This is a tiki drink that wasn’t created by one of the tiki bar giants, Trader Vic or Don the Beachcomber. It was created either at the Wheel Bar at Harvey’s Casino Resort in Lake Tahoe or at Tiki Bob’s in San Francisco.
Harvey’s first opened right after WWII by gambling pioneer Harvey Gross. It started small with just six slot machines and eventually grew to a casino empire. In fact, it was the very first casino in Lake Tahoe, right at the border between Nevada and California.
Even though the Sneaky Tiki is fairly well known Harvey’s is probably more famous for a very well documented extortion attempt in 1980 when a disgruntled casino guest made a highly sophisticated boobytrapped bomb that he placed in the casino. The extortionist wanted to get $3 million from mr Gross after having lost $750,000 gambling. Harvey Gross refused to pay a dime and while the bomb squad tried to disarm the bomb, the 1,000 pounds of dynamite blew a five story hole in the building costing $18 million in repairs but luckily no lives.
Another possible creator of the Sneaky Tiki was “Sneaky” Bob Bryant. He worked in San Francisco as a bar manager for Trader Vic, who taught him the tricks of the trade. After a falling out with Victor Bergeron himself “Sneaky” Bob left and in 1955 he started his own tiki bar just down the street. A bar he named Tiki Bob’s. Decorated with Polynesian and Asian artifacts and having the guests welcomed by a 50s style tiki column right outside the entrance mr Bryant made a bar rivaling his former employer. The bar’s signature drink was called the Super Sneaky Tiki. “Sneaky” Bob had the foresight to introduce the tiki mug to his bar, a new concept at the time. The design for Tiki Bob’s logo and Tiki mug was made by Alec Yuill-Thornton, an illustrator who had previously worked with Trader Vic illustrating his book Kitchen Kibitzer. Being one of the first Tiki mugs it is highly sought after by collectors.
The only difference between the Sneaky Tiki and the Super Sneaky Tiki is that the latter is made with orange juice instead of pineapple juice and it’s made with only light rum.
Sneaky Tiki
1 part Dark Jamaican Rum
1 part Light Puerto Rican Rum
1/4 part Curaçao
1 1/2 part Pineapple juice
1 part Lemon juice
1/4 part Grenadine
Mix ingredients with ice in blender until smooth. Garnish with an orange wheel and a Maraschino cherry.