Tag: Christmas

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Last Christmas: Cocktails

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.

Kona’s in San Francisco

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.

Courage Anyone in Downtown San Jose

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.

Highland Sports Bar and Grill – San Carlos

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.

Faith & Spirits – San Carlos
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Nochebuena at Cavaña: Mission Bay Rooftop Bar

Mission Bay’s Cavaña is located on the roof of the Luma Hotel, offering great views of Oracle Park. The Latin-focused bar and restaurant features Agave and Cane spirits, meaning it was a welcome option when we arrived early for a show nearby. The venue has a lounge vibe with a large bar area plus lots of patio seating, fire pits, and 17 story views of the neighborhood. Authentic artwork fills the modern space.

Our first visit was taking place during the Nochebuena pop-up with Christmas decor and speciality drinks. The menu is very nicely laid out including details of themed specialty glassware for sale. As with most holiday menus, there’s a little something for everyone including shots and non-alcoholic options.

I went with Jingle Juice, served in a mug eerily “reminiscent” of the Sippin’ Santa mug. The balanced drink is similar to a Mai Tai including Bacardi Seville rum, orange liqueur, orgeat, and lime – with Earl Grey Mango. Trademarks aside, this was a great cocktail.

Mrs. Mai Tai went with Our Lady of Guava-Lupe, including tequila, amaro, aloe liqueur, and guava. Served in a glass that looked like a Mexican religious candle, complete with recipe on the back of the glass. This drink was another winner and so flavorful.

We were impressed by our first visit to Cavaña. Service at the bar moved pretty quick, even on a busy night, and it’s nice there’s an obvious place to order if you’re not sitting. Entry via elevator near the hotel’s entrance ran smoothly and we foresee return visits before or after events at Oracle Park or Chase Center.

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Three Miracle Pop-Ups in Three Days

The Miracle Christmas cocktail pop-up franchise has been active for more than a decade and seems to expand locations each year. Founded by Greg Boehm, there are Miracle locations across the globe and a companion pop-up focusing on tiki drinks also running under the Sippin’ Santa brand. The cocktail offerings at Miracle are a little more varied and tend to work better across the different venues hosting the pop-up.

Sunday afternoon we went to Brewster’s in Petaluma, a large beer garden style venue. I went with an old favorite, “Yippee Ki Yay Mother F****r!”, the cocktail with several rums with ube and coconut orgeat. This isn’t too sweet, thanks to acid-adjusted pineapple juice. Brewster’s does pretty good with this, and their super friendly staff really go out of their way to make things jolly. I sampled some of other cocktails at our table and found them to be well prepared.

Miracle at Brewster’s

We ventured to San Jose later that night to check out Miracle at MiniBoss, an arcade themed bar. Mrs. Mai Tai had been to the sister bar Paper Plane earlier in the week and we thought we’d give MiniBoss a try. The drinks here were really good, including the Miracle Mouse that comes in a cute mug and features bourbon, vermouth, strawberry, citrus, and pamplemousse liqueur that likely inspired the name of the cocktail. This wasn’t too sweet and I thought it was delightful. Slightly less good was the Snowball Old Fashioned that our son ordered, just not quite sweet enough, though Mrs. Mai Tai’s Koala LaLaLa was a very refreshing highball with tequila. Cheery Cherry Chocosaurus is more of a desert cocktail but if that’s your thing you’ll love it.

Miracle Mouse

On Festivus Tuesday we battled the rain to check out Pacific Cocktail Heaven in San Francisco. This place is so popular they even charge a $10 cover just to enter. But the skills of the bartenders are evident that the Yippe Ki Yay and Koala cocktails were even better than the other places we tried. Candy Cane Lane is served in a unicorn mug and was a little less sweet than at Brewster’s. PCH was even able to make a pretty reasonable off-menu Mai Tai with Kō Hana rum at my request.

Each of these Miracle locations sets the prices for the cocktails and the mugs/glassware for sale. While the cocktail prices only vary a little, we were shocked to see the mugs at PCH going for $40 which is double what Brewster’s and MiniBoss were charging. It’s a Festivus Miracle!

Miracle hours and dates vary by location but usually run up to New Year’s or a little bit past.

PCH
MiniBoss
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Winter Cocktails at Alameda’s Forbidden Island

We had a great time at the annual Tiki Mug Swap at Forbidden Island this week. You bring a wrapped tiki mug and then draw from the pile and get a new mug that someone else brought. This year I got a vintage Hawaiian mug, Mrs Mai Tai came away with a cobra mug, and our friend David got an alternative Suffering Bastard. No horse-trading afterwards this year, we were happy with what we got.

While I drank some rums from FI’s Kill Devil Club list, Mrs Mai Tai had a couple drinks from the holiday cocktail menu. I thought the Tropical Cider was really great and I loved the herbal elements in the Nog Your Socks Off. The Hot Buttered Rum is always good here too, so check these out while you can.

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Nightmare Before Christmas at Dr. Funk San Jose

Downtown San Jose’s cocktail scene is really hitting its stride, and there are tons of holiday offerings so Dr. Funk is doing another holiday pop-up to blend their tiki bar with a themed overlay. This year’s theme is Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, including some fab decor and special menu items.

Worm’s Wort, What’s This, and Deadly Nightside

Given that this movie franchise has roots in both Halloween and Christmas, the team at Dr. Funk smartly leaned into the Christmas side for this particular pop-up and as with previous efforts the decor team create an immersive space that looks great and is a lot of fun. There are five specialty cocktails, plus a brownie and ice cream desert.

Consistent with previous Dr. Funk pop-ups I felt that these cocktails were good overall, with no stinkers in the bunch. Deadly Nightside is basically a Mai Tai with activated charcoal and it’s fine but doesn’t really hold a candle to Dr. Funk’s regionally famous Mai Tai that’s always great. But this is a nice change of pace, especially if you find the Dr. Funk’s Mai Tai to be too assertive.

By far the best of the cocktails is the Hot Buttered Rum riff called Dr. Finklestein’s Creation. This hearty and spice-forward cocktail has several overproof rums to help warm you during those cold San Jose nights, and the large portion was served in a great mug. I know the character in the movie is called “Finklestein” but one wonders if “Dr. Funklestein” would have been more appropriate.

Nightmare Before Christmas runs through December 31, reservations highly encouraged.

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Sippin’ Santa at Beer Baron Pleasanton

It seems like just last week that we finished Halloween (actually, it was) but Christmas is already here as the Sippin’ Santa cocktail popup is launching at some locations this weekend. Produced by Miracle and Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, Sippin’ Santa features tropical cocktails and mugs that pay homage to tiki bars. These cocktails appear to the masses, so some hardcore tikiphiles might find them on the mild side.

Sugar Plum Mai Tai, Pineapple Upside Down Cask, Coco Ho Ho Ho

Pleasanton’s Beer Baron features Sippin’ Santa once again this year, and we noticed a large upgrade in the ceiling decor and bling, quite impressive. Our food and service were top notch again, too. Each venue sets their own prices and all Sippin’ Santa mugs at Beer Baron were priced at $20.

The cocktail menu is vastly different this year, with only well-executed favorites Sippin’ Santa, Jingle Bird, Holiday on Ice, and Sugar Plum Mai Tai returning this year (some in different mugs, though). Mrs. Mai Tai’s Holiday on Ice and Mai Tai were just as good as last year.

Every year there’s a new mug and this year it’s for the Pineapple Upside Down Cask which appropriately puts pineapple and cherry flavors to the front. The rum was somewhat mild but the mug is great in the hand and we made sure to take one home. I was even more impressed by this year’s hot cocktail, the Hot Buttered Grog. The grog is very rich and the blend of spices were outstanding. Coco Ho Ho Ho is very pandan forward, a plus or a minus, and maybe not as rich as you’d expect from a coconut cocktail.

Pineapple Upside Down Cask

The appealing set of tropical cocktails means Sippin’ Santa provides something a little different from many of the Christmas pop-ups, with delightful souvenir mugs and glassware if that’s your thing. Beer Baron’s only

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Tonga Hut Palm Springs for the Holidays

We had a nice visit to Tonga Hut in downtown Palm Springs, decorated nicely for the holidays including some festive music and holiday cocktail list. We were able to get a table in the lounge portion of the venue and were able to admire activity within the space that continues to be a great option for tiki veterans and newbies alike.

The cocktail menu has something for everyone and our cocktails were pretty good. I went with the Mojave Punch, which remains one of my favorites from their original cocktail list and features hibiscus syrup. Mrs Mai Tai ordered the Chai Tai which has a delightful Chai syrup and is very well-balanced with a great color as part of the presentation. I also ordered some chicken skewers that were well prepared and were served with a tangy glaze sauce.

Our service was super prompt and friendly, including a great job dealing with a mixup on my order (mutual issue with me and the server). We also spotted the replica Tiki Bob mugs for sale and found that they had a few of these left, so I took one of them home.

Chai Tai
Mojave Punch