The expert mixologists at four of this season’s go-to San Francisco bars have just the ticket to kick your cocktail game up a notch.
From bold and herbaceous to flirty and fruity, these drink recipes capture summer in a glass.
Felix Swizzle from The Felix
Felix Swizzle from The Felix.
(Erin Ng)
This summer swizzle recipe courtesy of speakeasy The Felix(138 Mason St.) combines bitter herbaceousness with the warm-weather flavors of coconut, ginger, and cardamom.
Ingredients
1 oz Green Chartreuse
1 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz Malibu Rum
1/4 oz Cardamaro
Ginger beer
Shaved cardamom
Fresh mint sprig
Pour green and yellow Chartreuse, rum, and Cardamaro into a Collins glass over ice. Top with enough ginger beer to fill the glass. Garnish with shaved cardamom and a sprig of mint.
Barbie Girl from True Laurel
Barbie Girl from True Laurel.
(Courtesy of True Laurel)
The mix-masters at True Laurel(753 Alabama St.) offer up this fun pink drink with bubble gum qualities in honor of summer’s hottest film, Barbie. At the bar they’ll also rinse the glass with a vacuum distilled mint wash—but you can skip that bit at home.
Ingredients
1 oz fresh rhubarb juice
1/2 oz feni
1/2 oz mezcal
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1/4 oz rich syrup
Combine two parts sugar with 1 part water to make a rich syrup.
Add 1/4 oz of the syrup, rhubarb juice, feni, mezcal, and dry vermouth to a glass. Stir. Garnish with a twirl of fresh rhubarb.
Melón Salvia from Cavaña
Melón Salvia from Cavaña.
(Courtesy of Cavaña)
The Melón Salvia, from South American-inspired cocktail and tapas lounge in the sky Cavaña(100 Channel St., Fl. 17), is a refreshing tropical drink with herbal notes perfect for beating the heat (or fending off the fog).
Ingredients
3/4 oz cachaça
3/4 oz blanco tequila
1/4 oz Chareau Aloe Liqueur
3/4 oz sage-infused Bordiga Bianco Vermouth
2 oz cantaloupe
1/2 oz simple syrup
3/4 oz lemon juice
4 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Pebbled ice
Cucumber slice
Make the sage-infused Bordiga Bianco Vermouth in advance. Put 1 ounce fresh sage leaves or 1 oz dampened dried sage leaves into a muslin or cheesecloth bag and tie loosely. Place the bag in 32 ounces of Bordiga Bianco Vermouth, so it floats at the top of the liquid. Let the herbs sit for 24 hours, then remove.
Combine 2 ounces of fresh cantaloupe and 1/2 ounce simple syrup. Whir in a blender until thoroughly combined.
Put sage-infused vermouth, blended cantaloupe, cachaça, blanco tequila, lemon juice, and Peychaud’s bitters into a cocktail mixer. Add pebbled ice. Shake thoroughly. Pour into a glass and top with pebbled ice. Add a cucumber slice as a garnish.
Forever Spritz from Bar Sprezzatura
Forever Spritz from Bar Sprezzatura.
(Angelo Clinton)
Sweet strawberry and spicy pink peppercorn combine in this summer spritz by the cocktail specialists at Bar Sprezzatura(300 Clay St.).
Ingredents
2 oz fresh strawberries, juiced
2 oz Campari
1 oz Elderflower tonic
Top with prosecco rosé
Strawberry-pink peppercorn marmalade:
10 strawberries, hulled
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 Tbsp ground pink peppercorns
For the strawberry-pink peppercorn marmalade: Mix sugar, water, and ground peppercorns. Add strawberries. Mix in blender or food processor, or mash. Brush around rim of a spritz glass.
In the brushed glass, add juiced strawberries, Campari, and tonic to ice. Mix. Top with enough prosecco to fill the glass. Garnish with edible firestix flower.
