We’d visited Faith & Spirits in downtown San Carlos a couple months ago in the waning days of the holiday pop-ups, and we had an impromptu visit to town for dinner so decided to have some cocktails. We knew that Faith & Spirits does dueling pianos on the weekend, but that doesn’t start until 9 pm so we were super early and the place not busy yet. Nonetheless, the lounge vibe was a nice place to relax with excellent cocktails.
I started with a Paper Plane that was very well done, while Mrs. Mai Tai went with her current favorite, a really coffee-forward Espresso Martini. The rich flavors of the martini intrigued me and I wondered how they’d pair with a bolder spirit than vodka. As I was thinking about it I spotted an almost empty bottle of Smith & Cross Jamaican rum, a boozy favorite for cocktail mixing. So I ordered one with the rum subbing for vodka, just enough to kill the bottle.
The rum was immediately noticeable and I thought it paired well to really make the cocktail a flavor bomb, though Mrs. Mai Tai and I’m sure others would find the original to be a cleaner and more pure tasting experience. Different strokes.
Faith & Spirits seems like a really nice cocktail bar on the Peninsula, if you’d looking for something about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose.
