Drinking San Francisco Roundup
I got hit by the Tales of the Cocktail thing and never got a chance to finish writing up the places I visited for drinks in San Francisco.
On day three I visited the Golden Gate Bridge in the morning. The thing is huge so walking to it like I did is a mistake. You think you will be there in a few minutes, but it ends up taking you forever. The fort that sits below the south end of the bridge was pretty cool, as were all the historic houses I passed on my way there.
After finishing at the bridge I went down to the Mission District and dropped by Beretta, where I had a well made Pisco Punch (made with Bauza Reservado) and a Hemingway Daiquiri (Luxardo maraschino made all the difference in this one). I also got to sample a little Batavia Arrak, though the bartender was not keen to mix a drink with it. He thought it was too peculiar tasting to mix with. I didn’t find it that outrageously weird. It was just a funky and aromatic rum, maybe something like a cross between an agricole and a light demerara. The room at Beretta is nice and relaxed – at least when the place is empty. When it fills up it could become a bit of a noisy box though.
I dropped by some El Salvadorian restaurant for decent but not great food. Next I visited Monk’s Kettle for a quick beer or two. This place was more upscale than Toronado, and also had higher prices. I tried an Oaked Arrogant Bastard from Stone Brewery and then their oatmeal chocolate stout. I had heard a lot about their Arrogant Bastard. I have to say it didn’t stand head and shoulders above other beers, but both beers were good and had plenty of taste.
Next I tried to get into NOPA, but hit the place a little late and was left waiting for an hour before giving up and leaving. I dropped past Tommy’s Joint for a roast beef sandwich (very good by the way), and hung around there to meet my friend Jeremy. I had a Pyramid Hefe Weise while I waited for him to show up – nice beer. When Jeremy showed up I had a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It was also god, but when I did a back comparison to Anchor Steam Beer I found I liked Anchor more. Tommy’s Joint is a really old school type of place. The food is all carvery type stuff. They play no music so it is very conversation friendly, and the most popular mixed drink seems to be Irish coffee. I’ve never seen so many Irish coffees being churned out.
Jeremy and I then went down to The Alemibic for a couple more drinks. I had a Sazerac made with the Sazerac 6 Year Old whiskey. The whiskey was a little light bodied. Rittenhouse Bonded seems to easily be the better whiskey for a Sazerac. Then I tried a Martini with Old Raj gin and Vya vermouth. The flavors in this were very different. The saffron in the Old Raj is interesting, though I don’t think it is my new favorite gin or anything like that. To finish I had an amazingly good pisco sour. The bartender dry shook it with the coil from the strainer in the shaker and got the most amazing foam. The drink was served in a goblet that helped concentrate the aromas from the bitters garnish on top. As we left the barman gave us a shot of a special bottling of Buffalo Trace Bourbon – very sweet and rich.
It had been a pretty long day by that stage so I was happy to crash.
Day four, my last day in San Francisco, did not see me do much. I hadn’t been able to book a time to visit Alcatraz and dropping by the ferry terminal to try my luck revealed enormous lines. I went up to the Chinese Cultural Museum in Chinatown but found it closed on Mondays. I decided to drop into NOPA around 5pm before the rush started. I had the place to myself for all of about 2 minutes before people started first trickling and then flooding in. I had a cherry flavored Sherry Shrub – light but tasty. Then I had an Old Cuban – tasty, though they go kind of heavy on muddling the mint. It didn’t exactly taste bitter or anything, but it certainly had the appearance of Sasparilla or some other health drink. Oh well, you have to get your vitamins somehow I guess. To finish I had a Pisco Sour with their house bitters. The bitters were nice, but the drink didn’t quite compare to the excellent Pisco Sour from the previous night. The bartender, Karen, was chatty until she started getting rushed off her feet. She said she was one of the few staff members not going down for Tales of the Cocktail.
So those are the places I visited in San Francisco that I didn’t mention in my previous couple of posts. I really should have visited Forbidden Island, but the awkward location made me set it aside for the first couple of days, and then Monday rolled round and I remembered that it was closed on Mondays.
