MEDIA RELEASE

Minimizing their carbon footprint is a top priority for Kona’s Brice and Lisa Ginardi at their Okolemaluna Tiki Lounge.

Behind the tapa cloth décor and artisanal cocktails is a long list of green business practices the Kona couple employs to create their Polynesian-style lounge in Alii Sunset Plaza.

“We believe in the green way of doing things and so it makes sense to operate our business in an earth-friendly way,” Lisa said. “While it involves more research in finding everything we use, we feel it’s worth it.”

Okolemaluna, which means “bottoms up” in Hawaiian, opened last November as a vintage tiki bar offering carefully crafted original and classic specialty tropical cocktails. It features fresh-squeezed juices, homemade flavorings and premium spirits.

Green business strategies started before opening day with the remodel of Okolemaluna’s rented restaurant space. It involved reconfiguring the existing facility and using whatever was reusable.

“Nearly everything we pulled out during demolition was reused later or donated,” Brice said.

The Ginardis relied on sustainable bamboo, vintage furnishings and décor, plus locally sourced tiki to give a Hawaiian feel to the interior, while drywall and finish scraps were used as needed. Low VOC paint added a splash of color. Water-regulating faucets, low-flow toilets and an on-demand tankless hot water heater were installed.

“During construction, every light we added or replaced was an energy efficient CFL or LED,” Brice said. “All new electrical appliances are Energy-Star qualified.”

The commitment to “going green” continues with the food and drink menus as the Ginardis source locally grown and produced ingredients whenever possible.

“Our belief is that artisanal, farm-to-glass cocktails have no better home than this lush, tropical island,” said Brice, an award-winning bartender who oversees Okolemaluna’s drink menu.

Local tropical and citrus fruits, organic cane sugar, 100 percent Kona coffee, herbs and spices are sourced, whenever possible, to not only create cocktails, but also to provide the ingredients for each libation’s components.

For example, Hawaiian ginger is used to make falernum, a Caribbean-flavored spiced rum syrup that adds complexity to drinks like the Hawaiian Eye — a potion of citrus and two kinds of rum.

You won’t find any corn syrup in Okolemaluna’s bar or kitchen. The Ginards make all their own beverage syrups: orgeat, grenadine, cranberry, passion fruit and creamy coconut; the latter accompanies pineapple and orange juice, rum and a hint of spice to concoct one of Okolemaluna’s house specialties, the Painkiller.

“Our attention to detail is all about preserving the art of the cocktail,” Brice said. “It is a multi-step process dependent on the correct blending of the right ingredients.”

The lounge stocks 30-some different rums, including Koloa Light and Dark Rums from Kauai and Maui Light, Gold and Dark Rums by Haleakala Distillers. It also serves exotic Okolehao ti root liqueur.

“Some of the many rums we carry are specified by name in certain recipes and we use them to be true to that recipe,” said Lisa, who gained culinary training with the United States Personal Chefs Association.

She sayid Okolemaluna has seven “long-lost Hawaiian cocktails” on the menu, including Kamehameha Rum Punch, which was served decades ago at today’s King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel, plus famous Waikiki concoctions by Harry Yee, the dean of Hawaiian bartenders.

To serve popular tropical cocktails from the past, the Ginardis researched classic recipes, working with Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, expert and author on tiki drinks and one of Imbibe magazine’s “25 Most Influential Cocktail Personalities of the Past Century.”

Rum connoisseurs can indulge in their passion via the lounge’s rum flights — a choice of four samplings. While the Ginardis offer both beer and wine, only Hawaii-brewed beers are on tap to reduce their carbon footprint.

“Our complex doesn’t have a recycling program so we haul any glass bottles and Hi-5 each week for recycling, along with all cardboard and mixed recyclables,” Lisa said.

In addition, all biodegradable straws, paper products and to-go containers are purchased through Sustainable Island Products.

“You won’t find any Styrofoam or plastic in our place,” she said.

Similar to the drink selection, the Ginardis designed Okolemaluna’s “Pupu and Tidbits” menu to utilize local ingredients in season. Munchy morsels include Sweet Potato Fries, accompanied with pineapple chili chutney and Kalua Pork Sliders served on mini sweet rolls with caramelized Maui onions.

“We currently offer Keahole-raised shrimp,” said Lisa, who oversees the kitchen. “Upcoming pupu specials will feature grass-fed local beef and Puna goat cheese.”

Back-of-the-house eco-friendly practices include recycling cooking oil for bio-diesel. “We don’t dump any grease,” Lisa said, “and we use earth-friendly cleaning supplies whenever possible.”

While the mission of Okolemaluna Tiki Lounge is to “deliver impeccable cocktails in an exotic atmosphere,” the Ginardis said their business is really a celebration of “all things local.”

“We respectfully follow sustainable business practices, conserve our resources to use just what we need and support our local food and drink producers,” Lisa said. “We make drinks the way they used to be made and should be made — carefully and with fresh quality ingredients.”

Okolemaluna Tiki Lounge is open 3-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 3 p.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday.

For further information, call 808-883-TIKI (8454) or visit www.okolemalunalounge.com