar? Not including your own!
John- Oh, that’s an easy one: Three Dots and a Dash in Chicago. I loved that bar from the moment I walked down into it. In the five days I last spent in Chicago, I went to Three Dots three times, and that’s because the other days were spent visiting Chicago’s other tiki bars!
That said, Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco will always hold a special place in my heart, as will Latitude 29 in New Orleans. Both represent firsts for me: my first revivalist tiki bar, and the first tiki bar I visited with my husband in tow.
I’m also quite fond of Rumba in Seattle, but while they can do tiki drinks, it’s really a Cuban rum bar (which is great). It and Navy Strength are the closest thing to tiki bars we have in Seattle. I had high hopes for the Northwest Passage, but I fear we’ll never see it now.
I hope these bars somehow survive 2020. I fear how many we’ll lose in all this.
What does the future hold for you and your home tiki bar?
John- Let me just dig out my crystal ball here …
Well, the whole reason the South Pacific Libation Co. is collapsible is because it was made to live on our back deck, and that’s only viable about three months of the year. Y’know, the weather and all. So, it has to be packed away most of the time. But, that may change next year with our move to Palm Springs in California. One of our musts for whatever home we buy is a large, covered outdoor area. And, hopefully, that new space will have a corner for the Libation Co. to live in permanently.
Of course, the usability of the seasons inverts in Palm Springs, and the months the Libation Co. would have been open in Washington State are the months it’ll be effectively closed in Palm Springs, but it’ll be up all the time, and it’s at least fun to look at.
Anything else you would like to add?
John- 2020 has been a hell year for most people. We’ve fared better than most, being both together and retired, and used to idling at length. But, renovating the Libation Co. this past year proved a fantastic distraction. Also, since it lives outside, we were able to entertain the occasional guest or two in a fairly safe environment. Without it here, I doubt we would have seen a fraction of the people we have. I’m grateful for that.
Also, trying to up my garnish game has provided my Instagram and Facebook peeps with a nice stream of pretty, cocktail photos. Turns out, most people appreciated the break from the news. I’m happy to have added even a momentary respite from current events. We all need that, and it has ever been the mission of tiki to provide escape from the everyday grind.
May 2021 be a maita’i year for everyone!
What a cool idea, thanks for sharing.