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Don the Beachcomber Secret Ingredients Revealed After a Century

by donnbeach | Jul 4, 2025 | Uncategorized

Donn’s secret ingredients #2, #4, and #7 (also #8!) have been a secret for nearly a century. When he created the Zombie in 1934 (with the help of Cora “Sunny” Sund) he used #4. It was Bob Van Dorpe, first general manager of the Mai-Kai, and former...

Don the Beachcomber Secret Cocktail Mixers Coming

by donnbeach | Jul 2, 2025 | Uncategorized

Swanky, in cooperation with BG Reynolds, is producing Don the Beachcomber’s secret cocktail mixers. Coming in fall/winter of 2025, the secret ingredients for the Zombie, Nui Nui and others will be available to the public for the first time...

Happy Birthday Don the Beachcomber – Godfather of Tiki

by donnbeach | Aug 30, 2024 | Uncategorized

The man, the myth, the legend’s story continues in 2024 with Swanky’s biography, The Donn of Tiki film, and the new Don the Beachcomber restaurants, and much...

1946 Party of Stars at Don the Beachcomber’s home in Encino

by donnbeach | Aug 30, 2024 | Uncategorized

Alma Ross, Barbara Britton, Juna Haver, Bob Stack, photographer Paul Hesse, band leader Dave Rose and his girlfriend Betty Bartholomew, and a bit of Frank Morgan, the Wizard of Oz and Angostura bitters man, await the preparation of the kalua pig fresh from the imu at...

The Gardiners and the Skeltons at Donn’s Full Moon party 1946

by donnbeach | Aug 30, 2024 | Uncategorized

The Gardiners and the Skeltons at Donn’s Full Moon party...
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Latest Posts

  • Don the Beachcomber Secret Ingredients Revealed After a Century
  • Don the Beachcomber Secret Cocktail Mixers Coming
  • Happy Birthday Don the Beachcomber – Godfather of Tiki
  • 1946 Party of Stars at Don the Beachcomber’s home in Encino
  • The Gardiners and the Skeltons at Donn’s Full Moon party 1946

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About Us

Writing Tiki history books is a labor of love. Every trip to dig through a photo album or scrap book can cost thousands of dollars. Buying images on eBay, etc. is money spent for something that may never be used, but you have to get it or it's lost. I'm doing it when and how I can.

The history is slipping away. Friends and associates of Donn Beach are still out there. Those who lived it are passing from this earth and taking the incredible stories with them. Their photo albums are tossed. The time is now.

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