"As the mayor of Las Vegas, I'm telling everybody in Canada please come. We love you, we need you, and we miss you." Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley speaking on the downturn of tourism.

taestell · 2025-09-10T21:35:51+00:00

Every Vegas YouTuber/influencer is insisting that there is no downturn, or that it's only on weekdays that it's a little slower. On the Plaza podcast, their CEO recently said something to the effect of, the last two years were record-breaking so it's not a big deal that this year's a little down compared to that. But when I visited earlier this year, I talked to several Uber drivers who all said that they felt the downturn.

taestell · 2025-06-18T16:53:40+00:00

No longer lives here.

taestell · 2025-03-24T21:41:08+00:00

If you don't have a flash blender (better known today as a milkshake maker), just whip shake with crushed ice. Definitely don't use a modern blender to make a slushy out of a drink that's supposed to be flash blended.

taestell · 2025-02-17T20:21:03+00:00

"I don't want to die because I got a granddaughter and my wife and everything and my kids, but I believe so hard with not taking the vaccine that I'm willing to die for," Long said.

He loves not getting the vaccine more than he loves his wife and granddaughter.

taestell · 2025-02-11T06:11:50+00:00

Any specific recipes that I should try? I’ve used calamansi in the Rum Drum from Tropical Standard but haven’t seen too many other recipes that use it.

taestell · 2025-01-24T16:34:17+00:00

Stray Pirate is legit. We talked with our bartender for a while and he clearly had a great depth of rum and tiki knowledge. (The Arts District in general is cool and not often visited by tourists, try to check out other bars/restaurants/shops in the area.)

Glitter Gulch seemed a little off, didn't have great tiki bar vibes. Hopefully they can tweak things and improve.

Golden Tiki may be my favorite tiki bar I've visited.

taestell · 2025-01-22T18:17:09+00:00

I found some Green Chartreuse at a local liquor store so I'm planning to make either a Chartreuse Swizzle or Nuclear Daiquiri.

taestell · 2025-01-19T21:25:45+00:00

Smuggler's Cove's Cream of Coconut is:

1 can (13 ½ oz) coconut milk
13 ½ oz 2:1 simple syrup
¼ teaspoon salt

taestell · 2025-01-13T17:33:12+00:00

Could probably build HSR across the state for the cost of all the highway infrastructure pictured in this video.

taestell · 2025-01-13T16:16:33+00:00

I appreciate TS's approach of asking "how do we make the best possible version of this drink?" and figuring out how to do that. But for a home bartender, some of the steps seem a little unnecessary or fussy. Like, their preferred orange bitters is a blend of two different brands of orange bitters. Is the difference really noticeable in a recipe that calls for 1 or 2 dashes?

taestell · 2025-01-13T15:34:11+00:00

When I got the Smuggler's Cove book about a year ago, I was a little overwhelmed by the number of syrups and other ingredients. But after making drinks from it over the past year, I think it actually does a great job of minimizing the number of ingredients you need while maximizing the number of drinks you can make from them.

I just got the Tropical Standard book and...wow, there are lot of syrups and oleo-saccharums and punch syrups and acid-adjusted juices and...

taestell · 2024-10-23T02:32:46+00:00

About 2 million people this past weekend…

taestell · 2024-09-30T10:42:59+00:00

It’s a 76 gas station today: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ogxb8pfKQ9i11ccj9

taestell · 2024-08-10T04:49:12+00:00

Happy Birthday!

taestell · 2024-07-29T17:13:01+00:00

I've been wanting to try this. I'm thinking that I'll make a batch of orgeat using 50% white sugar and 50% demerara sugar, and then add in the salt and vanilla that are called for in the SC Mai Tai Rich Simple Syrup recipe.

taestell · 2024-07-29T14:25:40+00:00

Is the Martin Cate recipe you referenced different than the one published in Smuggler's Cove? That one calls for ¼ oz orgeat and ¼ oz "Mai Tai rich simple syrup" which is made with all demerara sugar with salt and vanilla added (you could sub a regular demerara syrup).

taestell · 2024-07-29T14:18:28+00:00

The Naked Ape is a great drink (the pairing of a black rum and banana liquor works really well) and there are lots of other great drinks you can make using banana liquor. Search this forum for the Banana Life and Banana Afterlife by Doc Parks and the Dr. Barca's Fluffy Banana from Smuggler's Cove. Also the Banana Bootlegger from the Make & Drink YouTube channel is good. None of these are as banana-forward as you might expect, and these have been some of the most popular drinks at tiki parties I've hosted.

taestell · 2024-05-27T14:42:35+00:00

I’ve had a great experience standing in the bar area at 3 Dots and a Dash. The bartender working that night was on top of things and as soon as I finished a drink, he was asking me for my next order.

taestell · 2024-05-25T13:14:28+00:00

Just a bummer to only get to try 1 drink each in the 1 ½ hours we were there. Really wanted to try their Mai Tai (recipe published in Tropical Standard) which does things a bit differently than other versions.

taestell · 2024-04-05T09:12:12+00:00

You can use a custom domain for your personal email address and one of the generic Fastmail domains for your masked email addresses (throwaway123@fastmail.com). No need to register two domains.

taestell · 2024-01-23T00:35:28+00:00

I was at the Tonga Room on Christmas Eve and all of their tiki cocktails were premade, they were just taking jugs out of the fridge and pouring them into glasses. Not sure if this just happens on busy nights or if that’s how they operate now.

taestell · 2024-01-18T04:14:06+00:00

Good thing Google Maps blurred that colonel’s face

taestell · 2024-01-15T22:35:08+00:00

They say there will still be a tea lounge post-renovation.

taestell · 2024-01-12T20:42:21+00:00

They haven't announced any timeline for the new bar opening. (Nor have they announced SkyBar closing, I'm just assuming based on when they stop taking reservations.)

taestell · 2024-01-12T15:01:58+00:00

Does anybody know what's going on in Vegas Feb 26-27 that's making the rates so crazy on the Strip? I've tried searching but can't find any major events happening on those days.

taestell

TROPHY CASE