SF Classic Cocktail Tour #27 - Saturday June 23rd (page 20)

This year on the Tiki Central SF Bay Area Tiki Bar Crawl a few of us NorCal Tiki Ohana were discussing some of our favorite SF Bay Area bars with the best cocktails and how we need to all go together and check them out. There seems to be a wealth of great drinking establishments in the SF Bay Area.

Well, enough talk, time to go check them out! Paul "Rum Runner" Cramer has done the "hard work" and tried a ton of bars in SF and is now ready to take us to his favorites. There are too many to try in one night or even one weekend, so the Rum Runner is going to host a tour a month to the best bars in SF starting on Saturday December 6 with the Mission District tour. Tours are FREE (except for the drinks you buy) and will be held on the 1st Saturday of each month until Paul runs out of bars to share. And don't forget to keep on supporting your local tiki bar too!!!

SAN FRANCISCO CLASSIC COCKTAIL TOUR #1 - Mission District
Host by Paul "Rum Runner" Cramer

Saturday December 6

5:30pm - 6:30pm NIHON WHISKY LOUNGE & SUSHI
1779 Folsom St. @ 14th St.

6:45pm - 7:45pm CONDUIT
280 Valencia St. @ 14th St.
Try a "Monk's Voyage"

8:00pm - 9:00pm RANGE ** MAY BE TOO CROWDED -- SEE BELOW **
842 Valencia St. @ 19th St.
Try a "Kokomo"

-OR-

8:00pm - 9:00pm LUNA PARK ** ALTERNATE STOP IF RANGE IS TOO CROWDED **
694 Valencia St @ 18th
Try the Trio of Mini-Cocktails (Mint Julep, Roadrunner & Ice Breaker)

9:15pm - 10:15pm BERRETA
1199 Valencia St. @ 23rd St.
Try a "Dolores Park Swizzle"

Total walking distance from stop 1 to stop 4 is 13 blocks (one way)

If riding BART, exit at 16th St station for 1st stop
Last stop, board at 24 St station

RSVP by posting on this thread.

Next up on Saturday April 4........SF CLASSIC COCKTAIL TOUR #5 - Details on page 6!

[ Edited by: Tikitastic 2012-06-12 00:51 ]

I'm in.

On 2008-11-14 00:43, Tikitastic wrote:

Total walking distance from stop 1 to stop 4 is 13 blocks (one way)

Let's do it on Big Wheels!

Ooh, bummer. I'm on a ladies weekend in Tahoe that day. Maybe Chief Bartender will attend. Hoist one for me!

Oh, why not! Count me in!

I was just thinking about this a few minutes ago , since I spoke with you the other night.

I will more than likley catch up with you guys at the last 2 or 3 bars, due to that thing
called work.

Barreta has some outstanding cocktails and Bartenders

[ Edited by: princessP 2008-11-14 13:30 ]

[ Edited by: princessP 2008-11-14 13:31 ]

Looks like I'm in because there's an event in Mountain View earlier in the day I want to attend. Anyone up for an early dinner somewhere before the crawl?

Sweetness!

Rats! That happens to be the same day as my company Christmas party up here in NorthBay. Gonna miss another Tiki gathering. :(

Hope to see you all soon!
Myke

Hey TikiWineBear and anyone else who cannot make the SF Classic Cocktail crawl on December 6th...the Rum Runner has lots of SF bars lined up all over the city so we will be crawling different sections of SF on the 1st Saturday of each month for at least 4 months. So, hopefully, you can make one or more of the other crawls.

I'm practicing my slurred speech and stumbling skills in preparation.
I think I'm gettin' pretty good.

6 days and counting down! ....10-9-8-7-6-.....

2 more days until SF Classic Cocktail Tour #1

Really wanted to go to this, but the flu is kicking my okole. You wouldn't want my
coughingphlegmhawking drunkardness there. Looking forward to the next one...

Glad I looked, there was a change if one place is to busy.

see you guys there

Can't wait for tonight! :)

On 2008-11-25 05:41, Tai Won On wrote:
I'm practicing my slurred speech and stumbling skills in preparation.
I think I'm gettin' pretty good.

Bee shur to let ush shno ware you fabeorit plaish ish Jim.

Don't ask me how I got here! :D

Well, I think the first of (hopefully) many cocktail tours was a great success.
Thank you Paul and Mark for organizing it. We had a pretty good turn out of people (around 10 I'd guess). I think any more would've made it difficult to get in to some of those places. As it got later, the stops got much more crowded. I tried a lot of new drinks. Some were excellent, some too harsh for my unsophisticated palate.
Here's a list of the good ones (what I can remember of 'em):
At Nihon

1. Sazerac
2. Whiskey Sour

At Conduit

1. Monks Voyage
2. Hemmingway..?.something or other?

At Range

1. Kokomo

At Berretta

1. ??? some seasonal special made with apple, mulling spices, and apparently rocket fuel. (strong, but quite tasty)

We anticipated a much worse parking scenario than we encountered. So we parked much further away than we needed to. So after our long walk back to the car. We decided to head over to Forbidden Island. What a great way to wind down an awesome evening.
I can't wait for next months tour.

[ Edited by: Tai Won On 2008-12-07 12:52 ]

Yes! Big thanks to Paul and Mark! That was a lot of fun, even if I did poop out at the last stop.

Here are the drinks I had:
at Nihon:

1. Ginger Indochine - very tasty and refreshing!
2. Ginger Secret - too peachy

at Conduit:

1. The Shadduck - too grapefruity and the service kinda sucked

at Range:

1. Girasol - really nothing special
2. Doc Holiday - very fruity (has muddled huckleberries) and refreshing
   Food note: The sweet potato ravioli was fantastic!

Beretta looked like it was gonna take a while for us to get seats and it was quite crowded, so I bailed at that point. At least my brake lights had finally gone off by then.

Can't wait for next month!

So, no one up there knows how to take pictures?

On 2008-12-07 16:26, Bora Boris wrote:
So, no one up there knows how to take pictures?

Many pictures were taken, but not by me.

I had a Sazerac at the first stop and a Manhattan at the second. Sazerac was tasty, Manhattan was average. I'd like to go back to Nihon to sample some more of their menu.

Man, this was a blast. Can't wait for the next one. The drinks and the people were great. Here's my list:

1. Nihon: Apple Mack: Interesting, good whiskey drink to start off the crawl
2. Conduit: Monk's Revenge: yeah I hoped on the bandwagon and got one too. It was great.
3. Range: Merona: light tasting, my least favorite of the night
4. Range: Kokomo: Very good.
5. Baretta: (something) Mule: another ginger drink that was pretty straightforward

At FI:
6. Missionary's Downfall, 7. China Clipper, and 8. a bourbon drink Martin made for me to finish off the night (Martin, did you ever remember the name?)

Good times!

~Hanford

Thank you Paul and Mark for hosting the crawl last night; I had a really good time! Berreta had my favorite drinks and I really enjoyed the atmosphere at Nihon.

Here are the drinks that I had last night:
Nihon
Green Man Tea (Yamazaki 12 Year, green tea liquor, pineapple and lime juices) - very good

Conduit
Monk's Revenge - tasty and refreshing

Range
Walnut Grove (walnut infused buffalo trace bourbon, averna, calvados, whiskey barrel aged bitters, honey) -the buffalo trace bourbon left a really nice aftertaste

Doc Holiday (Miller’s gin, huckleberries, carpano antiqua, vanilla) - the muddled huckleberries were really excellent addition to the drink

Berreta
Single village fix (mezcal, lime, pineapple, gomme) - smokey and delicious

Londsdale (gin, apple, lemon, basil, honey) - AMAZING, reminded me of a basil drink at the Martini Monkey

We also went to Forbidden Island after the crawl and I had the hot toddy that was on the drink special list; excellent way to end the night!

-panda

Yeah, Hanford it was a Monte Carlo. Not sure why I blanked. Thanks all for coming over after a long night. I was out with several of the bartenders you visited last night, and they all reported you were a very nice and well behaved group! :)

Did anybody get a menu?

Thanks for coming everyone....
Next up is:

SF Classic Cocktail Crawl #2 Sat Jan 3, 2009

1. ALEMBIC Haight St.

2. NOPA Divisadero St

• The Rum Runner -

Saturday night was a great start to the 1st of many SF Classic Cocktail tours! Here is my drink menu for the night.

Nihon Whiskey Lounge and Sushi
Mint Julep with Overholt Rye - Not bad, but I like a sweeter tasting bourbon in my mint julep.
Sazerac - Nice! A well made bourbon-based Sazerac.

Had 2 of their sushi rolls and some seaweed salad that were all excellent too!

Conduit
Monk's Voyage - Very well mixed and smooth! Way better than my attempt to make this at home.

Range
Kokomo - Tasty! Kind of a cinnamon taste to it...in a snicker doodle kind of way vs. a hot cinnamon candy way.

Berreta
Special Holiday Sazerc with brandy and holiday spices (nutmeg, cinammon) - STRONG! Took some time to finish it and a few glasses of water!

Forbidden Island
Mint Julep with Black Maple Hill bourbon - Awesome as always! And it was served in my silver mint julep cup that I keep at Forbidden Island...really!

I am looking forward to next months tour!

Here are some pics Paul took...

Nihon Whiskey Lounge - behind the bar...over 400 whiskies

Nihon Whiskey Lounge - we took over every seat at the bar

Conduit - Enjoying our Monk's Voyage

Conduit - The Rum Runner and his Hemingway cocktail

SF Classic Cocktail Tour #2 The Haight

Sat. Jan. 3rd

1. ALEMBIC 1725 Haight St @ Cole 4:30pm - 7pm

2. NOPA 560 Divisadero St. @ Hayes 7:15 - 9:00pm

optional stop between #1 & #2

Hobson's Choice 1601 Haight St (a good rum punch)

I'm in!

I'm in and I have some pals that live in the Haight. We'll just have to add to the gang.

Hope you can all make it Jan 3rd

I checked out 3 new bars last night:

Bar of the Week:

GITANE #6 Claude Lane downtown SF
excellent cocktails and decor....feels like you
have been "beamed" to Paris....someone ordered a
Bacardi with Coke ! "Do you know what they call a
Bacardi with Coke in France!! instead try a
"Belmont Breeze" (4 Roses Bourbon, orange & pomegranate juices, amontillado sherry)

also tried 2 Hotel bars:
4 Season's Bar 757 Market S, try the Basil Hayden Swizzle
Bar Drake Stockton St @ Sutter try the Amber(with Creole Shrubb, Mc Callan Liqueur, Sav Blanc & nutmeg)

On 2008-12-20 07:55, Rum Runner wrote:
Hope you can all make it Jan 3rd

I checked out 3 new bars last night:

Bar of the Week:

GITANE #6 Claude Lane downtown SF
excellent cocktails and decor....feels like you
have been "beamed" to Paris....someone ordered a
Bacardi with Coke ! "Do you know what they call a
Bacardi with Coke in France!! instead try a
"Belmont Breeze" (4 Roses Bourbon, orange & pomegranate juices, amontillado sherry)

I just went there the other night.. outstanding

This place in on the path to your next crawl
sf mini bar
837 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA

[ Edited by: princessp 2008-12-20 15:23 ]

I think you've talked me (Jackie) and Dina into it Paul at FI Saturday night. Sounds like fun. I haven't been to either of those places yet either.

Looks like Brenda and I will be crawling. Hope this one is as good as the last. (Or better!)

Start 2009 out right with some classic cocktails! Come join us this Saturday in SF!

See you Saturday

and looking ahead.......

SF Classic Cocktail #3 Feb. 7 CLOCK BAR & GITANE

SF Classic Cocktail #4 Mar 7 BOURBON & BRANCH, RYE, CANTINA

When in Los Angeles, check out BAR CENTRO or THE HUNGRY CAT

I'm on the road today so I'm gonna be a tad late.

This is going to be fun. Can't wait!

For those going to page 3 to find the schedule, it's actually on page 2, but I'll recopy it here:

SF Classic Cocktail Tour #2 The Haight

Sat. Jan. 3rd

1. ALEMBIC 1725 Haight St @ Cole 4:30pm - 7pm

2. NOPA 560 Divisadero St. @ Hayes 7:15 - 9:00pm

optional stop between #1 & #2

Hobson's Choice 1601 Haight St (a good rum punch)

Not sure if we're going to make it to the early ones ... didn't realize it would start the early until just now.

Sorry I didn't make it guys. I was up until 6:00am this morning and slept until 4:00pm. Hope it was fun!

just got back from my road trip. lookin at the clock yea I better go with Plan B, FI. next time guys.

Sorry to miss it Paul! When I looked at the schedule and saw that it started at 4:30, it was just too early for me! Especially since I had other things happening later on that evening. I didn't want to be TOO tanked! next time....:) hope it was fun! Happy New YEar...Dina

Chief Bartender and I had a great time checking out some bars in the Haight with Rum Runner as our trusty guide. Although I liked the atmosphere at Alembic better (and the people watching was better there as well), The Last Word at Nopa was outstanding. Thanks Rum Runner for another great night!

I always gotta do my traditional Irish pub crawl of S.F..
Hope to make the third crawl of this thread.
I love that city.

I see the title of the thread has been changed, but I don't see any info on Crawl #3 besides a date. Do we have any other details yet, like the bars on the schedule?

In the next few days Paul will be posting info on the February crawl.

SF Classic Cocktail Tour #3 Saturday February 7

1. GITANE #6 Claude Lane @ Sutter St. 5:30pm - 7pm

2. CLOCK BAR 335 Powell @ Geary(inside the Westin St Francis Hotel) 7pm - 8:30pm

3. FISH & FARM 339 Taylor @ Ellis (inside the Mark Twain Hotel) 8:45 - 10:00pm

all stops are walking distance from Powell or Montgomery BART stops

coming soon.........SF CC #4 Bourbon & Branch, Rye, Cantina March 7