Tag: Christmas

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Sippin’ Santa at 55 South / Miracle on 1st in Downtown San Jose

The holiday season continues in downtown San Jose where two holiday cocktail pop-ups are still pulling in revelers. Both Sippin’ Santa and Miracle offer a variety of festive cocktails along with interesting and fun glassware that’s available for sale.

Sippin’ Santa at 55 South

We started at 55 South for Sippin’ Santa, the tiki-themed holiday pop-up produced with Jeff “Beachbum” Berry. The new cocktail and mug this year is Sharkey’s First Christmas, featuring vodka, aquavit, melon and walnut liqueur, lime and pineapple juices. Mrs. Mai Tai thought this was pretty good and I have to agree it was a nice twist and the mug is pretty good too. I had Sippin’ Santa cocktail that has Demerara rum, amaro, lemon, orange, and gingerbread mix – an all time favorite mug and the cocktail is always great too.

The team at 55 South did a good job with the drinks and decor again this year, though the music for our experience was a Sade playlist followed by mid-1950s rock ‘n roll hits. So, not really the holiday vibe. We arrived early and the crowd was sparse, but grew later in the evening.

55 South

Miracle on 1st is at Paper Plane across the street and continues to impress. The decor is elaborate here, and we found the service at the bar to be quite efficient and super friendly. I was driving and asked for something non-alcoholic and received a very nice juicy highball that was fantastic. Mrs. Mai Tai had the excellent Marshmallows & Unicorns, the complex cocktail with gin, several liqueurs, lemon, egg white, bitters, and cardamon. Our friends really liked their Carol Barrel and Hot Buttered Rum, two Miracle standouts. Crowds grew during our visit and there was a line when we left, so go early if you can.

Miracle on 1st at Paper Plane

Miracle has a larger cocktail menu than Sippin’ Santa and the more varied options seem offer something for everyone. Sippin’ Santa added a holiday spritz this year but we think the smaller menu is a deterrent for many potential patrons. Adding a couple more cocktails would help for 2024.

Sharkey’s First Christmas
Sippin’ Santa Cocktail
Juicy Highball
Marshmallows & Unicorns
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Miracle Holiday Pop-Up at Brewsters Petaluma

Had a fabulous lunch with friends at Brewsters Beer Garden in Petaluma. This vast space was completely covered in holiday decorations and despite the name does have a strong cocktail program as well. So, the inclusion of the cocktail-focused pop-up from Miracle is not unexpected.

Saturday was unusually warm, which might have swelled the crowds and made it seem like everyone in the city was at Brewsters. But the effectiveness of the staff meant that our drinks and food came out quite quickly and prepared expertly. The food here leans on brisket and ribs, plus salads and sandwiches.

Brewsters does Miracle a little differently by including a couple of original cocktails on their menu that aren’t seen at other Miracle pop-up locations. We really loved Cappy’s World Famous Eggnog. Normally “world famous” in the title is a red-flag but indeed this was some really great nog, and plenty boozy thanks to the Smith & Cross overproof rum. There’s also The Krampus featuring Tequila, Sherry, and Mezcal – and served in a unique Krampus mug that’s also for sale. Miracle cocktail favorites are available too, including the wonderfully spicy and completely delicious Carol Barrel.

As with other Miracle locations, mugs, glassware, and other merch is for sale. You can even buy to-go bottles of Cappy’s World Famous Eggnog.

Brewsters has been doing Miracle for several years and have the routine down pat. Be sure to check out now through January 2nd, reservations recommended.

Cappy’s World Famous Eggnog
Carol Barrel
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Miracle Holiday Pop-Up at the Fat Pigeon Livermore

The Fat Pigeon is the new name for the former Beer Baron in Downtown Livermore, newly reimagined as a cocktail bar. And just in time for the grand opening it’s doing the Miracle Holiday Pop-Up to acquaint guests. As such, the holiday decor was at a basic level and definitely not overflowing like places that have been doing these pop-ups for years. Nonetheless it was totally festive with music and plenty of good cheer from the guests.

That good cheer was put to the test due a staff member arriving late and also to an imprecise order for tables to be serviced (guess which table seemed to be in the black hole?). These issues can arise anytime but obviously when places are new and also super busy.

This year’s Miracle offerings were just as nicely varied as in past years, where classic cocktails get the holiday spice and ingredient twists to go along with festive names and fun glassware.

The Jingle Balls Nog was just okay, but we liked the Espresso Martini riff called Rudolph’s Replacement (served in the classic “Santa Rex” mug). Old favorite Yippee Ki Yay, Mother F****r is a Piña Colada riff with Ube Orgeat and just as great this year as it was last time. The Koala Cooler features Applejack and spice and I think felt the most like a Fall/Winter drink. The Christmapolitan had some really interesting flavors including a spiced cranberry syrup and it had a little bit of an apple taste to me, but still quite good. Elfing Around #2 with cognac and champagne was elegant and the mulled wine reduction served the holiday theme very well.

New this year is Marshmallows & Unicorns, served in a mug that was right up Mrs. Mai Tai’s alley. Definitely a little sweet leaning and including soda to lighten things up, this was a treat for several senses. The mug was priced at $20 at Fat Pigeon.

We really enjoyed our time at Miracle and are pleased to see a good new cocktail place in Livermore.

Christmapolitan
Yippee Ki Yay, Mother F****r
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Portland Syrups Spiced Cranberry Syrup

I picked up Portland Syrups Spiced Cranberry Syrup at an art/food store in Santa Cruz last month and thought it would be a good time to try this in some cocktails. The syrup has a good cranberry and spice taste, however the syrup is very thin. Like less than a 1:1 sugar to water ratio, it seems.

I tried this in a number of cocktails, basically simple sour riffs with Bourbon, Gin, and Scotch. In no cases could I really taste the cranberry syrup, even when I used more of the syrup than I normally would use in these cocktails. The cranberry taste was totally lost.

I had the same experience when making a Spiced Cranberry Manhattan, a recipe from the Portland Syrup website. It looked pretty but tasted like … a Manhattan. Not a Manhattan with cranberry.

Bah humbug.

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Sippin Santa at 55 South in San Jose

The annual holiday pop-up with a tiki theme is back at 55 South in San Jose. This craft cocktail bar and restaurant did the decor even more elaborately this year, and staff was ready to serve us at opening on Sunday. Music was peppy and got everyone in the mood.

Sippin Santa comes from the our favorite cocktail historian, Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, in partnership with Cocktail Kingdom that also runs the Miracle pop-ups (including two downtown San Jose locations within a 5 minute walk of 55 South, Paper Plane and Miniboss).

This year the Mersanta mug is available for sale after the cocktail debuted on the menu last year. Such a cute mug, and the cocktail with tequila, applejack, and maple-cranberry syrup is quite a delight. I went with the classic Sippin’ Santa cocktail that has Demerara rum, amaro, and gingerbread mix. Really great, and prices for both the cocktails and merch are pretty reasonable.

Sippin’ Santa Cocktail

A new drink this year is Island of Misfit Toys, featuring Jamaican Rum, Chai Tea, cream, cinnamon, and pumpkin puree. If you like Pina Coladas and Pumpkin Spice, this will be your new all-time favorite. I like both, as does Mrs. Mai Tai, so this cocktail is right up there with Sippin Santa’s Kris Kringle Colada as something to go out of your way to try.

55 South has a pretty decent food menu. I enjoyed the Shrimp Roll and we all looooved the Cream Cheese Bread, a small loaf of Olive bread covered with cream cheese. Probably the best thing in the entire building.

Island of Misfit Toys Cocktail
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Hot Mai Tai

Inspired by the Hot Mai Tai recipe developed years ago by Giuseppe González, this is something that I tried and liked more than I expected. The lack of Lime juice places additional focus on the Orgeat and Orange Curacao, and for this cocktail the ratio below seems to be optimal.

The whipped topping calls for the addition of Macadamia Nut Liqueur, though Amaretto isn’t a bad option. How much to add will be your choice, but I did at least half an ounce of liqueur to go into a ¼ cup of cream.

Some recipes of this type call for the use of an Irish Coffee glass, but I thought this iconic two-faced glass goblet would be more appropriate. This means that the volume of liquid is higher than in some recipes you might find.

Hot Mai Tai
⅔ oz Orgeat
1 oz Orange Curacao
2 oz Aged Jamaican Rum (Appleton Reserve)
Dry shake and then pour into glass mug. Top with hot water.
Top with whipped cream with Macadamia Nut Liqueur
Add a few drops of Orange Bitters on top of the cream

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Miracle on 1st Holiday Pop-Up in San Jose

After our visit to 55 South, we headed over across the street to Paper Plane, which is doing the Christmas Popup in conjunction with Miracle. Paper Plane has been doing this for a couple years, so their decor is OVER THE TOP. Amazing stuff, and so many lights! Even on a Sunday night this place was packed, though service at the bar did move quickly.

We found the cocktails at “Miracle on 1st” to be excellent, and we want to return to try more. There’s a little bit more of a varied selection than Sippin’ Santa, especially if you’re into Whiskeys and Amaros.

Mrs. Mai Tai had the Jolly Koala, a bright cocktail with Bourbon, Vermouth, Mulled Wine Reduction, and Cacao Nib Aperitif. Plus a cute little Koala to make friends with. This was really great.

I stuck to my wheelhouse and ordered the tropical cocktail named after the catch phrase from everyone’s favorite Christmas movie: Die Hard. The “Yippie Ki Yay, Mother F****r” is a delightful and sweet cocktail with several rums, Ube & Coconut Orgeat, and Pineapple Juice. This one is so easy to sip that I was soon taking off my shoes and feeling the carpet.

The meetup was for members of the “South SF Bay Area Tiki Ohana” group on Facebook. If you’re a local, please join the group for more meetups and local info.