Lou Bustamante

​The tiny bar in the back of Ice Cream Bar, the Cole Valley spot that is attempting to revive the lost art of the soda fountain, is unlike most anything I've seen before. The assortment of tiny bottles, each containing a tincture or extract, lined up next to Boston shaker tins suggest a bar, while the soda jerks in crisp white shirts and paper hats conjure up the pop nostalgia of 1950s ice cream shops.

Lou Bustamante

​The result is something unique, and although they don't serve cocktails or alcohol, the techniques employed to create the sodas, floats, phosphates, and lactarts come straight from the bar. With a menu designed by Rickhouse bartender Russell Davis and staffed by soda jerks who also work in bars, the approach is refined with recipes sourced from or made in the style of the 19th century.

Initially attracted to the name, the New Orleans Hangover ($8, chicory coffee syrup, soda water, golden eagle tincture--with saffron and St. John's Wort, house-made sweet cream ice cream), goes down like a lush version of the chicory coffee based cafés au lait served in the Big Easy. It may not save you from the pain of a night of overindulgence, but it'll unquestionably be the best hangover you ever had.

The Ice Cream Bar & Soda Fountain, 815 Cole (at Frederick), 742-4932.

Lou Bustamante

The Rock & Rye Old Fashioned with the Rock & Rye Hot Toddy in back

​When Greg Lindgren and Jon Gasparini first opened up Rye Bar, the pair researched all the possible ways to use rye whiskey in cocktails, but it was the lost classic American liqueur "rock and rye" that really piqued their interest. This combination of cinnamon, clove, fresh and dried citrus peels, and the medicinal herb horehound, steeped in rye and sweetened with rock candy, was a popular remedy for colds in the early 1900s.

After some experimentation -- and some unpleasantly astringent and powerful batches due to the oversteeping of the horehound -- Lindgren perfected the recipe by using horehound candy in place of the herb and to sweeten the mix. Originally designed to go into a Rock & Rye Hot Toddy ($10, rock and rye liqueur, hot water, cinnamon stick, citrus), the spiced liqueur also works cold in the Rock & Rye Old Fashioned ($10), which is simply the liqueur, chilled with bitters.

The mix isn't always the same, as Lindgren and Gasparini encourage the bar staff to add their own flourishes when replenishing the infusion at the end of the night, meaning that it can get more spice in the winter and fruit in the summer.

On a recent cold and foggy night, I wasn't sure I could feel the purported curative effects of the horehound in the toddy, but the warmth certainly clung all the way home.

Rye Bar, 688 Geary (at Leavenworth), 474-4448

Lou Bustamante

​We enjoy a well-made cocktail and are willing to wait as long as it takes for it to be made, but sometimes the focus of a bar visit is spending time with friends, not geeking out on cocktails. On busy nights, with patrons five-deep, we want something fast to get us back the socializing, and a shot and a beer isn't always what we crave. A few bars often mix up a punch to sell by the glass on those jam-packed nights, but the Hotsy Totsy Club is offering something unique: a bottled cocktail.

Order the Bitter Rivers ($7, Citadelle Gin, Aperol, grapefruit, lime, rhubarb bitters, water--all carbonated then bottled), and a short, cold bottle appears. The bitterness and fizz are light, refreshing with enough acidity to brighten up the drink and make them a perfect foil for the tacos ($1.25) sold by the truck parked in the bar's lot.

Owner Jessica Maria named the drink after one of her bartenders, Keli Rivers. "She laughed and liked double entendre for the name as she and the cocktail are both mildly bitter," chuckled Maria.

Hotsy Totsy Club, 601 San Pablo (at Garfield), Albany.

Lou Bustamante

​Chasing down the new bar openings around the Bay Area is easier than remembering to revisit those places that have been around for a while. Bar Adagio is one we returned to, in particular because of their talented bar manager, Kristin Almy, who quickly made a name for herself with creative original drinks and her popular free Cocktail College classes at the hotel bar after moving here from Las Vegas a few years back.

With citrus season in full swing, the 100 Year's War ($10, No. 209 Gin, vanilla bean infused dry French vermouth, Combier Orange Liqueur, grapefruit juice) is a perfect mid-January aperitif cocktail: lightly sweet with a pleasant grapefruit bitterness, held together by the woodsy, herbal, and floral vanilla vermouth. Named after the countless battles fought over control for the French throne in the 14th century, the cocktail peacefully unites those old rivals the English and French liquors in a tall tasty glass.

Just be aware that you should grab this drink while you can: Bar Adagio will be closing down at the end of the month (January 31st), for a full remodel and transfer of management from the Joie de Vivre Hotels to another group. Kristin is heading to a new project in Oakland.

Bar Adagio, 550 Geary (at Taylor), 775-5000

Lou Bustamante

​I have a teenage nephew who, in the span of two weeks, went from plump, short kid to tall, lanky young man. It's hard not to have that same kind of slack-jawed reaction to the sudden growth spurt of craft bars springing up in Emeryville, first with Prizefighter and now with Honor Bar.

A new project headed up by talented barman Alex Smith who formerly mixed up libations at Gitane in San Francisco, Honor Bar's menu is a collection of layered and complex preparations that drink effortlessly. Smith's homemade ingredients, infusions, and tinctures are found in almost every drink, complementing the cocktails in a well-measured and appropriate ways. One of our favorites is the Queen Anne's Revenge ($10, hibiscus-infused gin, grapefruit marmalade, egg white, ginger beer, lemon), which is served in a champagne flute with the fluff of egg whites stratifying in an elegant presentation. Taking a sip, you get creamy egg white followed by the earthy and floral sweetness from the marmalade and hibiscus-- it is simultaneously rich and refreshing.

The drink may look delicate, but the name of the cocktail comes from Blackbeard the pirate's ship, which should be ample warning that it carries a punch. We like to imagine that the name was inspired by the dimpled mark on top of the egg white foam, marking the spot where the hidden liquid treasure lies buried underneath.

Honor Bar, Grill & Cocktails, 1411 Powell (at Hollis), Emeryville, (510) 653-8667

Lou Bustamante

Prey of Thieves cocktail, warming and smoky

​With winter's chill just outside the door, the bar at AQ dressed in pale white marble and bare birch branches feels cozy and inviting, as if stumbling into a forest clearing with a full bar. Small puffs of herbal smoke drift upwards as the bartenders blowtorch bay leaves for the Mexican Piano ($10 Espolón Tequila, huckleberry syrup, lime, tarragon, bay leaf), adding to the atmosphere. While the construction of the refreshing drink may be responsible for fortifying the mood, it's the Prey of Thieves ($10, scotch, tawny port, chicory coffee tincture, orange twist) cocktail that feels most in tune with the season.

A Manhattan variation beefed up with scotch in place of the bourbon or rye whiskey, port instead of sweet vermouth, and the coffee tincture filling in for the bitters, this is a rich, restorative drink that almost demands a fireplace. The scotch and coffee add layers of smoke to the drink without being smoky, while the port adds a cherry-chocolate quality that made it hard to set down.

This talented team of bartenders (led by Timothy Zohn and including Ethan Terry and Brandon Josie), and the restaurant's shifting seasonal décor and menus, already have us yearning to drink spring.

AQ, 1085 Mission (at 7th St.), 341-9000

Lou Bustamante

​Even though the heart of the bar program at Mosto is the agave spirits by the glass, where a list of over 300 bottles dwarfs the six cocktails, their version of the classic La Paloma ($9, El Jimador Blanco Tequila, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, grapefruit juice, Jarritos Toronja soda) is exceptional.

In Mexico, the Paloma (tequila, lime, grapefruit soda) is far more popular than the Margarita, in part because it's straightforward to make and just as refreshing. There you can walk into most any restaurant and order a bottle of tequila for your group accompanied with buckets of Squirt soda and bowls of limes--in a surprisingly casual way, thankfully free of U.S.-style bottle-service bullshit.

The Mosto version tweaks the original recipe with the addition of St. Germain and a pink peppercorn rim; the grapefruit bitterness gets some wonderfully intergraded floral qualities that only make it more drinkable.

We were surprised to learn that the version of the drink isn't new, but something that Brooke Arthur helped develop for owner Joe Hargrave at Laiola, the Spanish restaurant he eventually turned into the first Tacolicious in the Marina. We're glad that the drink made the transition over; now if he would only do the same to the bacon-wrapped chorizo-stuffed dates...

Mosto, 741 Valencia (at 18th St.), 626-1344

Lou Bustamante

The Oaxacan Standoff--a bar value meal

​A shot and a beer isn't an obvious pairing to highlight bartender creativity in a cocktail menu (and no we're never ever, ever going to count a drink where a shot glass gets dropped into a pint of beer), but the Oaxacan Standoff ($6) at Prizefighter does just that.

An order comes with a can of Tecate, a copita (half-shot) of Del Maguey Vida Mezcal, and a choice of one of three house-made sangritas that are some of the best in the Bay Area: classic red (tomato, citrus, peppers) with a dried pepper kick that we enjoyed best with the beer, a tropical green (pineapple, mint, jalapeño) that multiplies the earthy-sweetness of the mezcal, and the purple (pomegranate, salt, habañero) with a spice road quality redolent of north Africa. Each sip cleanses and changes the flavors of the beer and mezcal, but more than that it simply complements the pair perfectly.

While it's true that sangrita may not be the traditional accompaniment to mezcal in Oaxaca, where you're typically served orange wedges with sal de gusano (roasted and ground dried agave worms and chiles mixed with salt), the combo works so well you won't miss the grubs.

Prizefighter, 6702 Hollis (at 67th), Emeryville

Lou Bustamante

The Foraged Manhattan

​As the days continue to get colder and shorter, so do my drinks -- my preferences slowly shift from tall, juicy, and shaken, to stiff and stirred cocktails. I'm not alone. For lots of people, winter brings an increasing fondness for aged spirits, with whisk(e)y and brandy bold reinforcements for heaters laboring in drafty Bay Area homes.

The drink that is the exact snapshot of this mood is Victoria D'amato-Moran's candy cap mushroom laced Foraged Manhattan ($10, brandy or rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, candy cap syrup) at Belden Taverna. The earthy maple-syrup-and-cinnamon essence compliments the aged spirits and lingers in your palate long after the drink is gone, insisting on a second round.

D'amato-Moran came up with the drink while cleaning a bookshelf and her grandfathers' 1968 copy of Kitchen Magic with Mushrooms, a collection of recipes from the San Francisco Mycological Society, fell on her head. "I joined the society that day, thinking it would calm me down from the bar business ... get away from cocktails on weekends," she explained. After finding wild candy cap mushrooms with a co-member, "The very first thing that came to my head was, 'How do I get these mushrooms into my cocktails?'"

Belden Taverna, 52 Belden (at Bush), 986-8887

Lou Bustamante

The McLaren drinks like a nice, sunny patch of grass

​Often, a great drink's greatness derives not just from a bartender's cleverness, exacting techniques, or intriguing recipes, but from the full experience of having that cocktail at the bar is terrific.

The "Parks & Recreational Drinking" section at Park Tavern, where four tipples are designed and named after San Francisco parks, features such a drink. Bartender Jeff Lauer's the McLaren ($12, Hendrick's gin, cucumber juice, lemon, ginger beer) stands out as a refreshing tipple with light ginger-heat trace. Named after horticulturist and Scotsman John McLaren (and the South San Francisco park), who was responsible for the development of Golden Gate Park, the drink builds on Scottish Hendrick's Gin, appropriately botanical with cucumber and rose petals.

It may not be the most intricate cocktail on their lists, but the well-made drink is made even better by the friendly bar staff. Besides, sometimes a trip to the park shouldn't require more activity than relaxing on the grass, people-watching.

Park Tavern, 1652 Stockton (at Filbert), 989-7300