Customer Reviews

Cocktails In Tahiti

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My husband and I went to Tahiti for our honeymoon. I saw this book on Amazon.com and I just had to have it. The pictures, facts and drinks were amazing!

I decided to have a Tahitian party last weekend with my family and friends. I was able to recreate the Tahitian cocktails we had on our honeymoon and share some interesting facts about the islands, as well as, the hotels in the French Polynesia. The cocktails were so easy to make and they looked so festive. I was able to recreate the look of the cocktail by using the pictures in the book. Everyone at my party kept raving about how much they loved what they were drinking and wanted to see the Tahitian cocktail book. After looking at the book - they just had to have a copy. I was so excited about their requests, I can order this book on-line and have it shipped to my home just in time for Christmas. I do not have to "fight" the crowds at the mall! My party was a huge Tahitian success!

If you want to bring the French Polynesia Islands to your home and experience paradise - I highly recommend this book. Thank you for making my party festive and memorable!!!

My husband and I love this book. We went to Tahiti on our honeymoon and this book was given to us by a friend after we returned home. This book has so many pretty photographs from the amazing hotels in Tahiti, Bora Bora and the other islands as well as some nature shots from around the islands. There really is nothing like the hotels in Bora Bora. I wish we had the book before our trip because there were a lot of neat trivia facts in the book about Tahiti that would that it would have been good/fun to know in advance.

The photos of the cocktail drinks are gorgeous. Not only are they gorgeous, but they are easy to make and very tasty too! I have another cocktail book where the recipes are exotic but use ingredients that are complicated and make it too hard to really try many of the drinks. This book is just the opposite, there's a good variety of drinks and they are all practical and not too hard to make at home. Also, the different mai tai recipes were very interesting and very different. The first pages of information on making drinks - creating cocktails and discussions on the fruits used and liquors used are fairly standard but still good.

Anyway, we love this book because it is so pretty, and we love the drinks and the hotels in it. It is a great souvenir from a perfect trip. I'd highly recommend this book as a gift to anyone who is going to Tahiti or has been to Tahiti.

After visiting Tahiti one realizes that this place is truly special, and like no other. This would include the cocktails made there. This book is a fun and experimental way of reminding you of the taste and smells of Tahiti intoxication and is full of great recipes.

Wow! What a great book! We received it as a gift, which was perfect since my husband and I spent our honeymoon in Tahiti. Several things make this book great. First, the information about Tahiti is factual and entertaining to read. Second, the photos are amazing. Third, not only are the drinks easy to make, they are awesome! Kudos to Richard Bondurant.

Not only does this book have a wealth of information on a destination we long to travel to, but it offers a wide variety of fun and DELICIOUS drinks.
We love to entertain and it has been great having 'Cocktails in Tahiti' out at our parties...quite a conversation piece! Everyone loves the stunning photos of Tahiti, the scrumptious drinks, and the intriguing facts of the islands. Thank you!

Always looking for new and exciting cocktails to try, I purchased this book. Each page became more interesting, not only for the drinks presented but for the knowledge that Mr. Bondurant shares about Tahiti, it's culture, local accomodations, etc.

The photos are exceptional and each drink I have mixed has been better than the last. I have bought several as gifts for coworkers and friends. You won't be disappointed!

"Cocktails in Tahiti" is a must have for any lover of spirits with a tropical flair. The author has artfully put together a wonderful collection of cocktails, both old and new, from the scenic paradise of Tahiti. Colorful photographs and descriptions of each drink will have your mouth watering to imbibe several of these treats from the South Pacific. If you are looking for something new to bring some tropical flavor to your cocktail library, then you need this book!

This winter as the snow is falling and the wind is blowing, pull out this wonderful new book and let your dreams begin. You are on a beautiful tropical island, feeling the warm sand beneath your feet as you stroll along the clear blue ocean, gentle breezes lifting your hair, and in your hand is one of the most delicious and colorful cocktails you could ever imagine. You take a sip and you are tasting coconut or pineapple and all the rich vibrancy of soothing rum flowing through your body and suddenly you have left it all behind, and the dreams take over. You are now in Tahiti and there is no going back. Life will never be the same. Forever and always you will remember this moment when you discovered that there really is some place where the world stands still and the phone stops ringing and you smile, and you explore all the possibilities that are stretching out before you. There may be dancing, there may be a lazy sleep on the beach, there may be... well, you let your mind take you where you will. Buy this book. Pick the most intoxicating recipe. Make a trip to the store. Build a fire in the fireplace. Light a few candles. Take a sip. Look at the pictures. Let the dreams begin.
Or... if you are really bold, buy the book, plan a trip to Tahiti, take out a loan, make your reservations, get on the plane, and live it for real. You only live once. Cocktails in Tahiti reminds you that your dreams CAN become reality.

I have never been to Tahiti, but after reading the fun, informative facts about Tahiti, seeing the beautiful pictures, and sampling some of the excellent cocktail recipes, I am ready to go!

Mr. Bondurant's love and knowledge of Tahiti come through clearly in the book, which is very well laid out. It provides enough information and explains things in such a way that an amateur can make delicious Tahitian cocktails as well as the most experienced bartender. The fun facts about Tahiti, along with summaries of the total hotels and the gorgeous pictures, makes this book a must have.

Until I can take my first trip to Tahiti, this book will help bring a little Tahiti to my home.

As a connoisseur of tropical beverages, I found this little collection to be rather odd. First though, it's a lovely little book, though most of the photos are postage stamp sized and were provided by the hotels themselves. So too were all the endorsements on the back cover. Just so you know the context of this book.

The introductory material on cocktail mixing is quite good, with explanations of many of the more exotic ingredients needed for many of the drink recipes. Seasoned mixologists can skip this, but it's useful for beginners.

Scattered throughout the book are brief notes on such tangential topics as pearls, the Bounty mutiny, the Tahitian language, etc. However, these are soundbite sidebars. The ones on Gauguin and breadfruit are four sentences each, for example. Given that the Mai Tai has close ties to Tahiti, there is a page on the history of this great drink. Half of it is a quoted passage from the Trader Vic web site. The rest is three scant paragraphs. Very disappointing, but then, I'm a Mai Tai afficianodo. (I published a few essays on the topic, and contributed to the original Tiki Road Trip book.)

The meat of the book is the recipes. There are two sections of these. The first is a collection of original creations, mostly adapted from familiar cocktails by the addition of one or more "exotic" ingredients. The second section is a collection of recipes actually served at a variety of luxury resorts, mostly on Bora Bora, also Moorea and Tahiti.

The first thing I found odd was the heavy leaning toward Vodka. Many drinks are variations of classic drinks such as the martini. About half of the drinks are rum-based, somewhat fewer than I expected. The actual count, by dominant liquor follows. Rum: 25 recipes, vodka: 19, tequila: 4, gin: 2, mixes without dominant liquor: 6. Tequila? I'm sure it is served there, but what an odd choice for a book like this with so few recipes. I'd also expect a few more mixes - one of the joys of polynesian drinks is the clever blending of ingredients into what we scientifically call a "concoction". Lots of secondary and tertiary ingredients though. Coconut in various forms is used frequently, which is a Tahitian staple of course. Pineapple doesn't feature, but is a secondary ingredient in many beverages. No pina colada, but several interesting variations with more complexity, from the looks of them.

Unlike bartending books by the likes of Beachbum Berry, this book relies on ingredients that are somewhat more accessible. I haven't found coconut iced cream, which is used in several recipes here, but things like Malibu and mango juice are easy to find. The toughest one for me was parfait amour, but well-stocked stores have it. (There are several brands, not all good; the best one I found was cheaper than the syrupy copycats.) While I appreciate the ease of locating ingredients, this also detracts from the "Tahitian" theme of the drinks, by making things a bit more pedestrian. Can't have it both ways, I guess.

So far, I've made a small number of the drinks, and found them all to be good. Nothing outstanding yet, but I'll keep at it. I'm trying the more exotic, fruity ones first. Adding "Tahitian" vanilla to rum, lime and sugar, and calling it a "Caipirinha Tahiti" doesn't tempt me much - though it sounds great, and I'll get to it. Each drink comes with a gorgeous photo of a suggested presentation, with some tasteful artwork adornments, emphasizing the bright sunny colors of the drinks. No tacky tiki mugs here!

Mixed feelings? Isn't that the best kind? ;)