Drinking San Francisco Day 2
Internet access has been absolutely horrible so here is a late account of my second day in San Francisco. . .
Today, still in a luggageless state, I did a little tourist stuff then further explored San Francisco’s cocktail and drinking scene.
I had a breakfast of coffee and donuts, listening to a black guy and a Mexican talking about San Francisco in the 60s. The Mexican guy seemed to be high on something or other. Around midday I went to the Asian Art Museum and spent a few hours there. The collection is impressive, but the presentation, labeling and breadth are what make the place stand out. Why does no museum actually located in Asia have a comparably organized display? Some bits of the collection were organized according to key cultural influences (religion and so on), so that exhibits on early Indian Buddhism would lead you on to chronologically later yet derivative Chinese, Indonesian and Thai exhibits. It was an educational way of setting things up.
After the museum I headed down to Haight Street and had a beer or two in Toronado, a bar with a huge draught beer selection. It was hopeless trying to order a drink here because there was just too much on offer. The beers were mostly U.S., but with a big European presence. They even had draught Chimay! I started off with an Anchor Steam beer, the obvious beginning in a San Francisco beer bar. It was satisfyingly bitter, a little yeasty, not too complex, and pleasant without being a standout. I switched to half pints and asked the barman to recommend a US IPA. I forget what he gave me, but it was 7% alcohol by volume, with full-on aromatic hops, big hop bitterness, and lots of rich malt. This was great stuff. European beers tend to be a little better balanced, but no denying this one was very tasty. I finished up with Southern Hemisphere Harvest, a beer from the Sierra Nevada brewery, and supposedly the first U.S. beer to be made with New Zealand hops! The story behind this one was great, but the beer itself didn’t grab me as much as the previous one. It was very smooth and malty, with the bitter, floral, yet not very aromatic New Zealand hop taste going on as well. It was free though, me being from New Zealand and all that. Whoo hoo!
Next I strolled further along Haight Street to The Alembic. The Alembic was located on a hippyish stretch of the street. Mainland Chinese tourists would probably riot if they were ever bussed through this part of town, what with all the people wearing Free Tibet t-shirts, the shops with names like Dreaming of Lhassa etc. The Alembic pretty full considering it was only late afternoon at this stage. I had a west-coast style drink called a Barbed Wire Fence, made from Graham Cracker infused bourbon, rhubarb soda and a ‘fizzy strawberry’ (a strawberry rolled in a fizzy candy garnish – specifically the fruit was rolled in crushed, cane-sugar flavored, ‘pop-rocks’ style candy). Ordinarily I wouldn’t have gone for a drink like this since it sounded a little too contrived. However, I noticed the barman pouring the rhubarb soda for another customer, the color looked appealing and so I went for it anyway. Although my visit was a little cursory it seems like The Alembic ranks along Bourbon and Branch as a place that makes their drinks with real care. The Alembic was my pick of the day.
I was sorely tempted to hang around in The Alembic for another drink, but I wanted to check out Cantina early, before it got too busy. At Cantina I had a pisco punch – a kind of a reinterpreted version. Rather than the classic pisco/lemon/gomme/pineapple, this drink was pisco/lime/lemon/orange/angostura/ginger-beer. It was refreshing, if a bit of a departure from the original. As I sat there some customer came in, asked about Tales of the Cocktail, and the bartender mentioned that they were going. Double Whoo Hoo! The whole Tales of the Cocktail excitement was building. According to the bartender San Francisco is going to be the most heavily represented city at tales.
From Cantina I ducked around the corner to Rye, where I tried a Dark’n'Stormy with the famous Gosling’s Black Seal rum. Gosling’s is a bit of a cult rum that I had not yet tried. I have to say it didn’t grab me quite like I hoped it would. No denying it was nice rum, but it didn’t stand head and shoulders above other rums I have tried. While in here the guy sitting beside me, a pilot and cocktail aficionado, asked the barstuff if any of them were going to Tales of the Cocktail. Further Tales of the Cocktail excitement. Triple Whoo Hoo! Actually one of the staff here was going, but didn’t come on duty until later. I should have gone back to say hello but unfortunately that didn’t happen.
After Rye I headed down to the Orbit Room to meet a friend. Orbit Room was a little hard to find. While searching I ran into a girl who was looking for the same place, and after a little wandering the two of us found it. Incidentally she recommended another cocktail place called something like El Colonial. Maybe I need to try that one too. I started with a drink made from cardamon infused gin and a bitter orange infusion. This drink had potential but I found the cardamom far too strong. The gin bottle was half full of cardamom pods so that was no surprise! I followed up with an Americano made from Punt y Mes. This was nice. I hadn’t tried Punt y Mes before. It seemed kind of fruity compared to regular sweet vermouth. My friend turned up just at this point. A little drink swapping saw me end up tasting a cucumber gimlet (served long, so not exactly a gimlet, but nevertheless very tasty), plus a couple of others that I forget now. We did a little talking about rum. Apparently I need to try the Flor de Cana 12 year old.
Our next move was to try and return to The Alembic. The Alembic was cram packed by this stage and there was no getting in. We wandered a block or two back along Haight Street to a place called Hobson’s Choice. This place advertised itself as a punch house and rum bar. The whole punch house concept was interesting. People really were sitting around drinking bowls of punch – punch of a slightly luminous color, but punch nevertheless. The place was also crowded and we went for simplicity and focused on straight rums rather than doing punch. I had a Lemon Heart Demerera – very tasty, but I’m not sure if it was the overproof version. My friends tried Brugal, St. James Hors d’Age, and a Mojito, all of which were well received. We again did a little cross tasting, though since I missed the Mojito I can’t vouch for that one. The Brugal was notable for standing out as being every bit as good as I remembered. As I ordered the drinks the bartender complemented me on “knowing my rums”. In fact, I didn’t recognize half the rum bottles behind the bar. Anyhow, quadruple Whoo Hoo!
By that stage I was ready for bed so that was exactly what I did. I took a taxi driven by a chatty Pakistani guy. The weird thing was that his English was totally incomprehensible yet he claimed to have been in the U.S. and driving taxis for 10 years. I guess ten years worth of passengers had reached their destination without ever getting the punchline of his joke about the President of the United States.
