Batten Down The Hatches!
Welcome to The Hatches. It’s Ken Herold’s home tiki bar located in the Seattle neighborhood of Leschi, which is only a couple minutes away from my home, so I didn’t have to travel far to visit this awesome bar. The Hatches combines elements of tiki and nautical, and Ken did a great job of mixing the two together. Speaking of mixing, Ken can make a perfect Mai Tai and a Three Dot And A Dash! Here is Ken’s story on how The Hatches came to be …
What is the tiki scene like where you live?
Ken- There are a few good bars that have tiki drinks in the Seattle area, but it would be hard for me to say there are actual Tiki bars in the area. Navy Strength does a great job with their drink selection and they’ve hosted Beachbum Berry’s Sippin’ Santa Tiki holiday pop-up. They have great Zombies! I’ve had some tasty Tiki drinks at Rumba and have thoroughly enjoyed the newly-opened Inside Passage (although they don’t call themselves “tiki”). I’ve also found good Rumba cocktails at Agua Verde Cafe. Hint: There’s this outside spot just outside of Agua Verde named Marina Cantina that is GREAT to have a Tiki cocktail! Reckless Noodle has good Tiki-inspired drinks like the Reckless World-Famous Mai Tai and the Death by Zombie. Finally, it can’t go without saying there are some fun Caribbean spots that are stocked with a good rum selection and solid tiki drinks. Island Soul Rum Bar & Soul Shack has a pretty darn good Rum Punch and it’s one of the few places to have a legit Wray & Ting (perfect for the four days of hot Seattle weather!). Jerk Shack also has an excellent rum selection and delicious drinks like the Vinsey Rum Punch and the Corn N’ Oil (and the food there is outstanding… A place to dream about!).
What brought you into the tiki lifestyle and how long has it been part of your life?
Ken- I haven’t been in the Tiki lifestyle very long, but I guess you can say I’ve been searching for it without knowing it for some time now! I was born in Tampa, Florida, so my understanding of “Tiki” is just what you’ve read: Outdoor thatched shelters over a bar serving beer, fried food and slushy alcoholic drinks. Mai Tais have been turned into fruit juice cocktails mixed with light rum and topped with dark rum. Don’t get me wrong, I strongly believe these drinks have a place in the world (mostly in a warm climate near a hotel pool or a beach), but reflecting on what I know now, I can say it doesn’t connect with what most people consider Tiki. The younger Florida me was never shown the difference, so my understanding of “Tiki” was connected to what I just said. Internally, I was wishing for more of an escape during my experience (and a little less beer and fried food), so I never really felt the connection with Tiki.
Flash forward several years to May 2019, when one of my co-workers, a Tiki aficionado, made 1944 Mai Tais for everyone in the office. Upon the first sip, I was BLOWN AWAY!! Wait, THIS is a Mai Tai?!?! Where did all this flavor and depth come from?!?! My co-worker Paul was more than happy to take me under his wing and show me Tiki Culture, Tiki Drinks and the Tiki Lifestyle! After that, I wanted to learn more and experience more. I started visiting Tiki bars when I traveled to experience the sights, smells and tastes of it all. I even started to dabble in my own home bar, beginning with one or two rums to make a solid drink, then evolving to a full array of rums to allow me to make almost any Tiki drink in existence!
Can you give a little history of how it all came together?
Ken- I must say the Covid lockdown is what really made my love of Tiki go full-force. Pre-Covid, I was dabbling in Tiki culture. I tried a few Tiki drinks here and there and visited Tiki bars when I was in an area. It was new to me and I was starting to understand and enjoy what it all meant. The escape to these exotic bars with delicious drinks and intoxicating music. I was at a nice, steady pace to get into the Tiki scene. Then Covid lockdown happened … I had nothing to do, nowhere to go and no excuse to NOT spend my money on creating my home Tiki bar! It was the perfect thing to think about to help get me through the repetitive days at home after a long day of work. I bought Tiki mugs, Tiki art, Tiki books, rums, syrups, bar accessories, lighting, music, netting and anything else I could get my hands on (that would ship to my house)! Next thing you know, I’ve created a pretty special place to escape in the basement of my own house, my Tiki bar named The Hatches!
What’s the story behind the name of your bar?
Ken- Sometimes things just fall together and you just go with it! So, there I was in the infancy stage of my home bar … I had a nice looking self-standing bar, a small fridge behind it and a really cool corner shelf. My girlfriend and I visited some consignment stores to look for inspiration. During our first search, we spotted this really cool clock adhered to a ship steering wheel. It looked so cool! Seeing that, I instantly thought PIRATE THEMED!! Reflecting more on the idea, things started to come together that helped it make more sense to me. I was born and raised in Tampa (where the Gasparilla Pirate Festival takes place). This is the same place as the Pirate-themed Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I love skeletons and horror and The Goonies and Halloween-themed locations, and all can be related to Pirates in some form or another. So, the more I thought of it, the more I wanted a pirate-themed bar with flickering lights, skeletons everywhere, nautical netting, ship flags and tons of art depicting pirates and their love of the sea!
Names don’t come easy, but alas, I went on a feeling. I couldn’t get “Batten down the Hatches” out of my head, so I just went with The Hatches! The Hatches is my escape. This is the place to hunker down and let my stresses fade away to allow imagination and enjoyment take the wheel and float me to the horizon!
What is your favorite Tiki drink?
Ken- For me, I like Tiki drinks to taste like alcohol and get me in the right mood asap. Strong drinks suit me well. First a strong drink to get me ready and the next one to keep me there! Soooo. It’s gotta be a Zombie! I love the complexity in flavors and you can tell you’re drinking an alcoholic drink when you have a Zombie! You can also find some form of a Zombie at many (but not all) Tiki bars. That helps give me a base drink to order when I visit bars.
Runner up drink would have to be the Don the Beachcomber Rum Barrel (my go to drink in The Hatches when I’m ready to escape). So easy to make: 1oz of pretty much everything (lime, grapefruit, orange juice, pineapple juice, honey syrup, light rum, gold Jamaican rum), 2oz of demerara rum, 1 tsp of each pimento liqueur and falernum, a couple dashes of absinthe, grenadine and Angostura bitters and you have your night planned for you!! Even if you make it wrong, IT’S STILL GOOD!!
What is your favorite Tiki bar? Not including your own!
Ken- My favorite Tiki bar will always be the next one I hope to visit! There are just so many out there I want to experience that I’m not ready to pick favorites! And the biggest thing for me is the experience, not necessarily the location itself. If I visit a Tiki bar more than once, each visit is an experience in itself. And the experiences can be so memorable!! Maybe I got a good seat at the bar like one time I visited Trader Sam’s in Anaheim and got to chat with the amazing bartenders there or maybe had a full experience with outstanding drinks at Undertow in Phoenix or I happened to convince some of my coworkers to check out Hale Pele with me during a workweek in Portland. I could even say my visits to The Reef in Palm Springs, Devil’s Reef in Tacoma, Strong Water Anaheim in Anaheim, Stowaway in Tustin and Bamboo Club in Long Beach have all been special to me because of the amazing experiences I’ve had at each visit! So, take all that together and think of the fun I’ll have when I visit Three Dots and a Dash or Smuggler’s Cove or High Roller Tiki Lounge or Max’s South Seas Hideaway!!
Outside of great drinks, what do you think are essential elements in creating the perfect Tiki environment?
Ken- Escape, the experience and amazing customer service! Escape for me is important, whether I’m tucked away in a dark room with no windows and only the flicker of the dim lights for my eyes to adjust to or I’m under a thatched hut near the beach overlooking the beautiful ocean, I know I’ve escaped to a moment that is now and that is real. Seeing attention to detail at a bar adds so much to the escape. It convinces me to slow down and take in all the senses. The sights, the sounds, the smells and the tastes. I’ve escaped to this small bubble of a place and I’m here to appreciate it.
Experience is another huge aspect for me. This can’t always be planned, so it makes it exciting when a new experience organically develops! Where a person sits, who a person talks to, how a person is treated and what drinks they consume all create new experiences that are essential to making that memorable Tiki environment.
Finally, I must say the most important is Customer Service. I don’t care how a place looks or what I’m drinking, my Tiki environment HAS to have people who truly love this scene. Bartenders who acknowledge me with a smile and a hello, hosts who want me to feel at home and happy, owners who are truly glad I’m visiting their bar … All these make a world of difference when it comes to Tiki (as well as pretty much everywhere in life). My heart grows when I have great customer service. And when my heart grows, I get extremely happy and I GLADLY get over-generous with my tips!
What does the future hold for you and your home tiki bar?
Ken- This is where things get bittersweet. I am currently renting my house and do not plan to stay many more years, so The Hatches needs to be ready to disassemble and join me where my next adventure takes me. I’ve made it a point to not make anything in my space permanent for this exact reason. That being said, I have so much fun stuff dear to my heart and I don’t plan parting ways with them any time soon, so The Hatches will show up in a new home when it’s time. Right now, what I’ve put together is perfect for where I am, but I’m confident my next location will be equally perfect! After all, it’s how you feel when you’re in The Hatches, not necessarily WHERE The Hatches is located!
fantastic write up Ken, very enjoyable to read! I feel lucky I’ve been able to visit the Hatches in person!