About

The Tiki Bar began in 2003 as a semi-regular meeting of friends on my back patio in Southern California. We got together on Friday or Saturday evenings, smoked cigars, drank libations, and solved the problems of the world "one puff at a time." We took our name from the John Hiatt song "The Tiki Bar is Open" (also covered by Jimmy Buffett) and we would smoke under the flicker of several tiki torches I set up each time we met.


I named this blog in honor of that group of friends and our gatherings, though now I live in east Tennessee (the old group still meets in SoCal, though). Captured within these pages are thoughts and opinions about the type of things we would discuss over the table in my old back yard: politics, drinks, music...but mostly cigars.


As time has gone on, the Tiki Bar blog has become more "cigar-centric" and I regularly publish cigar reviews twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and more when I have enough cigars to review. Mondays and Fridays I publish pop culture recommendations, including book, music, and movie reviews. It will come as no shock to anyone who knows me that I am politically right-minded; my thoughts and opinions on current political happenings pop up whenever the mood strikes me and range from the very serious to the very sarcastic to the very silly.

Joining me as of May 2010 is one of the original members of the Tiki Bar group, Keith. I was privileged to introduce Keith to the "devil's weed" several years ago and his knowledge and passion for the indulgence far outstripped mine in short order.

So, welcome, friends and brothers of the leaf...the Tiki Bar is open...

Thank God the Tiki Bar is  open
Thank God the Tiki torch still shines
Thank God the Tiki Bar is open
Come on in and open up your mind
John Hiatt (2001)

- dmj