6 Bars Ushering In Tiki’s Exciting 3rd Wave

I promise to have a full review of Latitude 29 in the next week or so. It might actually displace Frankie’s as my favorite Tiki bar in the world. This list is solid. I have a ton of work to do (and frequent flyer miles to earn).

We are entering a golden age of tropical inebriation. Tiki cocktail culture, a faux-lynesian phenomenon beloved by mid-century Americans celebrating victory Over There, is now into a third wave. Following its Baby Booming inception, and subsequent Seventies backlash, tiki was dormant. A brief resurgence in the late-Nineties and early Aughts was characterized by what cultural anthropologists might call “kitschy hipster nonsense.” Thankfully, Tiki 3.0 elevates the genre. Now, colorful bars combine complex mixology (think: layered flavors, house-made syrups and fresh juices) with the sort of freewheeling fun enjoyed exclusively by those at least one generation removed from a movement’s inception. Here are six bars redefining tiki.