November 15, 2007
More Bourbon & Branch
 | The first time we se William Powell in the 1934 film The Thin Man, he's educating a nightclub's bartender on the proper way to shake cocktails: "Always have rhythm in your shaking," Powell tells them. "Now a Manhattan you shake to a fox-trot time, a Bronx to a two-step time and a Martini you always shake to waltz time." |
-- Eric Felten, "How's your drink? Cocktails, Culture and the Art of Drinking Well"
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Amuse Bouche: Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade
Old-Fashioned: Bourbon, Angostura Bitters, Lump Sugar and mineral water
Vanilla Mimosa: Orange juice, Navan, Sparkling wine (duly noted and transmitted to A. for our next party brunch)
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November 07, 2007
Aziza
"the kitchen & the bar have collaborated to develop an innovative moroccan inspired cocktail list attuned to the restaurant’s cuisine."
Moroccan Caipirinha (I still think they should come up with a name for this, El-Caipira or something)
Tarragon, Cardamom, Lime Cubes, Cachaça
Gin Cocktail that tastes like cough drops (which I love btw)
Gin, Lavender orange blossom honey, Lime
(Aziza on Geary Boulevard)
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The Premier Tequila Bar on Earth
Margarita - Pueblo Viejo Tequila Añejo
"Tommy's, at present, carries 18 Extra Añejo Tequilas. No one else can say this." -- Tequila 101
(Tommy's Mexican Restaurant on Geary Boulevard)
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November 06, 2007
Bar Drake
Bar Drake Manhattan
Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Port, Angostura Bitters, Maple syrup
The Heated Affair
Partida Añejo Tequila, hot spiced apple cider, whipped cream
(at the Hotel Francis Drake near Union Square - where the cocktails are like candy)
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October 31, 2007
The Current Obsessions
House of Games. I was a Mamet virgin. I hate this movie. I hate it so much it borderlines passion. I keep re-watching scenes when I'm by myself. The more I watch, the more I complain about that awkward theatrical dialogue and weird actor's directing. I groan everytime I hear an expressionless and emotionless actor say something like "Give me the God damn money" or "The bitch panicked and blew it" in a casual tone of voice. I loathe Lindsay Crouse. I read about Psychoanalysis and Con Games and how the whole last shooting scene is a dream like sequence in which the psychoanalyst is actually performing a purging therapy on herself. I read about Jewish Aporia or the rhythm of talking in Mamet and how the characters ask too many questions which are in their turn only answered by more questions. It's driving me nuts. Help.
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Cocktails. I was a cocktail virgin. Gone is the prejudice of seeing hard liquor as the monopoly of boozers. After slowly reading the brilliant collection of fictional articles by MEC about barmen and the art of mixing drinks, the refinement and gourmet skills needed to appreciate a good cocktail, I have surrendered. Throwing in some literary anedoctes about Hemingway's Daiquiris and Buñuel's Dry Martinis helped a lot too. Reading the simple statement that a cocktail is always composed of 1 or 2 doses of liquor, 1 dose of a liqueur and 1 dose of juice felt like deducing one beautiful equation. One of those evident truths you knew all along but never cared to systematize.
Tuesday night was my first visit to Bourbon & Branch in San Francisco. A 1920's speakeasy on a corner street bearing only an antique looking sign saying "Anti-Saloon League". A password is needed to get in. No cosmos are served. Only serious cocktails. Appropriately, the ground shook beneath my feet. Really. A 5.6 earthquake in the south bay area. The biggest since the 1989 one. I was an earthquake virgin.
The Menu
The Aviation: modified to be an amuse-bouche; the Gin was substituted by sparkling wine to give it an air of appéritif, Maraschino and lemon.
Negroni: Gin, Sweet Vermouth and Campari
1794: named after the year of the whiskey rebellion; whiskey, Campari, sweet vermouth.
Black Manhattan: a variation of the American classic; bourbon, Averna and home made cherry coffee bitters.
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