Christmas trip in a winter wonderland, or a tropical island getaway? Why select only one? That’s the thought behind “Sippin’ Santa,” Cocktail Kingdom’s tiki and tinsel pop-up, a derivative of their wildly widespread “Miracle” Christmas pop-up.

My New Orleans bar-restaurant, Latitude 29, opened in November 2014 with a roar, however by December we felt a creeping maiaise: The Crescent Metropolis will be damp and gloomy within the winter, and everybody’s determined for a little bit of cheer. So when Cocktail Kingdom CEO Greg Boehm requested Latitude 29 to take part in a tropical test-drive of his “Miracle” follow-up, “Sippin’ Santa’s Surf Shack,” which was solely being featured in two different bars, all I requested was “The place do I signal?”

Over the following 9 years, the pop-up had a reputation change and a development spurt: There are actually 55 bars throughout the U.S. and Canada collaborating in “Beachbum Berry Presents Sippin’ Santa,” rebranded by Greg after I took over the cocktail program, creating new drinks with my bar staff yearly just like the Jingle Chook, Sugar Plum Mai Tai, and a Christmas stocking filled with North Pole meets South Seas mashups. In actual fact, solely one of many first season’s cocktails, the Sippin’ Santa, has but to get replaced by one thing new (see sidebar).

Moreover this ever-evolving drink menu, Cocktail Kingdom provides associate bars unique Tiki mugs and glassware each for service and retail merch, over-the-top transportive decor, coordinated social media, and nationwide print and TV publicity. The upshot? Latitude 29’s clients now begin asking about “Sippin’ Santa” in June, they usually don’t cease till the pop-up begins simply after Thanksgiving. Speak about a Christmas miracle!

 — Jeff “Beachbum” Berry