We knocked out a few more Christmas cocktail pop-ups and here’s the summary.
Kona’s (SF) – We arrived around 8:00 on the 23rd for Sippin’ Santa and was enjoying it until they played “Last Christmas” knocking me out of Whamageddon just 28 hrs before winning. The cocktails were pretty good here, though notably their “Mock Tai” was $18 and the mugs were all $40 when other places have them for around $20.
Courage Anyone (SJ) – It wasn’t crowded on Sunday but the staff were welcoming in this newly opened bar doing Sippin’ Santa. I didn’t realize it until after ordering but the Sippin’ Santa cocktail now includes ginger syrup in addition to gingerbread mix, and this one was quite ginger forward. The other cocktails were much better including the Wreck the Halls and Sugar Plum Mai Tai. A regular menu is launching in January.
Highlands Sports Bar (San Carlos) is also new to the popup game, hosting Miracle. My Snowball Old Fashioned leaned sweet and was served over cubed ice but still was pretty good, but even better was the decadent Coconut Hot Chocolate. Our other cocktails weren’t as good. but it was good first attempt, if you like sports on TV along with the drinks.
Faith & Spirits (San Carlos) is doing Sippin’ Santa and cocktails there were really great. The ginger in the Sippin’ Santa cocktail was much more subdued and my Sugar Plum Mai Tai was the best of all the ones I tried this season. The Frost Bite cocktail featuring tequila was also good, so I asked for an off-menu Kingston Negroni that was delicious. The lounge was well-appointed and has music/dueling pianos some days, so check their calendar.
