The REALLY Good Bars: Viva la Cocktail Revival!

The state of the cocktail sure seems to be in much, much better shape these days, compared to where it was when I was first digging into this crazy world 7 years ago. Suddenly, bartenders are using jiggers, and bars are making their own syrups, and you can get more than 3 kinds of rum, and bar menus are being crafted with the same care as food menus, and everybody I know is going to Tales of the Cocktail, and I have THREE friends who have normal day jobs & moonlight as bartenders just because they love it, and and and... it's wonderful.

I'm more clued into what's going on here in San Francisco, and not so much what the state of affairs is in the rest of the country. Here in SF, my favorite place is Alembic, which happens to be a nice convenient stumble from my place, but really & truly is a fantastic bar. The bartenders are incredibly passionate and knowledgeable, and very friendly -- no snobbery here. The last Tuesday of the month is their special Savoy night -- they set aside their normal (amazing) menu, and the menu that night is the actual Savoy Cocktail book from the '30s. The whole damned thing. You tell them the drink name and the page number, and they make it. They're prepared -- they've got all the goofy alcohols & syrups to make anything in the book, though of course they've had to get creative for some of the extinct ingredients.

Other places where I've found the drinks to be unusually tasty are Beretta, Cantina, Flora, and of course Bourbon & Branch. Alembic still stands head & shoulders above in my opinion, though.

This past weekend, I got to visit Teardrop Lounge in Portland, which is getting all sorts of attention up there, and it's well-deserved. TC's own tikimonkey/Trader Tiki is bartending there once a month for a special Tiki Night -- I'm hoping to make the one in July! Teardrop bartender/owner Daniel took extremely good care of us, and was definitely one of this new breed of bartender: serious about quality.

Are there new bars in your town that are like this? Obscure liquors, consistent use of jiggers, creative use of ingredients, egg drinks on the menu, know their way around a lemon peel?

(one small downside: good lord, I need a break from elderflower liqueur. Goldang, these folks love their trends! But I'll take a flavor trend over a flash trend any day.)

Orlando? No way. But we just returned from a glorious week in New York (the city that is). Of course, it's no surprise that there are some great bars there, but I can at least attest to two of them, Pegu Club and Elettaria. Both of these places definitely know their cocktails. At Pegu, we were treated to lots of gin and ginger goodness. The drinks were terrific, as was the presentation.

Elettaria (in the Village) extends their cocktail menu to serve Navy Grogs (Don the Beachcomber style), Mai-Tais and Zombies, and they clearly have paid attention to the origins of those drinks. Strictly comparing them to Jeff Berry's books (and my home bar), they compromise a little with the ingredients, but the results are still a winner. I had a Zombie, a Navy Grog and a fabulous Jane Russell. Elettaria also has a great collection of bitters and I had a good conversation with the bartender about one of the more obscure ones, who proceeded to pour it on my hands and make me smell good all night! :D I was in cocktail heaven...

Nice thread Humu-

I agree, I am seeing a lot more higher end rums/liquor, more homemade specialty syrups, and more inventive drinks.

Here in San Diego, when not at the Bali Hai getting my tiki fix, a couple places with some good and interesting cocktails are:

The Starlite lounge on India street
http://www.starlitesandiego.com

here is a sample of their cocktail menu: the galapagos is incredible

GUNGA DIN
Montecristo 12 year aged rum, cold earl grey tea, cardamom syrup, meyer lemon

CUCUMBER MARTINI
Zubrowka Buffalo Grass Vodka, cucumbers, black pepper syrup

LEMON SIPPER
Limoncello, Prosecco, lemon, mint

VELVET DIABLO
Casa Noble Crystal Tequila, Velvet Falernum, crème de cassis, lime, ginger beer

STARLITE MULE
Rain Organic Vodka, ginger beer, lime, Angostura bitters

KENTUCKY COLONEL
Buffalo Trace Bourbon, ginger beer, lemon, cherry vanilla bitters

GALAPAGOS
Pisco, black pepper syrup, lime, grapefruit, kaffir leaves, garnished with brandied cherries

STARLITE SLING
Plymouth Gin, Cherry Heering, Benedictine, lime, pineapple, star anise, Angostura bitters, brandied cherries

TIMM’S CUP
Pimm’s No. 1, lemon, lime, orange, sugar, ginger beer, cherry vanilla bitters, cucumbers

Also, The Pearl, an old renovated semi-googie hotel gone spa/lounge on Rosecrans before you hit Shelter island Dr.

http://www.thepearlsd.com

There are some recommendations and good comments in this old thread Bad Drinks All Around/Where To Get a Good One

In Seattle...

Mentioned by Sea-Tiki in the thread noted above is West Seattle's West 5. My friends and I have been West 5 irregulars for a couple years now and their cocktail quality has been consistently good. West 5 has a cocktail menu, and their Happy Hour menu always features their very good version of the Mai Tai (served in that glass Tiki mug with their super neat West 5 swizzle) and one other special cocktail. Vesper, Pimm's Cup, Sazerac, and Coffee Nudge were past featured drinks. All of them were great.

Just a block south of West 5 is Ama Ama, introduced to me by the very restaurant savvy dogbytes. Ama Ama's interior is very cool and they have a unique, largely original cocktail list. An international gathering of Tiki Central members all agreed that Ama Ama's cocktails are worth a visit. (Their Oyster Happy Hour is also well worth a visit.)

Rediscovered in the thread mentioned above:

Cocktail Snob, tikibars catologing of the "best cocktail bars".

A description of Cocktail Snob from the site itself:

*It is part travel guide, part review site.

The writers on this site are not bar owners or bar tenders, we are cocktail fanboys, on an endless quest for the best drinks in the world.

It is all just for fun - we laugh at our own use of the word "snob", and we remember that cocktails are ultimately for good times - not for getting TOO worked up over.

• (© Copyright 1994-2008 by James A. Teitelbaum.)

woofmutt

[ Edited by: woofmutt 2008-06-20 00:11 ]

I couldn't add to Humuhumu's Bay Area list because she covered all my favorites (with one exception that we all know the name of here; hint: it's located on an island). But I visit LA quite frequently and like to check out new bars. Usually I'm disappointed. Often new bars hire bartenders who are not really knowledgeable or passionate about cocktails. However, recently I checked out Seven Grand in downtown on a Sunday. The bartender was friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. They have a small list of well-made cocktails, many made with whiskey from their huge selection (according to the bartender it is the second largest on the west coast). I wouldn't put their cocktail menu in the same league as Alembic, but me and my companion both enjoyed the cocktails we had, which were house originals. The bartender said he could do flights of any whiskeys I wished, so I had a flight made from different Van Winkle whiskeys. They also have a large selection of beers on tap.

I recommend going on a Sunday night because I had friends tell me they went on a Friday and the experience was much different.

The same company also has two other fairly new bars downtown: The Golden Gopher and the Broadway Bar, but I have not tried them.

http://www.sevengrand.la/

Thanks for the shout-out, Woofmutt.

I added a Japan page to Cocktail Snob over the summer, and I plan to do extensive Bay Area research (based Humu and Jab's suggestions - both of which are usually spot-on) this coming week before/during/after the Crawl.

When I get back I am going to give the site a face-lift and some organizational tweaks.

http://www.cocktailsnob.com

See all you Bay Area drinkers this weekend!

At first I thought the thread said, "The REALLY Good Bras".