SFGate: The Cocktailian

From SFGate.com: the Bay Area's home page, online home of the San Francisco Chronicle and much more.

• Savory drink at brunch: Celery Cooler with Tequila
  I'm not a huge fan of tomato juice - it's the consistency that doesn't suit my palate, not the flavor - so when I'm out for brunch with friends, I'm always on the lookout for something different in the savory drink category. Bloody Bulls, made with vodka,...
  
  
  
• A whiskey Cherry Cobbler, straight outta Ohio
  Although whiskey is my main spirit of choice, I also love a good dose of gin. It's the perfume qualities found in a good London dry gin such as Beefeater or Tanqueray that draw me to it. It's seldom that I come across a whiskey-based drink that I fancy...
  
  
  
• Reviving Wil P. Taylor's Hotel Nacional Special
  When I started writing this column for The Chron, oh so many years ago, Absinthe, the brasserie and bar on Hayes Street, was the first San Francisco bar that I noticed for its innovative cocktail program. It was a few years ahead of its time. Jeff Hollinger...
  
  
  
• Glenmorangie scotch - with a little twist
  I was over in Scotland recently, and I paid a visit to the Glenmorangie distillery to see the tallest stills in the country, and to partake of a dram or three of their fine single malt scotch. I've a fondness for Glenmorangie since it was the first scotch...
  
  
  
• When a drink can be better for a little verse
  Aside from "Jabberwocky," the only poem I ever committed to memory was written by Roger McGough, a British Beat poet from Liverpool who is still around, writing poetry for kids as well as for adults. I first heard of him when he was a member of a musical...
  
  
  
• Made in Japan: Yamazaki whiskey
  I visited Japan in January 2011, just before the disastrous earthquake. The good folk who make Yamazaki Japanese whiskey were my hosts, and I was mindful to partake of as much of their product as was possible while I was there. I've done much research into...
  
  
  
• A Rogue's Romance for Valentine's Day
  Around this time last year, a vodka company approached me, asking if I would create a cocktail that would be appropriate to hoist in honor of the wedding of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton. I was born in the United Kingdom, and I've always been a...
  
  
  
• Hot and buttered - and not just rum
  Hot buttered rum can be a great drink, but let's not ignore new innovations in the hot-drinks category. With the arrival of winter proper, and the need for intrepid tailgaters to stay warm - Candlestick wind being unforgiving - it's due time. And these new...
  
  
  
• Kiss the Skye drink - big shift from eggnog
  "Do you think you could come up with a special drink for New Year's Day?" the Chief, a.k.a. Jon Bonné, The Chronicle's wine editor, asked recently. I've been writing professionally for 21 years. I've heard that, or very similar questions, about 21 times, I...
  
  
  
• Rum mix topped with bubbly
  In the early 1990s, I worked with a guy by the name of Clayton "Bruce" Ost. Affable chap was Bruce. Smiled lots. Helpful. One of those people whom I looked forward to seeing when I pulled my shifts at the North Star Pub. The North Star was in Manhattan's...
  
  
  
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• Drinks based on neighborhoods capture SF's spirits
  Earlier this year, I challenged San Francisco mixologists to create new drinks honoring various neighborhoods in this fair city (see sfg.ly/rXMkvw). I mandated that the cocktails must be based on an old drink, the Frisco, which calls for just two ingredients -...