Jennifer Newens, "Thursday Night Tiki Lounge"

Join us in-store to celebrate the release of Jennifer Newen's new book, Thursday Night Tiki Lounge: 52 Drinks to Bring the Tropics Home!

RSVP HERE

About the Book: 
This spring a new book invites home entertainers to join in the very popular tropical cocktail trend. Blending timeless tiki classics with fresh, contemporary twists, the book features easy-to-make recipes built on fresh juices, spiced syrups, and creative infusions, all brought to life with vibrant, full-color photographs that make every pour feel like a getaway.

Tiki-style drinks and the culture they spawned began in post–Great Depression America when bar-goers sought a change from the starkness of the day in the kitschy, tropical-themed Don the Beachcomber bar founded by Donn Beach, née Ernest Gantt, in Southern California. His popular bar served umbrella-garnished, highly alcoholic, rum-based tropical drinks. The trend then spread up the coast to Northern California where “Vic” Bergeron, founded the equally over-the-top Trader Vic’s in the San Francisco Bay Area. Trader Vic’s eventually expanded to become the first nationally franchised tiki-style bar. Tiki lounges surged in popularity throughout the 1950s but all but died out in the 1960s. A revival by a new wave of serious mixologists in the 2000s firmed up a place for these tropical-inspired cocktails on bar menus for the foreseeable future.

About the Author:
Jennifer Newens is a cookbook editor, cooking teacher, and literary agent from Oakland, California. She received her culinary training from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. She is the author of Monday Night Mocktails and Wednesday Night Wine-Down. Jennifer believes that everyone deserves to have a special drink in a fancy glass with a pretty garnish at the end of a long day!