Hi Folks!
This is a great episode that deals with a new spirit we haven't discussed before. This spirit is called Mezcal (which is Tequila's brother) as it is made from only kind of agave plant (Blue agave). We go over two different cocktails that contain this great spirit.
Also, we discuss a holiday celebrated in Mexico called "Day of the Dead". This amazing celebration is a three day event that starts on October 31st and goes through to November 2nd. It is a time spend with the past deceased relatives who say come back to party with their family. The culture believes that there are several levels one must go through to get to heaven and so this event is a guidance in some way to help the deceased get to their final destination. It is looked upon as a positive moment and not a grieving moment as we have in our culture.
The idea for the show came from an event I go to annually called the Third World Bizarre which is held every October here in the Ottawa region. This amazing event is a collection of arts and crafts from around the world that are collected the rest of the year and then brought back to Ottawa to be sold. Several regions are covered including Mexico. We got a ceremony skull which is called "Calavera" which represents the "Day of the Dead". So instead of doing Halloween cocktails which are not really tiki, we decided to research more of this event and bring you some cool drinks and facts about it. Here is the link to the 3rd World Bizarre event: https://thirdworldbazaar.ca/
Ocotber 31st is the day for the kids (also called "Angelitos") of the celebration and you can see little skull (also called "calavera") and often have the name of the deceased person inscribed on the forehead which are placed at the grave site.
The adults part of the celebration is on November 2nd when offerings (also called "ofrendas") of liquor and cigarettes plus their favorite food would be placed on their sites. Mark gives us more information details on how this event originated.
On "Mark's adventures" segment: Mark gives us information on The Bali Hai. It is in San Diego very near the coast on an area called Shelter Island. Shelter Island is not actually an island but a sand bar that was built up with materials dredged up from the bay in 1934. We discuss several characteristics of the bar such as "The Goof" and "Mr. Bahi Hai" himself. They also have a Mai Tai of their own that during happy hour the price changes as you drink.
You would like to know more, please give it a listen!!! Also, here is the link to The Bali Hai website where you can see just how many Mai Tais have been sold so far (its alot): https://www.balihairestaurant.com/
On "Did you know?" segment: We will discuss "Day of the Dead" facts such as it is celebrated around the world in different countries. A cool fact we go over is that the James Bond movie Spectre's opening scene is a Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico City that was Hollywood staged with hundreds of locals on set in costume. But here is the cool fact, the city never had a parade for this day til after the movie was shot there and the city decided to add it to the celebration yearly now.
Here is the cool YouTube video on the behind the scenes of the whole opening production on the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59_YFkYrLQQ
Some of the ingredients needed for these drinks are hard to find so I have added these links to help you find them.
Chocolate bitters: https://www.amazon.ca/Aztec-Chocolate-Bitters-Fee-Brothers/dp/B002GUZHLO/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=chocolate+bitters&qid=1573888481&sr=8-5
Mezcal that I used for the recipe (LCBO-Ontario): https://www.lcbo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/lcbo/mexcalia-mezcale-697953#.Xc-YgtVKjX4
