Blue Kahunas
A Tiki bar born from a passion of rum
The concept of a Tiki Bar started in the 1930s with a place called Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood. This was inspired by the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean culture where rum is very prominent. And now, thanks to Byron and Prudence, this passion for rum can now be found in the Newcastle Hunter Street Mall.
How did this concept come about?
Prudence: “We both worked in a restaurant bar on the Central Coast called ‘Mojito Joe’s’, which was Tiki inspired. I also lived in Prague for 6 months and there was a Tiki bar on my street which was quite convenient, I used to go down there and get cocktails all the time. And Byron has a huge passion for rum.”
What type of rum do you drink?
Byron: “Mainly a lot of Agricole, previously a lot of traditional, the Dos Maderas up there which is one of our favourites as a sipper”.
How do you recommend drinking rum?
Byron: “It depends on the rum, we do the O.F.T.D by Plantation in a Mai Thai, I think that is its best expression. It’s a really full on rum, its 69% alcohol, it’s just got so much flavour and it comes through with the almond and orange and lime in there. So, I think it depends on the rum really”.
And for those of you who don’t like rum, don’t worry they also offer other spirits as well.
Prudence: “I have kind of become the 42 Below Vodka spokesperson queen for Newcastle. My cocktail got into the 42 Below cocktail competition. It’s called the Hulu Queen, very fruity, fresh, salty, it’s meant to represent the ocean. And 42 Below is a sustainable vodka from New Zealand, they are really pushing sustainability”.
For someone who doesn’t normally drink rum and wants to try, what rum would you recommend?
Prudence: “We would first ask what is the drink you normally go to? Are you a gin drinker or whiskey or even do you drink rum and what kind? Rum is so diverse, so much variety, so you can find a rum that is very similar to whiskey or an Agricole rum can be very similar to gin, very florally”.
Byron: “Rum doesn’t really have the regulations that any of the other spirits have….We try to get all rums without any additives that are all about the quality product”.
Prudence: “It seems like Newcastle really likes spiced rum so what we are trying to do is educate people and there are a couple of really cool Australian spiced rums that we have and they use all naturally spiced ingredients. You have Brix spiced and you also have the Rum Diaries spiced”.
Byron’s passion for rum is clearly evident when he talks about it, but also in his approach to training his staff.
Byron: “We try to do staff tastings daily. I think it’s good for everyone to have a good idea of what’s on the back bar. So, if we can talk about two things in comparison and why the two are different and sort of build on that from the day before, and get everyone across all the spirits we have, and us as well”.
After being recommended by a number of people to approach GBL in the lead up to opening their very first bar, Prudence and Byron now work closely with Martin, their GBL rep.
Prudence: “Martin is just hilarious, so funny, so much fun. He is a really good person. He always comes in for a good laugh. And I just love the way with his accent when he says Blue Kahunas, it sounds so exotic”.
