We had a great time in downtown Pleasanton’s Beer Baron for their first year hosting the Sippin’ Santa holiday popup, produced by Miracle and Jeff “Beachbum” Berry. The tropical and holiday decor was nicely done, including a Beachbum nutcracker! We were seated in the upstairs room, so much more quiet than the main room and patio.
One of the new additions to the Sippin’ Santa menu this year is a Sugar Plum Mai Tai, featuring Haitian and Nicaraguan rums, lime, orgeat, cinnamon syrup, and plum mix. The cinnamon is dialed way down and this tastes like a standard Mai Tai with a mild fruity finish from the plum mix. The rums here are approachable but they’re still appropriately forward in the drink, making this a really great Mai Tai to try. The shark mug doesn’t really have anything to do with the cocktail, but its pretty nice and priced to sell at $20, so we took it home.
Other cocktails were generally excellent also, including a rich and creamy Tom and Sherry, a White Russian riff called Holiday on Ice, and the sweet and mild Frosty the Merman. We thought the icy texture of the Choquito left the rest of the drink a little bland.
Our food was really great at Beer Baron including a Bavarian pretzel with queso cheese and I loved my burger and fries. Even on a Tuesday night before Thanksgiving there was a sizable crowd, but our server was so friendly and attentive we hardly noticed any delays in drink orders. Given this is the first year for the holiday pop-up, expect large crowds through the holiday season.
