Island Fever: The Samba Bartender Series with The Tiki Maestro Daniele Dalla Pola

Bring out your Hawaiian shirt, and leave the suntan lotion. It's time for some cocktails, tiki-style at Samba...

Shangri-La at The Fort, in cooperation with Bacardi, recently kicked off the Bartender Series with The Tiki Maestro, Daniele Dalla Pola, at Samba last February 14, 2018 for a three-day celebration of tiki-inspired cocktails. And Samba is the perfect spot for round after round of unique cocktails with a blend of rum, fruits and other exotic ingredients.  

Daniele Dalla Pola (L), the highly acclaimed mixologist from Nu Lounge Bar in Bologna (check out their cool FB Page here at https://www.facebook.com/NuLoungeBar/) shared his signature cocktails with the team at Samba (R) for selected guests in a fun and entertaining afternoon. The Tiki culture is back...

Maybe it's the continuing fascination with palm trees and the eternal summer of pristine beaches and beautiful women that keeps the tiki fad from disappearing completely. But for  Daniele Dalla Pola, the tiki culture is prominently imprinted on his hands. For him, it's both a lifestyle and philosophy expressed through his creative cocktails.  

Long before Thor Heyerdahl sailed from South America to the Tuamotu Islands in a hand-built raft named the Kon-Tiki back in 1947, the world has always been fascinated with the vastness of the Pacific and the idyllic beach life. The Tiki, the half-man, half-god Polynesian figure became the symbol of that obsession... 

...leading to the popularity of Tiki culture with the kitschy Tiki bar and its rum and fruit cocktails. Bars like Don the Beachcomber where the Zombie was created and Trader Vic's, home of the Mai Tai,  became icons in the early thirties, coming back in vogue during the sixties. But by the seventies, the fad seemed to have run out of steam. 

Daniele Dalla Pola plans to change all that. With his cocktails, Daniele has a mission to take us back to the heyday of the tiki bar and all its hedonistic flamboyance. He's not only "The Tiki Maestro," he's a master showman sharing his stories and entertaining guests with his flashy moves and cool cocktails. For our first round, Daniele Dalla Pola served his Banana Daiquiri in style, delicately balanced on top of the other. 

Sweet with a potent kick, one sip and its good vibes all the way. As we enjoyed our Banana Daiquiri, Daniele proceeded with his next cocktail. With the tiki gods on his arms, Daniele prepared the classic tiki cocktail that started it all back in the days of Don the Beachcomber from the early thirties... 

The Sumatra Kula is a refreshing blend with lime juice, grapefruit juice, orange juice, honey mix, light rum and topped with crushed ice that's sweet and tart with the bold notes of rum adding depth. One more sip takes you to the beach...

The Big Bamboo, made with fresh lime juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice, passion fruit syrup, dark Jamaican rum, gold Cuban rum, and angostura bitters takes you even further out in the blue Pacific with its formidable rum blend.

Images of white sand beaches flash through your mind, when suddenly, Daniele has one more cocktail to reel you back.

Meet the Don Tu, an homage to the founder of Don the Beachcomber, and an update on the classic Zombie. The vibrant colors exude a tropical vibe, but its sweet blend of fruit juices, liqueurs and different rums is a potent combination hence its original name. Most, if not all tiki-inspired cocktails have a sweet fruit base hiding the alcohol, and it's easy to sip away before realizing the effects of the rum. Then again, it's good vibes all the way so just go with the flow...

A few more sips and the pool at Samba is beginning to look so inviting at this point.

That day, Chef Carlo Huerta Echegaray shared some of Samba's South American-inspired appetizers to pair with Daniele Dalla Pola's tiki cocktails like the Anticucho De Pulpo, char-grilled octopus with panca pepper, roasted potatoes drizzled with lemon olive oil (for more on Samba, see my previous post, Latin Vibes: A Christmas Feast with Peruvian Flavors at Samba)...

...crispy Calamari with crunchy thinly-sliced yucca chips...

...Chicharron De Cangrejo, crispy soft-shell crab with Peruvian limo chili, cilantro, pineapple and sweet passion fruit dip... 

...and Jalea Mixta with assorted seafood deep-fried to crispy perfection topped with red onions, peppers, herbs and corn. Just what you need before the next round of cocktails by Daniele Dalla Pola.

The wittingly named Ray's Mistake combines passion fruit syrup, honey, fresh lime juice, London Dry Gin, soda water and angostura bitters...

...all coming together for the right cocktail at the beach. Or the pool.

The Tiki Maestro then prepared his signature Sexy Colada (R) with pineapple and an experimental cocktail made with coconut water, rum and ginger (L). Using real fruits and fresh ingredients, one can just imagine the tropical flavors. A slice here and a twist there, the cocktails are looking good.  

And Daniele continues to ham it up delighting the guests at Samba.

The different components are then poured in the shaker as the pineapple and coconut are prepared and used instead of cocktail glasses in true tiki-style. Now how cool is that?  A few more shakes and the cocktails are poured. But Daniele has one more surprise...

A sudden flick of the wrist and Daniele lights up the cocktail...

...and sparks fly around the Sexy Colada. Alchemy and sorcery take over as Daniele prepares the final finishing touches on the cocktails. The tiki gods would be pleased by Daniele's performance that day...

With a few more ingredients, Daniele tops off the featured cocktails, served in the whole pineapple and coconut for that distinct tropical tiki vibe. And it's ready. The Sexy Colada delivered a naughty sweetness from the fresh pineapple juice, while the experimental coconut cocktail was sweet and refreshing. 

Time to find a spot by the pool.

But Daniele had one more trick up his sleeve. He pulls out the big guns to prepare his finale in a fun-filled afternoon at Samba.

One more potion served in the scorpion bowl (sometimes called the volcano bowl in tiki talk) topped with beautiful orchids capped our afternoon tipple at Samba for everyone to share. The tiki bar and its ornate cocktails are here to stay, complete with tiki mugs and that colorful tiny umbrella, and Daniele Dalla Pola promises this won't be just another passing fad. And I'll drink to that. For more on Shangri-La at The Fort's Samba and the Bartender Series, call (632) 820-0888 or email samba@shangri-la.com for more information.

Samba is located at Level 8 of Shangri-La at The Fort Manila, 30th Street corner 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City or call (632) 820-0888 for inquiries and reservations.

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