Angostura Holdings Ltd.

Exploring the New Cocktail Menus at Rickhouse and Blackbird

We may not get the dramatic announcements of spring's arrival that other parts of the country get, like crocuses jetting out through the snow, but we do get our own subtle declaration of a new season. With asparagus season having peaked, the presence of local strawberries and cherries forecasting lo ... More >>

Drink of the Week: The Marshall Manhattan at Nick's Cove

We were on our way to dinner at Nick's Cove, that cozy collection of cottages and a restaurant on the edge of Tomales Bay and purportedly the place where the barbecued oyster was invented. We were certainly there for oysters, but also to escape the hard landscape of the city for a few hours. The tra ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Breaking Promises at Hakkasan

I'll be honest: I had a certain amount of apprehension going into Hakkasan. Between Willie Brown's warnings about the cost of a meal being so high you'd be strained to make your mortgage payment, the odd street level kiosk that smacks of Vegas style pretense, and the idea of this being an outpost of ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Sipping Like Our Forefathers at the Hancock Room

The rabid nature of modern politics, with its zealous "with us or against us" rhetoric, and increasing complexity that requires studious investments simply to decipher any true agendas, has sadly made patriotism a divisive political sentiment. Perhaps this is the reason for the recent popularity of ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Drink Like a Big Shot at Capo's

If there's one thing you can say about Tony Gemignani, pizza champ and owner of Capo's and nearby Tony's Pizza Napoletana, is that the guy knows how to entertain. From his dough whirling days on the pizza competition circuit, to his ability to articulate regional styles of pizza pies into ideal stud ... More >>

Drink of the Week: The Oaxacan Cross at Lolinda

When you spend enough time going to bars, talking to bartenders, and trying their drinks, you start to develop a mental list of people to keep an eye on. Having seen Chris Lane behind the bar at Flora, Heaven's Dog, Tradition, and Wo Hing, there was little doubt the low-key, gracious, and talented b ... More >>

Bix: Evocative Prohibition-Era Cocktails

Drink of the Week: Puttin' on the Bix

Veering off Montgomery onto Gold Street, a little, almost nondescript alley, feels like slipping into a hidden passageway. Walking along it I get the thrill of being in on a secret, what I imagine was half the fun of prohibition era speakeasies. The tidy little street doesn't stand out for any parti ... More >>

Smuggler's Cove: Find Safe Harbor in a Rum Cocktail

Drink of the Week: The Port Au Prince at Smuggler's Cove

There I was, a full hour into my drive from the North-East Bay to San Francisco, and I wasn't even on the Bay Bridge yet. I was sitting in traffic purgatory for having forgotten that 49ers were playing at Candlestick for Monday Night Football, and for the serious miscalculation of the number of earl ... More >>

Jasper's Rolls Out Seasonal Beer Cocktails

Concocting beer cocktails is kind of like creating DJ music. Not only are you setting the pace and flow of your guests' night, but you're also mashing up and integrating disparate elements into a cohesive whole. Mixing beer with liquor isn't an easy task. The bartender must understand the flavor pro ... More >>

Drink of the Week: The Sixth Sense at SF Cocktail Week 2012

One of the great things about Cocktail Week is the visiting bartenders who bring not only bring their city's flavor, but also offer us a fresh view our cocktail identity. Tasked with coming up with a cocktail that represented San Francisco, Boston bar and beverage manager of Franklin Restaurant Grou ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Best Warm Weather Cocktails

As if we needed a more dramatic celestial gesture to signal the start of Indian Summer in San Francisco, Wednesday's dramatic sky -- complete with double rainbow, no less -- was almost as grand an entrance as a skydiving queen of England. With a full 52 entries (yes, a full year) into my tenure wit ... More >>

Distilled Moustache: Brilliant Fake Press Release Submitted to Eater SF

Monday is already off to a good start, thanks to another fake press release submission to Eater SF for a new bar called DISTILLED MOUSTACHE. The same jokester sent a fake release to Eater a few weeks ago for a restaurant called Reclaimed Wood & Subway Tiles, which claimed to have ingredients sourced ... More >>

Drink of the Week: A Smokin' Pair at 15 Romolo

While cigarette smoke at bars may be out, smoke in cocktails continues to fill in the void left by the ban. It's almost as if the allurement between liquor and smoke is too intrinsic to divide apart. At 15 Romolo, two cocktails shine as balanced examples of how smoke can add interesting depth to a ... More >>

Tres Times the Charm For Barman Joel Baker

​Two months ago Joel Baker, formerly bar manager at Bourbon & Branch and the Burritt Room, was brought on to enhance the bar and cocktail menu at Tres. Baker explained that, "The aim is to get the bar back to where it was when they opened, when Jacques [Bezuidenhout], Ryan [Fitzgerald], and Ma ... More >>

Drink of the Week: A Flight Through Cocktail History

​In a brilliant effort to showcase the significant differences spirits can have on a cocktail, Locanda's new bar director Gabriel Lowe (formerly of Beretta and Delerosa) has been quietly adding cocktail flights to the menu. Taking a classic recipe, he presents a triptych of sorts, swapping out bas ... More >>

Bartender Brooke Arthur's Holiday Cocktail Recipe

Lou Bustamante​Part 3 of an interview with BrookeArthur, bar manager at Wo Hing. Part one of the interview is here. Read part two here. Brooke Arthur's Napoleon's Vice, named simply after the image of the French general on the bottle of sherry, is new holiday cocktail on the list at Wo Hing ... More >>

Jasper's Orchard Malt Mule Kicks With Holiday Spirits

Lou BustamanteThe Orchard Malt Mule​The new fall/winter cocktail menu at Jasper's Corner Tap has a lot to like, from old favorites like the Black Cross ($11, black tea infused Smith & Cross Rum, Dubonnet Rouge, Belle de Brillet Pear Liqueur, Angostura bitters), to the powerful Kentucky Two Ste ... More >>

The King Hippo Cocktail--a Tiki Punchout

Lou BustamanteThe King Hippo at Rickhouse​Some cocktail recipes begin with inspiration from an old bartending book, culinary pairing, or classic cocktail--others start with up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, and pressing B, A, start. Inspired by a character nicknamed the "Polynesia ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Comstock's Cherry Bounce

Lou BustamanteThe Cherry Bounce​Necessity is the mother of invention--and also of cocktail recipes. When Comstock started making brandied cherries in house, the left over "juice" was so tasty that it demanded to be made into a cocktail. The sweetened brandied liquid is potent, even after absor ... More >>

Agricole Rhum Punch, a Classic Cocktail at Slanted Door

Tamara Palmer​With this week's big news that Slanted Door owner Charles Phan plans to revive his original restaurant space in the Mission District as Wo Hing General Store, a new Chinese restaurant with a heavy focus on both alcoholic and virgin drinks, we thought it a good time to toast with a co ... More >>

Get Buzzed Before Giants Games at Distillery No. 209

Photo by Distillery No. 209It's not the gin-goggles, it really is this pretty.​Where: Distillery No. 209, Pier 50 When: Thurs., June 9, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Cost: $25. Space is limited, so please email wendi@distillery209.com or call 707-363-8182 to make your reservation. The rundown: San Francisco' ... More >>

Big Hats and Bourbon: Where to Celebrate the Kentucky Derby

Virginia MillerOur favorite Kentucky Derby thoroughbred: whiskey.​You may still be fighting the lingering haze of your Cinco de Mayo, but the Kentucky Derby on Saturday will provide yet another excuse to drink a lot and wear a big hat ― just like Mother's Day. Though we couldn't tell you when t ... More >>

Drink 2011: Cocktails, Let's Go Bowling

Giants Cocktails Are Popping Up All Over Town. Here Are Four We Like

AmeAme's Giants Sweet Finish: White rum, orange juice, lime juice, black strap rum.​A few local restaurants and bars are helping patrons get into the Giants vs. Phillies spirit this week. Among the many being shaken up all over town is Ame's optimistic Giants Sweet Finish blends white rum, ora ... More >>

15 Romolo's Amazona: A Hint of Brazil in North Beach

T. PalmerWear your Havaianas.​15 Romolo is known for its upscale carnival eating and good, strong drinks. It's perfect weather for drinking exotic. The Amazona (Sagatiba Velha cachaça, coconut milk, ginger, lime, Angostura bitters, and nutmeg) skews Brazilian, with a present-danger air of ext ... More >>

Another Round

The Champagne Cocktail: Sparkly and Bittersweet Like a TCM Tearjerker

Sarah Ackerman/FlickrChampagne cocktail at Sutro's at the Cliff House.​The 1939 version of Love Affair (a TCM mainstay) is one of the more sophisticated romantic dramedies from Hollywood's Golden Age, so it's only fitting that Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne should meet and spark over the subjec ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Dosa's Laughing Lassi

Dosa on Fillmore (1700 Fillmore at Geary) elevates the classic Indian yogurt drink with its Laughing Lassi. A concoction of Bols Genever, Straus organic yogurt, grains of paradise, agave nectar, Angostura bitters and fresh mint, this savory, adult lassi is served with a cucumber spear. While we nor ... More >>

The Rob Roy: A Wee Dram, Hold the Cherry

dseang via FlickrBarrel-aged Balvenie: Steel yourself to do the unspeakableThe Broken Record saloon (1166 Geneva at Edinburgh) not only serves exceptional pub grub, their whisky selection is breathtaking: well over a hundred different ryes, bourbons, and scotches, most of it from the top of the shel ... More >>

Pork Belly and Cocktails

At Heaven's Dog, mixing contemporary Chinese and fancy drinks in a modern setting does not a great restaurant make.

Drink of The Week: Heaven's Dog's Bumble Bee

The Chinese comfort food at Heaven's Dog (1148 Mission) has been praised quite a bit, but the cocktails are just as comforting. The Bumble Bee blends Appleton's V/X rum with lime and honey and is frothed up with egg white and gorgeously swirled with aromatic Angostura bitters. Despite the name, t ... More >>