Mission Mission

Mellow Corn! Straight corn whiskey! Nothin’ but corn! It is VERY mellow!

Now let’s get down:

It’s a bourbon drink, with cranberry syrup and “a bit of Christmas tree.”

[via Hog & Rocks]

Smooth as silk! And how about that bottle?

You take a little bit of Monkey Shoulder and blend it with a little bit of Peat Monster and voila: Monkey Monster! It’s pretty good.

The bottom layer is is pumpkin ale, the middle layer is chocolate stout, and the top layer is creamy head. And it *actually * glows.

‘Tis Chumpkin season once again, right now at Shotwell’s.

Last week’s Drink of the Week, which as of last week was still in need of a name (in light of the Virgil’s Sea Room tradition of naming signature cocktails after notable San Franciscans), has a name now! Wikipedia explains:

José Julio Sarria (December 12, 1922 or 1923 – August 19, 2013) was an American political activist from San Francisco, California who, in 1961, became the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States. He is also remembered for performing as a drag queen at the Black Cat Bar and as the founder of the Imperial Court System.

[...]

Sarria became the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States when he ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1961. In 1964 Sarria declared himself “Empress José I, The Widow Norton” and founded the Imperial Court System, which grew to become an international association of charitable organizations.

Read on.

(Thanks again, Paul!)

My pal Paul Suway was raving about it all night last night, so I finally caught up with him and tried it and boy was he right. Bartender Tom T. mixes ‘em up just right, and they’re smoky and mellow and damn.

And here’s the thing: because of the nature of the Virgil’s Sea Room drink menu, they’ve gotta name this drink after a notable San Franciscan. Any ideas?

Strawberry-balsamic margarita! Like the strawberry-balsamic ice cream at Bi-Rite! It’s like the reverse of the Jesus Juice sorbet at Humphry’s: instead of taking a delicious alcoholic drink and turning it into a delicious frozen dessert, they took a delicious frozen dessert and turned it into a delicious alcoholic drink!

It’s sweet and strong, with a zing, and very good-looking. Find it at Hog & Rocks.

Drink of the week is brought to you by Poachedjobs.com.

I like to give gin a hard time. Don’t really get it, don’t order it much. (Which I guess might preclude me from writing a column called “Drink of the Week” — but I’m only temping.) But, many years ago, my good pal Mike Chino and I were taking a ferry across the bay and I was about to order a beer. “But we’re on a boat!” he exclaimed, “We have to have gins and tonics!”

Mike’s rule stuck with me, and to this day I always order gins and tonics when I’m on a boat. Over the weekend I went with some friends across the bay to Alameda, for brunch at Hobnob and minigolf at Subpar and tiki drinks at Forbidden Island. The brunch drinks at Hobnob (including a coconut margarita) were great, the very complicated tiki drinks at Forbidden Island (including a Scorpion Bowl for four) were great — but there’s just something about sipping those no-frills gins and tonics on the upper deck of the Oakland-Alameda Ferry, the sights and sounds of the San Francisco Bay all around you — we had them both outbound and inbound. Drink of the week!

Drink of the week is brought to you by Poachedjobs.com.