The SF Weekly article has a few choice quotes about the taste of Fernet-Branca, as experienced by first-time drinkers:

As a bitter Italian aperitif of more than 40 herbs and spices, it most often gets compared to Campari and Jägermeister, though by measure of accuracy, it’s equally similar to Robitussin or Pennzoil.

If you can imagine getting punched squarely in the nose while sucking on a mentholated cough drop, you’ll have an idea of Fernet-Branca’s indelicate first impressions.

I thought I was going to die the first time I tasted it.

That last one is from Antoinette Cattani, who is now the west coast marketing manager for the company that makes it, illustrating that a taste for it can be acquired even by those whose first impressions weren’t so good.

As for myself, trying it for the first time the other day, I actually quite liked it. Reading quotes like that prepared me for the worst, but as bitter herbal liqueurs go this is actually pretty mild compared to something like Campari. Sarai liked it too. She generally prefers the herbal side of the spectrum, such as Chartreuse, over bitters like Campari.

There seem to be two major centers of Fernet-Branca popularity. The first is Argentina, where it’s basically the unofficial national drink, and San Francisco, who drinks 50% of the Fernet imported into the US. Living in the bay area, I could have just as easily ordered it at a bar but I sometimes like trying new things like this at home, where I can experiment a bit. My first taste was in the San Francisco style — neat and chased with ginger ale — which gave me a good feel for the liqueur itself because it wasn’t mixed. I’m not normally a ginger ale drinker but it paired with Fernet’s herbal flavor very well. My second taste was mixed with Coca-Cola in the Argentinean style, using an unopened bottle of Mexican Coke I still have in the back of the refrigerator left over from the Cubas Libres I made back in April. This second style wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great either. As I’ve said before, I’m not a Coke drinker, so I’ll stick with ginger ale next time (and now I have to find one made with real sugar instead of HFCS).

Astoria

• 1 1/2 ounces gin
• 3/4 ounces dry vermouth
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• Lemon twist for garnish

Combine the gin, vermouth, and bitters in an ice-filled cocktail shaker and stir gently for 20 to 30 seconds, until cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the lemon twist.

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. It basically is a martini, but uses a bit more vermouth and adds some orange bitters. Be sure to cut your lemon twist over the glass so the oils from the zest sprays over the surface of the drink. The exact results will depend greatly on the gin you’re using, but with Bombay Sapphire it came out light, floral, and just a little bit fruity.

Camille stopped by The Tender Bar in Ginza and Shoto-Club in Shibuya, both mentioned in the article, as well as a third, Misty Opar’s, and shares her experiences in words and pictures in her latest post: Cocktail Culture in Tokyo. Anyone who was interested in the magazine article should really pop over and check it out; it’s interesting to read first-hand experiences about these places so soon after becoming intrigued by them after the Bon Appetit feature. I don’t expect to get to Tokyo any time soon but this will hold me for a while.

Mai Tai

• 2 ounces Jamaican rum
• 1/2 ounce orange curacao
• 3/4 ounce orgeat syrup
• 1 ounce fresh lime juice
• Mint sprig for garnish

Combine all liquid ingredients in an ice-filled shaker and shake until cold. Strain into an old fashioned glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a mint sprig.

This is the classic Mai Tai recipe, the one Trader Vic created right here in Oakland in 1944, updated slightly. The recipe originally called for rock candy syrup (ie, simple syrup), which can be omitted if your orgeat syrup is sweet enough to balance the lime juice. I’m using Monin almond syrup in these because it’s what I have on hand. Not a true orgeat, but close enough, and sweet enough that I don’t need additional sweetener.

This recipe is not to be confused with the “Hawaiian” or “Island” Mai Tai which contains orange and pineapple juices. Nor is it to be confused with the fruit and flower-laden monstrosities that have become somewhat synonymous with the name “Mai Tai” over the years. For best results, order a “Classic Mai Tai” and hopefully your bartender will know the difference.

The fourth tiki bar in the East Bay, and the only one I hadn’t been to until recently, is the Kona Club in Oakland. The Kona Club was opened in 2005, the same year the Conga Lounge opened, by the owner of a couple other bars in the east bay. We’ve gone past it a million times and finally stopped in to check it out one day last weekend after taking a bike ride through the nearby Mountain View Cemetery.

The drink menu has a small selection of tropical libations, and plenty of other stuff as well. We ordered from the menu: a Shipwreck for me and a Macadamia Chi-Chi for Sarai. There are a number of different recipes called “shipwreck” out there; this one was made with three rums, plus pineapple and cranberry juices, and was quite tasty. Sarai got the Macadamia Chi-Chi in order to compare it to her favorite drink at Forbidden Island, and was happy with the result, except that it could have been blended a bit smoother. I was a bit concerned by the fact that the Mai Tai on the menu was the “Hawaiian” variety, containing pineapple, orange juice, and amaretto, instead of the classic recipe. I’m sure they could make a real Mai Tai upon request, but we only stayed for one round, so I didn’t get a chance to find out.

They put a lot of work into the space, and it shows. I particularly liked the animatronic hula girl (pictured above). The space is huge, much bigger than I expected from seeing the outside, and very well decorated. The atmosphere was a bit spoiled by the two televisions, tuned to two different sports events. I generally dislike TVs in bars but am a bit more forgiving if they’re showing something interesting. Good examples of TV use would be films like The Secret of Easter Island or Blue Hawaii, both of which I’ve seen at the Conga Lounge. Never sports though; keep that to the sports bars, please.

Another sticking point is the music. I understand the desire to have a well-rounded jukebox, but something about hip-hop in a tiki bar doesn’t really work for me.

Music and televisions aside, the Kona Club is definitely worth checking out if you’re in the neighborhood. I don’t get up this way very often so I don’t know how often I’ll come here, but if I lived nearby I’d be a regular.

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James Joyce Cocktail

• 1 1/2 ounces Irish whiskey
• 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
• 3/4 ounce triple sec
• 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

Combine all ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake until cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

This cocktail has what looks like an odd combination of ingredients, but it actually works pretty well, creating a nice, easy to sip drink. The fruitiness from the Irish whiskey works well with the Triple Sec and lime juice, and the vermouth adds a little extra complexity. The James Joyce is based on the Oriental cocktail, which uses rye in place of the Irish whiskey used here.

Pictured is Sarai’s old copy of Ulysses, by James Joyce. I’ve been meaning to read it but haven’t yet gotten around to it. I understand it’s very good, but also a bit of work.

The bar is run by Colin Field, twice voted “The Best Bartender in the World” by Forbes magazine. Colin was behind the bar when we arrived but we opted to sit on a sofa in the small side room rather than at the bar so we didn’t actually meet him. Our order instead were placed through the impeccable waitstaff.

Raspberry Martini

The Bar Hemingway is also home to the world’s most expensive cocktail, the Ritz Sidecar. This is the classic Sidecar, made with 1830 Ritz Reserve Cognac. Made from vines harvested prior to an insect plague in the 1860s, the grapes used to make this Cognac no longer exist, and the supply of the spirit itself is dwindling. Not too quickly, due to the price tag, but steadily nonetheless. We found when reading over the menu that the price of this cocktail has increased from 400€ to 700€, possibly due to the shrinking supply. With the current dismal state of the US dollar, this translates to roughly $950.

Needless to say, Ritz Sidecars were not on our menu this evening. We opted instead to order from the three drinks our waiter recommended to us. Listed in order of strength, the first was a light cocktail made with Calvados and apple cider, among other things. It sounded nice, but I wasn’t really in the mood at the moment. The second drink was the classic French 75, and the third was a Raspberry Martini made with housemade raspberry-infused vodka. I ordered this one, pictured above, while Sarai opted for the French 75, pictured below. Both were quite good, especially Sarai’s, which tasted like it was made with a very nice Champagne which lent an extra pop that I haven’t gotten making them at home.

French 75

While the prices for these weren’t in the same league as the Ritz Sidecar, coming in at 28€ apiece — about $38 US — they were still the most expensive drinks I’ve ever ordered, or likely will again. I would have loved to stick around for a few hours but just couldn’t at these prices. As it was, I was tempted to order a second round but thought better of it.

People have asked us what we get for these prices. The drink quality is excellent, but not enough to justify the price tag on their own. The other part of the value comes in the five-star service, which was simply amazing. We weren’t sure where we wanted to sit when we first entered the bar, starting to put our stuff down at one table before noticing the smaller nook off to one side of the room. This indecision lasted maybe 30 seconds total, but before we picked up our coats again we already had a waiter at our side with glasses of berry and cucumber-infused water and small plates of nuts, potato chips, and olives. He invited us to pick any table we liked, suggesting the sofa over a small table in the side room, and brought our water and snacks over, also leaving us with menus and describing the featured drinks.

Before describing their recommended cocktails, he asked if we preferred to speak in French or English, and continued in perfect English once we requested it. Once we had our drinks, the waitstaff was attentive without being intrusive, only checking up on us now and again to be sure our drinks were ok but never pressuring us to order another round or dropping the check off before we asked for it.

We were a little apprehensive before coming here. Let’s just say that the Ritz is not usually our style. We were dressed decently, but definitely casually, preferring to travel light even if it meant possibly not having appropriate attire for our visit here. This was not a problem though, as no one gave us a second look once we entered the hotel or the bar itself. The other people in the bar were dressed in nicer casual clothing or suits, but nothing too fancy, given that it was only 7:00pm. The clientele at the time were mostly French-speaking but we did hear English coming from a table or two, as well as from Colin himself while talking to some of the other patrons.

Photo taken from Ritz Hotel promotional material

I didn’t take as many pictures here as I would have liked. Alongside my desire to document in photographs places like this that I visit, I also have a conflicting desire to not appear to be an obnoxious tourist, waving his camera around all over the place. That would be even more out of place in the quiet, subdued atmosphere at the Bar Hemingway. This seems to be a common feeling, as I was unable to find any good pictures of the bar around the web. The photo above was taken from Ritz Hotel promotional material just so I’d have something to show.

While we were here we discovered that Colin hosts a cocktail class here every Saturday afternoon before the bar opens for business at 6:00pm. We were there Saturday evening, just a few hours late for it, and it was our last weekend in Paris. I don’t know when I’ll be in Paris next but I’ll definitely be coming here for a drink when I am, and can hopefully attend one of Colin’s classes then.

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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 of tiki in the Bay Area, and its lasting impact for over 70 years.

The weekend kicks off on Thursday with visits to Smoke Tiki and Trader Vic’s in San Jose and Palo Alto respectively. On Friday it moves up into San Francisco proper for Trad’r Sam, the Tonga Room at the Fairmont hotel, and the Bamboo Hut in North Beach. Saturday is the most interesting to me personally; it starts off at 4:00pm at Forbidden Island in Alameda, then comes right through my neighborhood on the way to The Conga Lounge and the Kona Club, both in Oakland. Sunday is the cool-down day, with the crawl heading back to Forbidden Island for an afternoon potluck.

Tiki Crawl 2008 takes place October 9 - 12. See the full schedule at Tiki Central for more details, including times, maps, and info on each of the stops.

Peach-Ginger Cocktail

• 3 slices fresh peach
• 2 dashes peach bitters
• 2 ounces brandy
• 1 ounce light rum
• 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
• Splash of ginger syrup

Muddle the peach slices and bitters in a mixing glass until peach is pulpy. Fill with ice and add the brandy, rum, lemon juice, and ginger syrup. Shake until cold, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. If your peaches aren’t very juicy, add the syrup before the muddling step instead of later.

This was my first experiment with creating a drink based around the ginger simple syrup I made recently. It started out with just peaches, brandy, ginger syrup, and lemon juice, but this combination tasted a bit flat. I added the peach bitters to give it a little edge but it still needed something. Adding an ounce of rum gave it a kick that made it much better but I’m still not 100% happy with it. The ginger could hardly be tasted over the peach, which was extremely sweet and juicy. The drink itself wasn’t too sweet, thanks to the lemon juice, but the peach really dominated. Maybe next time I’ll reduce the peach to two slices and try using some Angostura bitters.

Advertised as The Oldest Cocktail Bar in Europe, this bar originally opened in 1911 as just “New York Bar”. In 1923 it was bought by Harry McElhone who added his first name and popularized it among the growing numbers of American expatriates who were starting to flock to Paris. Some of their famous clientele included Sinclair Lewis, Coco Chanel, Rita Hayworth, and Ernest Hemingway (what famous bar didn’t he frequent?).

Note: Harry’s New York Bar in Paris is not to be confused with Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy, another well known bar and the birthplace of the Bellini. I walked past this Venetian landmark when I visited Venice a few years back but, alas, didn’t go inside.

We went to Harry’s just as the after work crowd was beginning to show up. It’s a popular spot so we wanted to get in early enough to get a table and not have to fight for a bartender’s attention. No worries here, the bar was only half full when we entered through the swinging saloon doors and we got a good table and prompt attention, as the white coat-clad bartender walked over to bring us a dish of snack mix and take our order. We started out by ordering a round of Sidecars, which were served up in cocktail glasses, but without the sugared rim we sometimes get in the US. The origin of the Sidecar is unknown, but Harry McElhone, at least at one time, claimed he invented it himself so I thought it appropriate for my first drink of the evening. As we sipped our drinks, we took a look around to get a feel for the bar.

As the name implies, this is definitely an establishment for Americans and anyone else who likes an American-style cocktail bar. The walls were adorned with university pennants and there was even a flyer up reminding Americans to request their absentee ballots for the coming 2008 presidential election (no surprise that the French are eagerly awaiting a change of administration here). The crowd was mixed, with both English and French being spoken, and the English in both American and British accents. They even offer a pronunciation guide for non-French speakers: Ask your cab driver to take you to Sank Roo Doe Noo and you’ll find yourself at Harry’s.

My second drink was, fittingly enough, a Manhattan, while Sarai had an Old Fashioned. Both were well made and quite good. The Old Fashioned was made without orange, which I like, or club soda, which I detest in this drink.

I don’t know if the Sidecar was really invented at Harry’s Bar — the Stork Club Bar Book says otherwise — but they are commonly known as the creators of the Bloody Mary and also lay claim to the French 75, which is another favorite of mine. The origins of all these drinks are highly disputed though, with the Ritz Paris claiming the first two of these as their own.

This isn’t a cheap place to drink — our four drinks were 12€ apiece, around $18 USD at the time — but definitely worth checking out when you’re in Paris.

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