What a fun episode do we have for you. While at Tiki Calienete, Neighbor Nicole met some new friends and they conspired to give her a makeover in the Zen Tiki Lounge. Hena Moon and The Isis of Tiki journeyed to ZTL to help Nicole add some color to her usual all black attire. But first…ZTL Mai Tais and some lovely snacks. The Isis of Tiki who is a personal chef brought amazing and tender beef skewers with sambal sauce and some vegan fried rice. Sunshine cooked his favorite appetizer, Hawaiian Bru...
Jul 15, 2025
If you downloaded this episode on 6/1/25, the wrong sound file was attached. Please download again beginning 6/2/25. Sue us! ;)
Jun 02, 2025
On this episode of ZTL podcast you will hear Kalani say “Im just one colonoscopy away from being free of these pesky Dr’s visits”. Plus! We are sipping on a ZTL Mai Tai and catching up on the last few weeks of shenanigans. Plenty of listener mail, our own podcast listening recommendations, geriatric intercourse and so much more. Below our some of the pics from our recent visit to Hula Hula in Torrance, CA. Starshine had been telling us we need to try Hula Hula and we are glad we did. Listen to o...
Mar 08, 2025
Each year all of the ZTL hosts gather in the lounge for the annual holiday spectacular. Sunshine, Pumpkin, Starshine and Kalani are all here for some festive mirth and shenanigans. Sunshine mixes up the Coquito and a few of our favorite ZTL cocktails. We enjoy vegan snacks in honor of Pumpkin, Starshine reveals a dark secret and Kalani shares her chocolate balls. Follow the links below to try some of our favorite winter cocktails. Start by making Sushines’s Very Spicy rum and them move on down t...
Nov 28, 2024
On a recent voyage around the Caribbean, Sunshine, The Husband and a few friends put a few minutes aside to record a podcast at sea. Sunshine is joined by Emmy award winning news personality (he really is a personality) Jordan Hogan . Some of our best shows come from little prep and lots of tangents. This episode may be one of those. We discuss: cruising (the ship kind you perv), cocktails, social anxiety at parties, certainly no politics ;), meeting people onboard, how to win an Emmy and much m...
Nov 20, 2024
9north drinks and rum Circa Caliente Full details and pictures will be added shortly
Oct 10, 2024
Let’s start with the cocktail. On this episode we are drinking ABBAstract , a concoction we developed using 9north Rum. We highly recommend you mix this up at home. 9north is become more available, especially in the SoCal area. You can order from Chips Liquor , and their shipping prices are pretty decent. Mentioned on this episode are two places the ladies like to get their retro clothing. Kalani and Nicole recommend Unique Vintage and Retro Ruthie . If you need that perfect dress for the weeken...
Jul 21, 2024
Pumpkin is in the lounge with Sunshine and it’s Summer. That means blendy drinks! Our version of Missionaries Downfall stays pretty close to the classic, but switches out honey with agave syrup to make it vegan, and adds a bit more rum to punch it up a bit. Pumpkin sucked down two of these quickly in the first half of the show. This drink alone is reason enough to plant some mint in the Spring and Summer. You will gladly use it all. Sunshine and Pumpkin discuss candle tips part 2, why mojitos ar...
Jun 30, 2024
On this episode we are drinking The Diane. Click on this AI generated image to get the recipe and the story. It’s a perfect summer libation with actual “nutrition”....
Jun 23, 2024
Here in the lounge we talk about our favorite event on half of our podcasts. Well, its sold out as usual, BUT, you may still be able to attend. Are you a female between 37 and 50 years of age? Can you be at the event? Would like a wristband with one small harmless catch? Listen to this episode to find out how. We promise, no stranger danger. It’ll be fun and you get to be on the podcast. If you are attending Tiki Caliente 15, you won’t want to miss our annual room party. This year for the first ...
Apr 10, 2024
Below you see all 4 ZTL podcast hosts enjoying a libation at the Reef Palm Springs. We haven’t been this happy in a few months now. 16 years hosting together and we have run into some challenges that normally would have never come between us. Listen if you like. Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Apr 02, 2024
We always start with a beverage. Usually a spirited drink, but Starshine ask for a mocktail and we know better than upsetting her. The Insurrection was crafted just for dry January at Starshines request. This is one of our rare episodes with all four hosts present. Sunshine is doing his best to wrangle the cats and still share some tiki news and updates on new bars and events. The ladies were actually on their “better” behavior. Conversation includes: Dry January, soap making, a visit to the Los...
Mar 03, 2024
During the recording of this, our 473rd episode, Pumpkin acted like she didn’t know how we start the show. There is a way of doing things. We may not be very professional but we do have some “best practices”. After clearing up who says Aloha first we get right to the cocktail, our listener mail and some party planning and hosting tips. Thats pretty much the show. We stuck to the basics. Listen, drink, enjoy! Below are two of our time tested holiday cocktails. Every tiki bar has a few festive rum...
Dec 09, 2023
Starshine and Kalani and Pumpkin, Oh my! All the ladies are in the lounge for one of our rare all host podcasts. If you hear meowing cats its because Sunshine couldn’t edit out all the cross talk. Sorry. Sunshine and the ladies have some catching up to do including: Summer tomato tastings from our gardens (it turns dirty say you may assume), what scent is your tiki bar (it also turns dirty), and what event was I ate when I was found passed out in a stairwell. Classic. We are drinking a lovely Su...
Oct 14, 2023
Sunshine and Kalani in the Zen Tiki Lounge for this episode. Sunshine surprised Kalani with one of her all time favorite drinks. Marooned! We first came across this drink in 2009 while visiting the Florida Keys. Then, we served it as one of two cocktails at Tiki Oasis 2010. Now, we are finally posting the recipe. Both hosts were back from vacations. Kalani spent 17 days in Hawaii doing a little island hopping while Sunshine was on an Alaskan cruise. Most of the conversations centers on our very ...
Aug 06, 2023
Aloha, welcome to our LIVE recording at the Bamboo Club in Long Beach . The ZTL crew was looking forward to this podcast for many weeks and when it finally happened, we were ready to drink! That said, below are some of our favorite drinks from the Bamboo Club. From left to right: Zombie, Fog Cutter, Daiquiris, and the Mai Tai. Every drink we sipped was presented perfectly despite the bar not actually opening for a few hours. The Zombie was Sunshines first drink of the day at 9am and was perfectl...
Jul 31, 2023•Ep. 470
This episode of ZTL recorded at Le Fern during Tiki Caliente 14. Le Fern is a 70’s fern bar with throwback cocktails and appetizers to match. The only thing they don’t offer is fondue…(that’s a hint Rory). We give you just a taste of all the fun you can have over a four day weekend filled with live music, over a dozen parties and lots of great food and cocktails. Special guests this time are Rory Snyder , host and creator of Tiki Caliente. Each year Rory pulls off an even more spectacular weeken...
May 26, 2023
April 1st is just another day. Though, there is one tradition we had never participated in. Practical jokes are always fun for someone but not always everyone. Well, we went for it with mostly positive “ha ha” results. On our previous episode the hosts of ZTL created a not so elaborate scheme to convince people that we had broken up due to a little tiki back stabbing. But not to worry, all is good with the four of us and this podcast is proof. What if there was a tiki centric football podcast? W...
Apr 16, 2023•46 min•Ep. 467
Kalani and Sunshine are in the lounge with several cocktails and some packet drinks to review. You may notice we decided this episode back before Valentine’s Day. Well, we meant to get it posted sooner but that just didn’t happen. You were sure to enjoy our comments about the noble mix packet drinks, they were surprisingly good. We have a review on a new cocktail that uses strawberry sorbet and mount gay rum. Some updates on local, Tiki events and East Coast Tiki events. Sorry to say that most o...
Mar 04, 2023
Aloooooooooha! and welcome to the Zen Tiki Lounge. The bar is full this time. Sunshine, Kalani, Neighbor Julio and Neighbor Nicole are on board for a new cocktail, some shots and a new rum to taste. Plus, some great conversation about saving water, a Tiki Caliente update and what songs get you in the mood?
Jan 23, 2023•Ep. 463
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Dec 24, 2022•Ep. 462
Audio file has been restored however the blog post is still being recovered. Please enjoy the audio and check back later for lots of pics from the event including the room parties....
Dec 03, 2022
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Sep 04, 2022
Sunshine and Pumpkin hit the road and spend a night at the local casino. Lucky for them, Harrahs Southern California has a great craft called bar, Spiked. When two long time friends enjoy gambling, drinking and shenanigans its easy to have a good time. Using just iPhones, recordings of the fun were put together and interspersed with great lounge music from the bands we have played previously on this podcast. Hear some of our favorites from Martini Kings, Nutty, Jill Martini and the Shrunken Head...
Aug 13, 2022
Don’t worry. Beings from other worlds have visited us and many of us have been probed without knowing, What you don’t know, can’t hurt? Or did it? Let’s drink! New to the ZTL podcast is Ricky! He joins us for a wonderful conversation about sci fi, tiki events, adult shenanigans and lifes essential questions. Are tiki bars a universal phenononem? We think so. What are you drinking? Sunshines version of a 1944 Mai Tai. You will enjoy a Mai Tai with Sunshine added. Listen for the recipe. Other tidb...
Jul 23, 2022
Sunshine uncovered a dozen or so audio clips in his iPhone. Put then together while drinking a Mai Tai and this episode is what you get. Hope you enjoy. Our friends at Tiki Bar T-Shirt Club have just the soft cotton T for you. New design every month with a different classic tiki bar. We love Tiki Bar T-Shirt Club!...
Jun 17, 2022
Please forgive the audio quality on this episode. It was a party after all. Tiki Caliente 13 finally arrived and is now in the rear view mirror. The crew from ZTL was in attendance (except for the reclusive Pumpkin) and we enjoyed every minute of the four day weekend. On day 1 we pulled Rory Snyder up to the mic while experiencing the grand opening of Le Fern . Rory shared some of the backstory on opening his newest bar location at the world famous Caliente Tropics . Over the course of the inter...
May 25, 2022
We LOVE Tiki Bar T-Shirt Club. Listen to this episode to find out how you can snag a shirt, or better yet click the pic and follow to their store....
Mar 05, 2022
Neighbor Nicole joins us in the Zen Tiki Lounge for her third visit. Since she liked one of our previous cocktails so much we are again pouring Moog Over Rita . This take on a Rita is both sweet and savory with passion fruit and Chile vodka. Click the link above for the recipe and try this one for your self. Nicole is joining Sunshine to talk about a project that is a long time in the making. Anita Mai Tai will someday be Sunshines official drag persona. Anitas look is being worked on and Nicole...
Feb 06, 2022
We are BACK! Its been a busy and odd few months. Haven’t posted a podcast in a few months. Below are pics from our super fun Bewitched themed party at Tiki Caliente 12. Copalli rum sponsored our cocktail called Bewitching. Serving over 250 drinks in 90 minutes, we know it was popular. If you haven’t tried Copalli we recommend the silver for an awesome Mojito or Daiquiri. We used the barrel rested in our signature cocktail at the event. Below from left to right are Aaron, our devoted rum sponsor....
Dec 16, 2021
