I am a devout cocktail geek, and it’s special holiday menu season, so here’s the lightning round for you fine folks.
Rye - Krampus Cove
The theming of the Krampus Cove popup is fun if you enjoy the macabre, and the drinks look interesting on paper relative to Miracle and Sippin’ Santa (both reliably sweet); but when I popped into Rye last week, they made a point of pointing out the menu insert they’d added for in-house drinks to contrast the nation-wide bits of the menu:
After sampling a few ingredients I understand why- the popup recipes look interesting on paper, but its mixers (like the acid-adjusted pear) are not as punchy as they sound on paper. Of the nation-wide drinks, I sampled the Flog (very herbaceous between the mint & pandan, pleasant sipper) and the Hexmas Spirit (a lovely mocktail- our n/a amari options are leagues ahead of our n/a base spirits. Of the rye originals, the hot buttered rum was full-bodied, avoiding the thin-and-greasy failure mode common to that drink; and the Cashew Cooler was a solid take on a whiskey-base tiki drink. I had a good time here, and it’s renewed my interest in Rye as an industry bar after many years of underestimating it.
Kaiyo Rooftop - Nikkei Navidad
Kaiyo has been a fun option around Mission Bay for years, and their holiday menu made some big swings that are well worth exploring.
Per the staff, the Christmas Dinner Toddy was meant to evoke Japan’s fascination with Christmas fried chicken (the result of a disturbingly successful advertising blitz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFC_in_Japan ). The result was quite unlike anything I’ve ever tasted- the fried chicken skin garnish was intense on the nose, and added a richness to the starchy-savory potato foam that topped the tiny toddy. Under it all, the broth and whiskey blended to something savory and full bodied, but hard to characterize. I appreciate the small form factor, at the drink was not improved by cooling; but as savory-focused cocktails go, this one is memorable.
Miracle on E. Santa Clara St. is simpler both on paper and palate, but well executed- rye with made-to-order granny smith juice and a spiced agave syrup. No one working that night knew what was in the syrup- I suspect a touch of capsacin, but it wasn’t overdone if so. A competent and enjoyable drink.
Alchemist - Holiday Specials
While the accoustics in Alchemist are as miserable as ever, they were well worth braving for this seasonal list.
The By The Chimney is a solid Manhattan variant, with a smokey note from an unlisted splash of Laprhroaig. Kookiecookie, similarly, is a well-balanced eggnog drink that understood the assignment, neatly avoiding the traps of too-thick and too-sweet. The staff were also kind enough to let me sample the Peppermint Tintsletoots (far better balanced & more herbaceous than its grasshopper lineage implies) and Polar Opposites (unusually herbaceous for a capsacin drink, with the heat blended well into other flavors).
There’s a glut of holiday menus in sf this year, and for my liver’s sake I won’t be trying all of them, but I’m happy to at least share these with you so far!
There wasn’t a line at around 4pm when I got there, and the cover is $10 cash or Venmo like last year. Unlike last year, I didn’t have to surrender my license as collateral. As usual at PCH, there was very friendly service.
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