Tiki Experiments at Home
Tiki cocktails, when made with freshly squeezed juices, homemade syrups, and quality rums, are completely delicious--complex, stiff, and flavorful. But, with the exception of the now-closed bar at Elettaria, these classic cocktails, most invented in the '30s and '40s, have been neglected by the classic cocktail renaissance. Maybe it's because their faux Polynesian trappings are so kitschy or because reliable recipes are hard to come by--the originators of tiki, Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic, were both notoriously secretive about what went in their drinks. Plus, tiki cocktails are not cool. They're enthusiastic. A mai tai will never have the gravitas of, say, a Manhattan. You have to be secure in your man-or-womanhood to order a mai tai. You can't sit and brood over a Zombie.
A Painkiller
It's hard to find a good tiki cocktail in New York. On Friday, I stopped by Flatiron Lounge and had a proper mai tai, made with two different rums, orgeat (more on this later), lime juice and orange Curacao. But most other bars take shortcuts, use corn-syrup-laden grenadine (which has no place in a mai tai anyway), and serve the tooth-achingly sweet concoctions that have given tiki drinks a bad name.
So why not experiment with tiki at home? Well, first you've got to make the orgeat.
Orgeat is an almond syrup that often includes orange flower or rose water, and is a secret ingredient in some tiki cocktails. You can buy the syrup at some Italian markets, but I've heard that homemade is infinitely better. I based my efforts on this recipe from Art of Drink. First, soak a pound of blanched almonds in cold water for 30 minutes, changing the water once to get rid of any dust or detritus. Drain, and grind almonds in a food processor.
Put the ground almonds back in the bowl, and cover with 3 1/3 cups of water. Allow to soak for at least three hours, or overnight. 
Strain the crushed almonds out of the resulting almond milk, reserving both almonds and milk, and then combine them again, repeating the process and allowing to soak for an additional three hours. Strain through a strainer lined with cheesecloth, pressing on solids, and discard the crushed almonds, reserving almond milk. 
In a saucepan, combine the almond milk with three cups sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add 1/2 cup vodka or brandy (to preserve and stabilize the mixture) and 2 tablespoons orange flower water.
Put the resulting orgeat in a jar, and store in the refrigerator for up to a month. It's actually very tasty, similar to horchata, and would be good in baked goods, as well. But after all that, you need a drink.
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