Hung(a)ry for Tiki? Oh, yes we were!
Ah, beautiful Budapest, city on the banks of the mighty Doneau. The architecture of this historical jewel is overwhelming. This city is very much alive and we had some great cocktails there.Most surprising of all, they had a Tiki bar there, a real one for that matter, not the usual faux tropical cocktailbar where they serve 15 different tooth-achingly sweet fruit flavored Daiquiri miscreants and a Pina Colada, but real Tiki cocktails. Mugs, rums and the whole shebang. The Rumpus Tiki Bar.
And it really is an experience visiting a Tikibar. It is a one shot launch to tropical summer and you easily forget the near freezing temperatures, fog and rain altogether. This bamboo-built bar is filled with Tiki statues, mugs, puffer fish, shrunken heads, hula girls, the works… And most importantly, the guy behind the bar could mix!
I drank the most amazing Drunken Monkey variation, scoring top points on both taste and looks. Maybe more important, the drink stayed true to its character even when, after half an hour, most of the ice was molten. Not to sweet, not too strong, not boring, not too challenging, interesting flavour combination, evolving over time. Sadly enough, it wasn’t my drink, but Geertrui’s 🙂
Ingredients: Tiki rum Dark, Bols banane, Falernum, Special Honey Mix, Pernod, Angostura Bitters, lime juice and ginger beer.
Mine looked promising, but there was definitely missing something, unbalanced. Release the Kraken, it was called.
Ingredients: Bermudez Rum 151, Myers’s Rum, Kraken Rum Black, Pimento Dram, lime juice, grapefruit juice, Angostura bitters. The recipe looked promising, but something went wrong here. Too much Pimento Dram and bitters? I don’t know, I’m just guessing. Too much clove that’s what I thought it tasted like (but I could easily be wrong of course, taste is influenced by so many things). Anyway, by then it didn’t matter, I was mesmerized by this Drunken Monkey and allready sold 🙂 I mean, this was a Tiki Bar!
The next cocktail I ordered in the Rumpus Tiki Bar was an alltime favourite of mine: the original Mai Tai. And yes, it was awesome.
We had, some fun hours there and can recommend this bar to everyone, it’s a blast.
By the way, there was an Italian restaurant in Budapest where we had the most interesting Gin Tonic variation I ever tasted. It had the following ingredients that I can remeber: G’Vine Gin, Cointreau, Pisco, Lemon juice, syrup, bitters and tonic. Basil leaves and raddish as a garnish, delivering a distinct aroma that combined excellent with the ingredients. A real treat. Maybe not a real Gin Tonic per se, but still a wonderful cocktail it was.
So, Budapest, you scored well on the cocktail chart! And we will meet again, because time was too short.
Cheers!
More info: https://www.facebook.com/rumpus.tiki.bar?fref=ts
