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SF Cocktail Week Day Six: North Beach Historical Cocktail Crawl

On a scorching Saturday afternoon, a little under a hundred people joined up with Marcia Gagliardi of Tablehopper or took a self-guided tour of five historic bars:

Vesuvio: Home to Beat poets and great people.

San Francisco Brewing Company: SF's first brewpub is also outfitted like a Barbary Coast saloon.

Taverna Aventine: See the city's old seawall in the basement and sip the Pisco Punch created at the sit of the Transamerica Pyramid nearby.

Tosca Cafe: 1930's decor and hot brandy drinks.

Savoy-Tivoli: Indoor/outdoor space serving since 1907.

Crawlers had one discounted classic cocktail in each bar: A Duplex, Clover Club, Moscow Mule, Bacardi Cocktail, and a Paloma.

Great drinks, great people, and a great time.

SF Cocktail Week Day Five: Bayou on the Bay Happy Hour

Did they pick the right week for SF Cocktail Week or what? On another beautiful night people gathered outdoors at Epic Roasthouse for cocktails and conversation during the Bayou on the Bay happy hour party. Alas, I couldn't stay long but had a great time while I was there.

 
SF Cocktail Week photographer Jenn Farrington with the mysterious Danny Ronen.


Epic Roasthouse's Camber Lay and Jardiniere's Brian MacGregor pouring drinks.

SF Cocktail Week Day Four: Bar School

I wasn't able to attend any of the bar school classes for San Francisco Cocktail Week, but here's a shot taken by Brian Gavin of Charlotte Voisey, Hendrick's Gin brand ambassador, shaking up drinks at Conduit restaurant for the Gin and Gen event.

Those drinks are making me thirsty. Hope all your classes were great!

SF Cocktail Week Day Three: CUESA Cane Spirits Event

Last night was the CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) event at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. There were many stations around the room, each serving drink samples staffed by San Francisco's best bartenders, and many of them incorporating the fresh strawberries, raspberries and other in-season fruit. Each drink used a cane spirit- rum, rhum agricole, or cachaca in the drink.

The CUESA folks run a great event- not excessively crowded, lots of staff, and a fun environment. Here are some pictures. 

 

(Scott Baird only has to pretend to shake, since he brought a blender.)

 

 

SF Cocktail Week: Day Two

Yesterday was both the San Francisco regional and the US national United States Bartenders' Guild competition.

The winners:

San Francisco

1-Ronaldo Colli / NoCA- Kama Sutra from Americano Bar

2. Jimmy Patrick-  Rita Milano from Lion and Compass

3. Marc Goldfine- The Starry Night from 83 Proof

Best Technical Performance-Ronaldo Colli / NoCA- Kama Sutra from Americano Bar

National

1. Armando Rosario/ Las Vegas- Real Dill

2. DJ Love/ Chicago- Aztec Gold

3. Ricky Gomez/ New Orleans -The Real Pepper Daisy

Best Technical Performance-Ronaldo Colli / NoCA- Kama Sutra

Then a lot of people went to Cantina for a big after-party.

Another great night!

Absinthe in New York (Pulications)

Both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times took on absinthe this week.

In Eric Felten's piece in the Wall Street Journal, he tried just a few absinthes and admitted to not liking it generally. No surprise then that he picked Mata Hari absinthe as his favorite, as it has very little anise, the primary flavoring component in most absinthes on the market. After sampling it several times I came around to it myself, but still have a hard time calling it absinthe.

Good/Very Good

Mata Hari $52.99
A distinctive and appealing alternative for those of us not quite so ambitious in the absinthe department. Light on the licorice with a muted and subtle herbal complexity. Can be drunk, with ice water and a little sugar, with something resembling pleasure.

Good

Lucid $64.99
Potent, viscous, and herby in the extreme. A favorite of hard-core absintheurs.

Pernod $75.99
Classic anise-forward absinthe. Flavorful without being strident. Could do without the yellow dye that brightens the green liquid.

Kübler $55.99
Approachable Alpine meadow flavors balanced against the licorice. This Swiss product is a "white" not a "green" absinthe—a colorless liquid that, when mixed with water, looks like Milk of Magnesia.

Yuck

Le Tourment Vert $49.99
Redolent of Vicks VapoRub. Dreadful chemical color. Who knew there was a distillery at Love Canal?

In the New York Times, a small panel of testers sampled 20 absinthes and chose a top group.

1. Kübler **Best Value**
2. Grande
3. Pernod
4. Émile Pernot (Vieux Pontarlier)
5. St. George
6. Jade Nouvelle-Orléans
7. Obsello
8. La Clandestine
9. Lucid
10. Mansinthe

The rest of their tasting notes are here.

Ronaldo Colli wins SF USBG Competition

Live from the Starlight Room: Ronaldo Colli of Americano Restaurant won both the technical and overall United States Bartender's Guild competition and will be competing in the national competition tonight. Congratulations Ronaldo!

Additional Events at SF Cocktail Week

Thursday, May 14th is Bar School Day as part of San Francisco Cocktail Week. All the classes are listed here- and some of them are selling out. Book a class today!

After class, check out one of these events:

The Peruvian Connection
Pisco Latin Lounge, 5-11PM
1817 Market Street
Free admission, $7.00 Pisco Punch and Pisco Sour all night

Meet cocktail history researcher Guillermo Toro-Lira (author of the international award winning book “Wings of Cherubs. The  Saga of the Rediscovery of Pisco Punch”) and a member of the Academia Peruana del Pisco, Peru’s elite Pisco Historical Society. Just back from the unveiling of a statue in Lima honoring the inventor of Pisco Sour, Toro-Lira will be available to discuss the history of pisco based drinks and their historical California connection. Special drawing for prizes, and everyone gets a Tapas Discount Card. All guests must be 21 & over, please.

Also:

FOR ALL THE LADIES
“GIN & GEN” AT CONDUIT
An Opportunity To Taste and Learn About Gin and Genever
Free & Open to Ladies Only—Space is Limited

Seeking to decipher floral gins and juniper laden gins from genever styles? This unique event allows guests to experience all expressions of gin in their purest form and innovative cocktails. This is also an opportunity to learn about Genever, the Dutch predecessor to Gin.

Join us for this LADIES ONLY event during San Francisco Cocktail Week, to enjoy the luster of juniper in cocktails served by some of the industry’s leading mixologists.

Meet some of San Francisco’s finest cocktail talents and special guests including:

• Kendra Scott, Distiller of Anchor Junipero gin
• Antoinette Cattani, Importer of Damrak gin and Lucas Bols genever
• Charlotte Voisey, National Brand Ambassador for Hendrick’s Gin National and award winning mixologist 

Treats:
Chef Justin Deering’s pristine American savory and sweet bites

Tipples:            
Damrak gin, Right gin, Junipero gin, Martin Miller’s gin, Beefeater 24 gin, Hendrick’s gin, Bols genever, and Genevieve genever

Time/Place:    
Thursday May 14, 2009
5:00pm-8:00pm

RSVP:             
All guests must be 21 years plus for entry
RSVPs are essential, space is limited.
RSVP to reza[AT SIGN GOES HERE]superultramega.com