The holiday season is here, and we bet you've got lots of virtual happy hours with friends and family on your calendar. Looking to up your cocktail game? Here are some San Francisco cocktail recipes to shake (or stir!) up your repertoire and give you a taste of the city's unique cocktail culture at home.
Mai Tai
San Francisco is where tiki culture as Americans know it was born, so why not start with the classic mai tai? You may not have The Tonga Room's indoor tropical storm to complete the ambience, but this delicious cocktail will have you feeling tropical in no time.
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Instructions
(Recipe courtesy of epicurious.com)
Cable Car
The Cable Car was created in 1996 by Tony Abou-Ganim at the Sir Francis Drake’s Starlight Room. It’s an interesting twist on the classic sidecar (get it?) that swaps the original’s cognac for Captain Morgan’s spiced rum.
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Instructions
Pro tip: It is important to use superfine sugar when rimming a glass. The granulated sugar you use everyday in the kitchen does not stick as well. You can also add cinnamon to the sugar rim to expand the spice profile.
(Recipe courtesy of Tony Abou-Ganim)
Martini
Few drinks are as iconic as the martini, the “only American invention as perfect as a sonnet.” Aficionados are adamant: a martini is made with gin, not vodka. (But we’re not looking if you prefer the former over the latter.) Its roots can be traced back to an old classic: the Martinez (allegedly invented in the Bay Area city of the same name), which called for gin, vermouth, and maraschino liqueur. Sometime in the 1860s, the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco dropped the liqueur from the recipe and the martini was born.
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Instructions
(Recipe courtesy of Caliplate)
San Francisco
A spin-off of the classic martini, this version uses sloe gin, which is technically not a gin but a sweet liqueur that pairs well with a variety of mixers. This version uses both varieties of vermouth and two bitters, and has gained acclaim as a perfect drink for before or after dinner.
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Instructions
(Recipe courtesy of The Spruce Eats)
Tequila Sunrise
This popular cocktail may have first been mixed elsewhere, but it was perfected across the Golden Gate Bridge in nearby Sausalito. That seems fitting, since the views at dawn as the sun rises over San Francisco Bay are simply intoxicating.
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Instructions
(Recipe courtesy of The Spruce Eats)
Pisco Punch
When the Bank Exchange & Billiard Saloon opened in 1853, it was only natural that they would offer a variety of punches. Duncan Nicol is credited with the original recipe of pisco, pineapple, lime juice, gum arabic, and water, which was described at the time as “like lemonade but comes back with the kick of a roped steer.” While the bartender took his own recipe to the grave, others have tried to replicate it. Here’s one we love.
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Instructions
(Recipe courtesy of food52.com)
Irish Coffee
Not a cocktail, per se, but there's never a wrong time to have one. The Irish Coffee may have been invented on the Emerald Isle, but it was perfected at San Francisco's Buena Vista Cafe.
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Instructions
You can watch the master bartenders at the Buena Vista Cafe make their own here.
House Cappuccino
This distant cousin of the Irish Coffee traces its origins back to the eve of Prohibition. First created at Tosca Cafe in North Beach, the House Cappuccino was a must-have on the menu when this historic venue reopened in 2013.
Ingredients
Equipment Needed
Electric milk frother or cappuccino machine with steam wand and foaming canister.
Instructions
(Recipe courtesy of 7x7)