Fernet-Branca

Fernet-Branca is an interesting liqueur. I’ve been intrigued by it for a while, ever since reading The Myth of Fernet on the SF Weekly web site. I generally try not to buy large bottles of things I’m not familiar with until I’ve tried them and am sure I’m going to use it — my liquor [...]

Astoria

We were eating a spicy, smoky chipotle dish the other night for dinner and I wanted to pair it with something light and simple. I didn’t feel like a regular martini but didn’t want anything too complicated either. The Astoria fit the bill perfectly.

Tokyo Cocktail Culture

Cocktailia reader Camille, who writes a food, drink, and entertaining site over at wallflour.com, recently visited Tokyo and stopped by some of their celebrated bars. Of particular interest are two of the bars mentioned in the August Bon Appetit article, Tokyo: Cocktail Capital of the World. This article wasn’t yet online when I posted about [...]

Mai Tai

This is the classic Mai Tai recipe, the one Trader Vic created right here in Oakland in 1944. It should not be confused with the “Hawaiian” or “Island” Mai Tai, nor any of the fruit and flower-laden monstrosities that have become somewhat synonymous with the name of this cocktail over the years.

Kona Club

San Francisco’s East Bay — the area that includes Oakland, Berkeley, and Alameda — has become something of a tiki mecca in recent years. There’s always been a tiki presence here; this is where Trader Vic’s, the birthplace of the Mai Tai, originated in the 1930s, after all. But lately our selection of tiki bars [...]

James Joyce Cocktail

This cocktail has what looks like an odd combination of ingredients, but it actually works pretty well, creating a nice, easy to sip drink.

Bar Hemingway

After visiting Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, our next stop was the world-famous Bar Hemingway. Located at the Ritz Hotel, Bar Hemingway is probably the most well-known, and almost certainly the most expensive bar in the world. While I don’t have an unlimited budget, how could not stop in for one drink?

San Francisco Tiki Crawl 2008

This weekend Tiki Central is hosting its eighth annual Bay area tiki crawl:

Come join in the biggest Bay Area Tiki Bar Crawl yet! Four days! Ten Bars! Savor the world of tiki with visits to bars and restaurants both new and legendary all over the Bay Area. Celebrate the rich history [...]

Peach-Ginger cocktail

This was my first experiment with creating a drink based around the ginger simple syrup I made recently.

Harry’s New York Bar

I don’t usually go bar hopping when I travel but no trip to Paris is complete without stopping by a couple of their world-famous bars. Harry’s New York Bar was the first one on our list.

Advertised as The Oldest Cocktail Bar in Europe, this bar originally opened in 1911 as just “New York Bar”. [...]