Once again, 7x7.com has asked me to put together The Big Drink: 50 Cocktails to Try in San Francisco Before You Die, except this year were more accurately calling it 50 MOST ICONIC COCKTAILS IN SAN FRANCISCO. Much better.  

Ive done this list for several years now - it was a spinoff of their popular Big Eat list from way back. 

Looking back over Alcademics history, it appears I first put together the list in 2012, and boy were times different then. Not so much in the quality of cocktails, but in the quantity of quality bars.

As the years progressed doing this list, I increasingly struggled to try to meet three demands: to have all the great modern bars in town on the list as well as many of the great classics (Buena Vista, Tommys, Zam Zam, etc.); to have bars in most every major SF neighborhood (always a struggle out in the Avenues); and to have really notable/well-known drinks at each spot. 

 By the time wed reached 2016 (the last time I did the list), I was struggling to include all the great modern cocktail bars while also covering all the neighborhoods, and it didnt feel right to have a mediocre drink on the list because the bar was in a needed region while leaving off excellent bars/drinks in popular areas like the Mission or Downtown. So in 2016 we expanded the list to 75 bars and drinks. 

This year, we didnt want to do that - not only are there too many quality cocktail bars to include overall, but to keep expanding the list didnt feel right because were trying to talk about the _most_ iconic drinks rather than be all-inclusive. So after discussion with my editor we decided the approach: focus on the DRINKS FIRST, NEIGHBORHOOD COVERAGE NEXT, GREAT BARS THIRD.

I no longer tried to get every modern great cocktail bar on the list if those bars dont have an iconic drink. This meant that some good bars came off the list including Trick Dog (where the menu changes every six months so people trying to follow the list a year from now wouldnt be able to find the drink) and Benjamin Cooper (where its mostly a dealers choice situation; impermanence and customization is what the program is about). Some bars like The Tipsy Pig went onto the list because of they sell like a jillion Strawberry Fields a week. 

Its fun that we can also track the change in popular flavors- even though mezcal has been trending for what feels like forever, there seem to be more mezcal drinks that have finally reached the iconic status than in previous years. Also, there are a lot more rum drinks and those with passion fruit I was considering for the list; a couple of them made it. 

Anyway, I hope youll take a look at the list and take a spin around San Francisco to try about 49 of these drinks. Because, you know, if you try all 50 of them youll have to die. 

Get the list of the 50 most iconic drinks in San Francisco here. 

 

 

You know how some (usually hotel or Vegas or London) bars offer a ridiculously priced cocktail in order to gain press? 

Like a Sidecar with pre-phylloxera cognac and Grand Marnier Quintessence?

Or a champagne cocktail with a diamond ring in the glass?

Or a Mint Julep in a real silver cup?

Or some other cocktail with $400 of edible gold and truffles on top? And sometimes they vie for the title of the Worlds Most Expensive Cocktail? 

WELL HOW ABOUT THIS, since straws are so newsy right now: Sell your drink as an ecological awareness luxury cocktail and include one of these Tiffany rose gold vermeil bendy straws ($350) for the well-healed environmentalist to take home as a souvenir. Donate like ten bucks from the price of the drink to the jungle or something. 

 

 

YOURE WELCOME.

 

Yikes, Im never going to get any of my own writing done with all of these excellent-looking drink books hitting the market. Weve got books on vermouth, coffee cocktails, whiskey, batching, womens history, dessert cocktails, astrological mixology, two updated classics, two on bar management, and a book on tabletop distilling. 

Plus! Scroll to the end for a quick listing of books coming out in October and November. Ill do a full listing of those in the fall. 

As usual, the descriptions below are from the authors or publishers, and are not reviews by me. Links are to Amazon. 

 

IM JUST HERE FOR THE DRINKS: A GUIDE TO SPIRITS, DRINKING AND MORE THAN 100 EXTRAORDINARY COCKTAILS BY SOTHER TEAGUE

Sother Teague, one of New York’s most knowledgeable bartenders and Wine Enthusiasts Mixologist of the Year (2017), presents a brief history of both classic and lesser-known spirits with modern-day wit and old-school bar wisdom, accompanied by easy-to-mix drink recipes you’ll soon commit to memory.

Better than bellying up to some of the world’s best bars with a veteran bartender, this series of essays and conversations on all things alcohol aims to reveal how the joy of drinking changed both history and culture?and will likely inspire you to make a little history of your own. After all, no retelling of a great caper or revolutionary event ever started with the phrase, “So a bunch of guys are all eating salad…”.

This hardcover collection of timeless tips, insight from industry pros and 100+ recipes is more than just a cocktail book: It’s a manifesto for living a more spirited life.

 

 

 

THE BOOK OF VERMOUTH: A BARTENDER AND A WINEMAKER CELEBRATE THE WORLDS GREATEST APERITIF BY SHAUN BYRNE AND GILLES LAPALUS

The Book of Vermouth is a celebration of the greatest cocktail staple – a mixer that is riding a growing wave of popularity around the world. It includes up to 100 modern and classical cocktail recipes – but is more than a cocktail book too, offering history and insight to botanicals, and the perspective of key chefs who like to cook with vermouth as much as they like to drink it.

The authors – one a winemaker, the other a bartender – bring personality to the book via their distinct takes on what makes vermouth so special.

The book includes two main sections: Vermouth Basics and How to Drink. Vermouth Basics will give a comprehensive guide to the essentials of vermouth – grape varieties, production, varieties, botanicals, spirit and sugar, and go into great detail about the history of Australian vermouth in particular. It will include botanical profiles of both indigenous and traditional plants from Tim Entwistle, botanist at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne. It will cover all aspects of wormwood: the key ingredient in making vermouth, including medicinal and historical uses, where it is found and its botanical significance. How to Drink will cover the many different ways to serve, drink and store vermouth.

Chapters will cover Vermouth Neat, Vermouth in Spring, Vermouth in Summer, Vermouth in Autumn and Vermouth in Winter, as well as Bitter Edge of Vermouth, Stirred & Up, Vermouth Party and After Dinner. These chapters will be more recipe-focused, and include 10–15 recipes per chapter, drawing from each seasons specific botanicals and how these work with different vermouths. Each season will also include a related food recipe.

 

BATCHED & BOTTLED BY MAX VENNING

Sick of standing in the corner making cocktails while everyone else is having fun? Fed up of having to buy loads of expensive spirits and bitters? Just want to pour a delicious cocktail any time, any place? Batched & Bottled features 50 of the best recipes for batched and bottled cocktails – cocktails you can pre-make and bottle, and either pour straight over ice or leave to mature for an hour, a month or even a year. Youll have cocktails you can drink when you get in from work, or bottles you can crack open come Christmas/summer/birthday/Friday.

From negronis and manhattans to more complex concoctions you can infuse with botanicals or fermented ingredients, the recipes follow the seasons and range from simple, stir-through mixes, to more elaborate drinks that require kitchen prep.

 

 

 

 

 

THE ART & CRAFT OF COFFEE COCKTAILS: OVER 80 RECIPES FOR MIXING COFFEE AND LIQUOR BY JASON CLARK

Enjoy two of life’s greatest pleasures – coffee and alcohol – with this comprehensive guide to mixing perfect coffee cocktails. World-class mixologist Jason Clark will inspire, excite and educate you by taking you behind the bar for a masterclass in creating coffee-based cocktails.

Enjoy two of life’s greatest pleasures – coffee and alcohol – with this comprehensive guide to mixing perfect coffee cocktails. World-class mixologist Jason Clark will inspire, excite, and educate you by taking you behind the bar for a masterclass in creating coffee-based cocktails.

First take a journey into the history and craft of coffee, the worlds most popular beverage, from crop to cup. Next follow his expert mixing tips aimed at everyone from keen beginners to bartenders working in the world’s best bars.

More than 80 recipes follow, covering all styles of cocktails from stirred and shaken through to blended and blazed. Learn how to perfect simple classics such as Espresso Martini and Irish coffee or try your hand at technical modern marvels Golden Velvet and Death By Caffeine. With The Art and Craft of Coffee Cocktails in hand your daily grind will never be the same!

 

 

FROM DRAM TO MANHATTAN: AROUND THE WORLD IN 40 WHISKY COCKTAILS FROM SCOTCH TO BOURBON BY JESSE ESTES

Shake, stir, and mix your way to whiskey and bourbon connoisseur status with award-winning bartender Jesse Estes as he demonstrates how to tame these fiery spirits in 40 delicious cocktail recipes.

Shake, stir, and mix your way to whiskey and bourbon connoisseur status with award-winning bartender Jesse Estes as he demonstrates how to tame these fiery spirits in 40 delicious cocktail recipes.

Master classy classic cocktails such as the Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Mint Julep, and Whiskey Sour, plus learn new creative variations that are bound to impress.

Whether you prefer a bourbon with notes of caramel, a spicy rye whiskey, a classic sturdy Scotch, or a distinctly innovative Japanese Nikka, the recipe selection includes a wide range of whiskies from around the world.

This is the perfect book for any dedicated whiskey-lover or keen home bartender to add to their collection.

 

DRINKING LIKE LADIES: 75 MODERN COCKTAILS FROM THE WORLDS LEADING FEMALE BARTENDERS; INCLUDES TOASTS TO EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN IN HISTORY BY MISTY KALKOFEN AND KIRSTEN AMANN

Drinking Like Ladies is dedicated to the proposition that a woman’s place is behind the bar. . . or in front of it. . . or really any place she pleases.

Acclaimed bartenders Kirsten Amann and Misty Kalkofen have scoured the globe collecting recipes--often from equally acclaimed female bartenders--pairing each tipple with a toast to a trailblazing lady. From gin to whiskey, tequila to punch, Drinking Like Ladies has a twist and a toast for every tippler, whatever your base spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE MIXOLOGY OF ASTROLOGY: COSMIC COCKTAIL RECIPES FOR EVERY SIGN BY ALIZA KELLY FARAGHER

Don’t wait for the stars to align—find the perfect drink for your astrological sign with the Mixology of Astrology, by Allure magazine’s go-to astrologer, Aliza Kelly Faragher.

True love is just one martini away…if you’re a Leo, that is.

Meet your perfect (cocktail) match with Mixology of Astrology. No matter your sign, here you’ll find the best drinks for every occasion.

Demystify both the stars and the drink menu with these simple guidelines. Try a French 75 for balanced Libra, suggest something adventurous for carefree Sagittarius, or stick to a classic with an Old Fashioned for Capricorn. When your friends wonder how you always know their perfect drink, you can just tell them it was written in the stars...

 

 

 

 

DELICIOUS DESSERT COCKTAILS BY BARBARA SCOTT-GOODMAN

Take a break from your typical cocktail party and have some fun with this delicious collection of recipes that will introduce you to a whole new side of cocktails—a significantly sweeter side.

Delicious Dessert Cocktails features over 70 recipes for traditional, as well as new and inventive libations to savor at the end of a meal. From classic cocktails to sip on after dinner, to fresh and fruity concoctions that serve as dessert and an after-dinner drink, to cups of spiked hot chocolate, toddies, and coffee to savor at the end of a holiday meal, this book will deliver spirited dessert drinks that are decadent, luxurious, and delicious. In addition, there are recipes for light and sumptuous dessert bites such as Lemon Wafers, Chocolate Meringues, Strawberries & Cream, and Grilled Peaches with Ice Cream & Prosecco that are easy, elegant, and fun to serve.

 

 

 

THE AMERICAN BAR: THE ARTISTRY OF MIXING DRINKS BY CHARLES SCHUMANN

The classic bar guide that launched a generation of cocktail lovers is back—completely updated.

With its cloth binding evoking a Jazz Age guide to speakeasies and its charming illustrations that could have come from a period magazine, this most influential cocktail book is reissued in a newly updated edition. Spanning the cocktail spectrum from classic to contemporary, it includes all the information the cocktail lover or mixologist needs to create the perfect drink in a stylishly retro package, making it an elegant, sophisticated gift as well as an indispensable companion for home or professional entertaining.

With 500 recipes and an easy-to-use index arranged by drink categories, this bar book is replete with fascinating stories behind the genesis of each cocktail, its creators, and component liquors—as well as a guide to bartending equipment and a glossary of bar terms and measurements.

Charles Schumann, whose appreciation of design and drinks is legendary, is the ideal guide to the perfect drink. Based on the menus at his iconic establishments—Harry’s New York Bar, then Schumann’s American Bar, which later became simply Schumann’sBar—each recipe focuses on quality and balance.

 

 

AND A BOTTLE OF RUM, REVISED AND UPDATED: A HISTORY OF THE NEW WORLD IN TEN COCKTAILS  BY WAYNE CURTIS 

Now revised, updated, and with new recipes, And a Bottle of Rum tells the raucously entertaining story of this most American of liquors

From the grog sailors drank on the high seas in the 1700s to the mojitos of Havana bar hoppers, spirits and cocktail columnist Wayne Curtis offers a history of rum and the Americas alike, revealing that the homely spirit once distilled from the industrial waste of the booming sugar trade has managed to infiltrate every stratum of New World society.

Curtis takes us from the taverns of the American colonies, where rum delivered both a cheap wallop and cash for the Revolution; to the plundering pirate ships off the coast of Central America; to the watering holes of pre-Castro Cuba; and to the kitsch-laden tiki bars of 1950s America. Here are sugar barons and their armies conquering the Caribbean, Paul Revere stopping for a nip during his famous ride, Prohibitionists marching against "demon rum," Hemingway fattening his liver with Havana daiquiris, and todays bartenders reviving old favorites like Planters Punch.

In an age of microbrewed beer and single-malt whiskeys, rum--once the swill of the common man--has found its way into the tasting rooms of the most discriminating drinkers. Complete with cocktail recipes for would-be epicurean time-travelers, this is history at its most intoxicating.

 

 

THE COCKTAIL BAR: NOTES FOR AN OWNER & OPERATOR BY CHALL GRAY

In the first book of its kind, award-winning bar operator Chall Gray leads readers through an overview of the complicated world that is bar ownership. The Cocktail Bar: Notes for an Owner & Operator covers everything from conceiving an initial idea for a bar to managing a successful and profitable operation. "A much needed book," according to cocktail and bar industry legend Dale Degroff, this accessible guide is a must read for any aspiring bar owner or restaurateur.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STRAIGHT UP: REAL WORLD SECRETS TO RUNNING A KILLER BAR  BY RAMONA PETTYGRAVE SHAH

A fresh take on bar management from a veteran behind the stick and the manager’s desk! In this compulsively readable guide to running a successful bar, Ramona Pettygrave Shah draws on over a decade of experience at the speed rail to dispense wisdom with a dash of wit. Delving into topics from time management to team cultivation to finances, she speaks with authority and clarity about the issues real-world bar managers and other employees face in a business with little room for error and lots of pitfalls to be avoided. From the simplest neighborhood dive to the ritziest cocktail bar, from virgin barback to restaurant owner, there’s no one who wouldn’t benefit from Ramona’s sound advice. And while that advice is sometimes served with a twist of sarcasm, there’s always a no-nonsense straight-talk chaser.

By turns irreverent and profound, Straight Up: Real World Secrets to Running a Killer Bar is your guide to the attitude, organization, and teamwork necessary to absolutely crush it in the world of bartending and bar management.

Bonus: Straight Up features a cant-miss collection of carefully curated infusion, cocktail, juice & syrup recipes and accompanying mixology tips designed to help you raise the bar and set a new standard for drink design.

 

 

TABLETOP DISTILLING: HOW TO MAKE SPIRITS, ESSENCES, AND ESSENTIAL OILS WITH SMALL STILLS BY KAI MöLLER

With a small, 0.5-liter distiller, you can easily create fine brandies, whiskies, and even essential oils in your own kitchen. In this detailed how-to book, learn the tools, techniques, and safe procedures to distill raw natural materials for a variety of applications. Also included is a useful guide that explains what plants to use for different purposes; a look at the various types of stills; and a detailed, step-by-step treatment of mashing, fermenting, distilling, and refining spirits. Complete with a guide to distilling essential oils and their benefits and tips and tricks for troubleshooting and avoiding common pitfalls, this is the ideal companion for the home distiller.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLUS: STAY TUNED FOR MORE BOOKS THIS FALL, INCLUDING:

* Hungover by Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall * Liberated Spirits: Two Women Who Battled Over Prohibition by Hugh Ambrose with John Schuttler * Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions by Alex Day and Nick Fauchald * The Dead Rabbit Mixology & Mayhem: The Story of John Morrissey and the Worlds Best Cocktail Menu by Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry * The Craft Beer Dictionary: An A–Z of craft beer, from hop to glass by Richard Croasdale * Ciderology by Gabe Cook * Nightcap: More than 40 Cocktails to Close Out Any Evening by Kara Newman * Are You There God? Its Me, Margarita: More Cocktails with a Literary Twist  by Tim Federle * Moonshine: A Celebration of Americas Original Rebel Spirit by John Schlimm * Be Your Own Bartender: A Surefire Guide to Finding (and Making) Your Perfect Cocktail by Carey Jones and John McCarthy

This year as usual I gave a seminar at Tales of the Cocktail (well this year I gave one myself and then was on a panel for another one; this post is about the one I gave solo). This one was called Bitter Flavors: Taste the Rainbow. 

 

The idea was to give everyone information and tasting on individual bitter flavors- particularly the major ones of quinine/cinchona, wormwood, gentian, and rhubarb- because so often theyre mixed together in amari and bitters. I chose for my tasting spirits that I thought were most indicative of the bitter flavors:

* Rhubarb: Zucca (they sponsored the seminar) * Wormwood: Amaro Alta Verde  * Gentian: Salers Gentiane * Cinchona: Kina Aero dOr Plus Zucca wanted to feature a couple of cocktails, so at just 1 sample of each type of bitters I was worried that I wouldnt be able to ensure everyone could really isolate each type of bitter flavor. 

So, as is my way, I panicked and went way overboard on homemade samples. By the end, everyone at their seat had 2 cocktails, 4 bitter beverages, 10 microtubes of bitter tasting samples, and 5 bitter solids. 

 

The preparation took me (along with help from my pal Maria) dozens of hours. I made infusions of various bitter flavors in alcohol, then diluted those down with water so they were essentially non-alcoholic. Then we put them all in microtubes and the solids in little baggies (luckily I live near a bong store), labelled them all, and then made an index and assembled ziplocks of everything. 

 

Oh, and I also created a print-out of most popular vermouth and amaro brands, and what the known and suspected bittering agents are in each. That project took me another 20 hours or so. Sometimes I think I might go too far.

So during the seminar we now had plenty to taste and in the case of those big four bitter flavors, a finished product to confirm that taste in a product they could find on the shelf. The seminar seemed to go really well (well see when I get the reviews back) and I certainly felt everyone got their moneys worth- a big fear of mine when Im presenting. 

Im not sure that Ill ever do this seminar again in this format, but I may put together an ebook of some sort with the information from the seminar in it. 

 

 

 

The other week I snuck in to Last Rites a little before opening. The bar, on the site of former The Residence (and Zodiac!) on 14th Street near Church and Market, is notoriously dark and hard to photograph. Luckily my timing was good - the San Francisco Chronicle photographer was there at the same time taking pictures of drinks to accompany Maggie Hoffmans write-up , and they had lighting set up that allowed me to get in some snaps. 

The bar is designed as a plane crash on a haunted tropical island: The back bar is made from the inside of a plane shell, the bar stools are plane seats, and some of the other furniture is made from bits and pieces of planes. This is in a setting with tons of tropical plastic plants (I feel sorry for whoever is in charge of dusting) and giant skulls in the back of the room. 

 

They call the design "Polynesian noir," but I like to think of it as "goth tiki." 

Here are some of the drinks I tried. The Last Rites is the house cocktail, served in a beer can-shaped logo glass that can be purchased. (Co-owner Ian Scalzo said he purposefully avoided a ceramic tiki mug - they know theyre bordering on tiki but didnt really want to be full tiki.) The drink has three kinds of rum, passion fruit, molasses, and spice mix. Its super drinkable. 

 

 

Next up was the  Avian Evolution, made with rums, pineapple rum, schisandra infused Campari, pineapple, lime, and molasses. The drink is a riff on the classic Jungle Bird with the pineapple-Campari combo. 

The Kali Maas Doom was a delightful combination of gin, pisco, grapefruit, sauvignon blanc melon syrup, vanilla cream, and watermelon. Its garnished with watermelon slices and a flamed marshmallow. Sure to be a big seller, I also really enjoyed this one- creamy and easy and the pisco shined through. 

 

The Valley of the Shadow is a Manhattan-style cocktail with rum, bourbon, amaro, yerba mate honey, and cacao nib infused Angostura. It hits the spot for the style of drink- a good blend of the classic made in the house style.

 

The Jet Pilot is one of my favorite tiki drinks - usually its done with a ton of teeth-scraping citrus and light rums, but in this interpretation its got all the citrus but with sweet dark rum that you can let dilute into the drink naturally from the mini bottle, or dump it all in at once (as I did). It was a sweeter, richer interpretation of the drink. 

Their interpretation of a Mai Tai - with cashew orgeat and a combination of agricole and Jamaican rum, also strays from my interpretation of the drink in that its emphasis is on lighter bright rums whereas I tend to make the drink super rich with more aged rum in the mix. It still drinks pretty good though :)

A favorite on the menu, which is something I rarely say about a mezcal drink, was the Jock Lindsey. It seems fairly low in alcohol though so perhaps thats why. Its got mezcal, tequila, amaro, absinthe, celery, lime, coconut cream, and bitter lemon soda. Dangerously easy to drink; highly recommended. 

There were a few other drinks I tried but at this point the doors were open and none of the pictures came out. Thats what happens here.

SO IF YOU GO TO LAST RITES, I GUESS YOULL JUST HAVE TO DRINK THE EXOTIC DRINKS IN A FUNKY LOOKING BAR WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO INSTAGRAM YOUR VISIT. YOULL BE OKAY. 

Here is the drink menu.