Alcademics

I went to Capo's in San Francisco's North Beach to try out the cocktails. The initial cocktail menu was quite a bit longer, but they edited it to be shorter and more whiskey-centric. 

There are currently just five cocktails on the menu: The Chicago Cocktail, the Silencer (Americano variation), Suicide (with white rye, creme de violette, maraschino liqueur), Wise Guy (rye, orange marmalade, lemon, oregano,) and a barrel-aged Vieux Carre' variation called the Made Man with bourbon, unaged brandy, sweet vermouth, and Benedictine. 

One wouldn't go so far as to say The Silencer is a molecular cocktail, but it does have some abstract features you don't see too often in San Francisco. The drink is (mostly?) Campari and Soda, but bar manager Elmer Mejicanos makes it more like an Americano by adding Carpano Antica vermouth ice cubes. If I remember correctly, the vermouth ice cubes were made with one part vermouth to four parts water. 

The drink was garnished with "Brandy Crystals." This is brandy dehydrated overnight in an oven with added sugar and corn starch (as a filler). I couldn't taste the corn starch at all, so it looks like Mejicanos has found a way to stretch dehydrated liqueur a bit farther than usual. 

Of the three drinks I tried, I enjoyed The Silencer the most. 

For more information on dehydrating liqueurs and other alcohol, check out the Solid Liquids Project here on Alcademics.