{ "count": 2, "includesBody": true, "items": [ { "api": "/posts/stocking-a-rum-shelf-from-scratch/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2025-11-06T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Eight bottles that cover nearly every classic exotic cocktail, chosen by style rather than by brand.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2025-11-06T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Eight bottles that cover nearly every classic exotic cocktail, chosen by style rather than by brand.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2026-01-22T13:05:00-08:00", "publishdate": "2025-11-06T09:00:00-08:00", "tags": [ "rum", "home-bar", "buying" ], "title": "Stocking a Rum Shelf From Scratch" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eThe question I get most often is which rum to buy. The honest answer is that\nit\u0026rsquo;s the wrong question — you want to buy \u003cem\u003estyles\u003c/em\u003e, and the specific bottle\nmatters much less than covering the range.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere\u0026rsquo;s a shelf that will make almost any classic exotic cocktail, in rough\npriority order.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-first-four\"\u003eThe first four\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlended lightly aged.\u003c/strong\u003e The workhorse. Daiquiris, most highballs, anything\nthat needs rum without a strong point of view.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlended aged.\u003c/strong\u003e Richer, more oak. The base of a Mai Tai and a hundred other\ndrinks.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJamaican pot still, unaged or lightly aged.\u003c/strong\u003e Your funk source. You\u0026rsquo;ll use\nit half an ounce at a time and it will transform drinks.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlack blended.\u003c/strong\u003e Molasses-heavy and dark. Essential for a whole family of\ndrinks, and unmatched as a float.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFour bottles gets you most of the way. If you stop here you can still make a\ngreat Daiquiri, a proper Mai Tai, and a credible Zombie.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-next-four\"\u003eThe next four\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003col start=\"5\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDemerara, aged.\u003c/strong\u003e Guyanese, distinctive, smoky-sweet. Several classics\nspecifically want it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eColumn still aged.\u003c/strong\u003e Softer and cleaner — for drinks where you want the\nrum present but polite.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRhum agricole blanc.\u003c/strong\u003e Grassy and vegetal. Opens up Ti\u0026rsquo; Punch and gives you\nan entirely different register to work in.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOverproof.\u003c/strong\u003e For floats, for flaming, and for drinks that genuinely call\nfor it. A little goes a very long way.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"what-to-skip-early\"\u003eWhat to skip early\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpiced rum, unless you have a specific drink in mind — most of it is sweetened\nand flavored to cover for a mediocre base spirit, and you can add your own\nspices with far more control.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery long aged, expensive bottlings. They\u0026rsquo;re wonderful and they\u0026rsquo;re for drinking\nneat. Putting a twenty-five-year rum in a drink with lime and orgeat wastes\nboth.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"on-price\"\u003eOn price\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRum remains the best value in spirits, by some distance. There\u0026rsquo;s no prestige tax\nthe way there is with Scotch or Cognac, and the bottles that do the most work\nbehind the bar are frequently the cheap ones. Spend the money on covering more\nstyles, not on going further up any single one.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/stocking-a-rum-shelf-from-scratch", "lastmod": "2026-01-22T13:05:00-08:00", "markdown": "\nThe question I get most often is which rum to buy. The honest answer is that\nit's the wrong question — you want to buy *styles*, and the specific bottle\nmatters much less than covering the range.\n\nHere's a shelf that will make almost any classic exotic cocktail, in rough\npriority order.\n\n## The first four\n\n1. **Blended lightly aged.** The workhorse. Daiquiris, most highballs, anything\n that needs rum without a strong point of view.\n2. **Blended aged.** Richer, more oak. The base of a Mai Tai and a hundred other\n drinks.\n3. **Jamaican pot still, unaged or lightly aged.** Your funk source. You'll use\n it half an ounce at a time and it will transform drinks.\n4. **Black blended.** Molasses-heavy and dark. Essential for a whole family of\n drinks, and unmatched as a float.\n\nFour bottles gets you most of the way. If you stop here you can still make a\ngreat Daiquiri, a proper Mai Tai, and a credible Zombie.\n\n## The next four\n\n5. **Demerara, aged.** Guyanese, distinctive, smoky-sweet. Several classics\n specifically want it.\n6. **Column still aged.** Softer and cleaner — for drinks where you want the\n rum present but polite.\n7. **Rhum agricole blanc.** Grassy and vegetal. Opens up Ti' Punch and gives you\n an entirely different register to work in.\n8. **Overproof.** For floats, for flaming, and for drinks that genuinely call\n for it. A little goes a very long way.\n\n## What to skip early\n\nSpiced rum, unless you have a specific drink in mind — most of it is sweetened\nand flavored to cover for a mediocre base spirit, and you can add your own\nspices with far more control.\n\nVery long aged, expensive bottlings. They're wonderful and they're for drinking\nneat. Putting a twenty-five-year rum in a drink with lime and orgeat wastes\nboth.\n\n## On price\n\nRum remains the best value in spirits, by some distance. There's no prestige tax\nthe way there is with Scotch or Cognac, and the bottles that do the most work\nbehind the bar are frequently the cheap ones. Spend the money on covering more\nstyles, not on going further up any single one.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "stocking-a-rum-shelf-from-scratch", "summary": "The question I get most often is which rum to buy. The honest answer is that it’s the wrong question — you want to buy styles, and the specific bottle matters much less than covering the range.\nHere’s a shelf that will make almost any classic exotic cocktail, in rough priority order.\nThe first four Blended lightly aged. The workhorse. Daiquiris, most highballs, anything that needs rum without a strong point of view. Blended aged. Richer, more oak. The base of a Mai Tai and a hundred other drinks. Jamaican pot still, unaged or lightly aged. Your funk source. You’ll use it half an ounce at a time and it will transform drinks. Black blended. Molasses-heavy and dark. Essential for a whole family of drinks, and unmatched as a float. Four bottles gets you most of the way. If you stop here you can still make a great Daiquiri, a proper Mai Tai, and a credible Zombie.", "title": "Stocking a Rum Shelf From Scratch", "url": "/posts/stocking-a-rum-shelf-from-scratch/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 347 }, { "api": "/posts/building-a-home-tiki-bar/index.json", "collection": "posts", "date": "2024-11-15T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Layer, don't decorate. Notes on making a room feel like somewhere else without buying a single carved idol.", "draft": false, "fields": { "author": "Martin Cate", "date": "2024-11-15T09:00:00-08:00", "description": "Layer, don't decorate. Notes on making a room feel like somewhere else without buying a single carved idol.", "draft": false, "image": "", "lastmod": "2025-02-19T14:30:00-08:00", "publishdate": "2024-11-15T09:00:00-08:00", "tags": [ "decor", "home-bar", "creating-the-space" ], "title": "Building a Home Tiki Bar" }, "html": "\u003cp\u003eThe mistake almost everyone makes is treating a tiki bar as a shopping list.\nBuy some bamboo, hang a puffer fish lamp, put up a few masks, done. The result\nusually reads as a themed corner of a normal room, which is exactly what it is.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat makes these spaces work is not the objects. It\u0026rsquo;s density and light.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"cover-the-edges\"\u003eCover the edges\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe single highest-impact move is eliminating the visual reminders that you\u0026rsquo;re\nin a rectangular room in an ordinary building. Corners, ceiling lines, window\nframes, outlets, thermostats. Bamboo poles, matting, netting, and lauhala cloth\nexist to break up those lines.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou don\u0026rsquo;t need to cover every surface — you need to cover the ones that give\nthe game away. A ceiling treatment alone will do more than a wall of\nmerchandise.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"light-low-light-warm\"\u003eLight low, light warm\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOverhead lighting kills the effect instantly. What you want is many small warm\nsources at or below eye level: pufferfish lamps, float lamps, string lights\nbehind matting, a glow from under the bar.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGet everything on dimmers. The room should be able to go from \u0026ldquo;we\u0026rsquo;re having\npeople over\u0026rdquo; to \u0026ldquo;it\u0026rsquo;s midnight somewhere\u0026rdquo; without rearranging anything.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"layer-over-time\"\u003eLayer over time\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe best home bars look accumulated because they were. A room assembled in one\nweekend from one catalog looks like it. A room built over three years out of\nestate sales, trades with other collectors, a commissioned carving, and things\nbrought back from trips looks like a life.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is also the honest financial advice. Good carved work is expensive and\nworth it; the filler around it doesn\u0026rsquo;t need to be.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"sound\"\u003eSound\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChronically underrated. Exotica — Martin Denny, Les Baxter, Arthur Lyman — plus\nthe modern acts keeping the genre alive. A bird call and a distant vibraphone\ndo more for the atmosphere than another mask on the wall.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"a-note-on-what-you-hang\"\u003eA note on what you hang\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlenty of vintage tiki décor reproduces sacred Polynesian imagery as\ndecoration. Some of it is thoughtless, some of it is worse. You can build a\ngorgeous room out of mid-century modern shapes, natural materials, warm light,\nand commissioned work by contemporary carvers who are open about what they\u0026rsquo;re\nmaking and why.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe goal was always transportation, not authenticity. Leaning into the\nmid-century American fantasy — which is what this actually is — gets you a\nbetter room and a clearer conscience.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "id": "posts/building-a-home-tiki-bar", "lastmod": "2025-02-19T14:30:00-08:00", "markdown": "\nThe mistake almost everyone makes is treating a tiki bar as a shopping list.\nBuy some bamboo, hang a puffer fish lamp, put up a few masks, done. The result\nusually reads as a themed corner of a normal room, which is exactly what it is.\n\nWhat makes these spaces work is not the objects. It's density and light.\n\n## Cover the edges\n\nThe single highest-impact move is eliminating the visual reminders that you're\nin a rectangular room in an ordinary building. Corners, ceiling lines, window\nframes, outlets, thermostats. Bamboo poles, matting, netting, and lauhala cloth\nexist to break up those lines.\n\nYou don't need to cover every surface — you need to cover the ones that give\nthe game away. A ceiling treatment alone will do more than a wall of\nmerchandise.\n\n## Light low, light warm\n\nOverhead lighting kills the effect instantly. What you want is many small warm\nsources at or below eye level: pufferfish lamps, float lamps, string lights\nbehind matting, a glow from under the bar.\n\nGet everything on dimmers. The room should be able to go from \"we're having\npeople over\" to \"it's midnight somewhere\" without rearranging anything.\n\n## Layer over time\n\nThe best home bars look accumulated because they were. A room assembled in one\nweekend from one catalog looks like it. A room built over three years out of\nestate sales, trades with other collectors, a commissioned carving, and things\nbrought back from trips looks like a life.\n\nThis is also the honest financial advice. Good carved work is expensive and\nworth it; the filler around it doesn't need to be.\n\n## Sound\n\nChronically underrated. Exotica — Martin Denny, Les Baxter, Arthur Lyman — plus\nthe modern acts keeping the genre alive. A bird call and a distant vibraphone\ndo more for the atmosphere than another mask on the wall.\n\n## A note on what you hang\n\nPlenty of vintage tiki décor reproduces sacred Polynesian imagery as\ndecoration. Some of it is thoughtless, some of it is worse. You can build a\ngorgeous room out of mid-century modern shapes, natural materials, warm light,\nand commissioned work by contemporary carvers who are open about what they're\nmaking and why.\n\nThe goal was always transportation, not authenticity. Leaning into the\nmid-century American fantasy — which is what this actually is — gets you a\nbetter room and a clearer conscience.\n", "readingTime": 2, "slug": "building-a-home-tiki-bar", "summary": "The mistake almost everyone makes is treating a tiki bar as a shopping list. Buy some bamboo, hang a puffer fish lamp, put up a few masks, done. The result usually reads as a themed corner of a normal room, which is exactly what it is.\nWhat makes these spaces work is not the objects. It’s density and light.\nCover the edges The single highest-impact move is eliminating the visual reminders that you’re in a rectangular room in an ordinary building. Corners, ceiling lines, window frames, outlets, thermostats. Bamboo poles, matting, netting, and lauhala cloth exist to break up those lines.", "title": "Building a Home Tiki Bar", "url": "/posts/building-a-home-tiki-bar/", "weight": 0, "wordCount": 391 } ], "slug": "home-bar", "taxonomy": "tags", "term": "Home-Bar" }