Cocktails · History · Ritual · Devotion
Forbidden Altar
A Guide to Exotic Cocktails and Polynesian Pop
Pour your first drink tonight. Or read until dawn. Either is welcome.
Most cocktail sites give you recipes. Forbidden Altar is something else.
This is a working reference for exotic cocktails and the wider Polynesian Pop tradition they emerged from. Recipes documented from primary sources. Profiles of the people who built and recovered the catalog. Reviews of the books, bottles, bars, and music that fill out the picture. Editorial about a genre that deserves to be taken seriously.
If you’re new, start with a Daiquiri. If you’re already deep, fill in the gaps you’ve missed. Either way: this is the work I wish someone had put together when I started.
— Chris
Recipes
The canon. Daiquiri to Zombie, with provenance, technique, and the canonical specs.
Continue →Learn
The reference shelf. People, books, brands, ingredients, vernacular.
Continue →Listen
The music of the genre. Exotica architects, the essential albums, the curated playlists.
Continue →Visit
Worth the pilgrimage. Golden Age survivors, revival-era anchors, the modern scene.
Continue →History
Donn Beach forward. The mid-century invention, the decline, the recovery.
Continue →Start
The Path. Six ranks, ungated. Your title updates as you check things off.
Continue →
Track your way through the canon.
Six ranks. Forty-eight achievements. No login. Your progress lives in your browser and updates as you check things off. Make a Daiquiri, visit a Golden Age survivor bar, throw a tiki party — your title comes with what you’ve done.
Start the Path →