The Cocktail Glass Collection: Matteucci's in San Anselmo

It's been more than two years since I last posted an example of a neon cocktail glass I've seen. With the pandemic, I've hardly been out anywhere far from home. 

Recently, however, I saw this one in the window of a bar in San Anselmo. This is at Matteucci's, at 114 Greenfield Ave. 

For more, click the "Cocktail Glass Collection" label at right toward the top of the page.

The Cocktail Glass Collection: Doc's Clock

A new addition to my collection of photos of neon cocktail glass signs in front of bars. This is the sign in front of Doc's Clock, at 2417 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110. The sign is missing a few letters at the moment, but the blue cocktail glass with red garnish is intact. Doc's Clock proclaims it's always cocktail time.

The yellow bulbs above the lettering shift around the side of the sign to an arrow pointing to the door of the place--a narrow dive-bar kind of place from the looks of it. I didn't go in.

For more, click the "Cocktail Glass Collection" label at right toward the top of the page.

The Cocktail Glass Collection: The Buddha Lounge

I recently came across The Buddha Lounge, in San Francisco's Chinatown—a new addition to my collection of photographs of neon cocktail glass signs outside of bars. The glass itself looks fairly generic, but it's in an unusual pink that goes with the "Buddha" text. The bar is at 901 Grant Ave., San Francisco, CA 94108.

For more, click the "Cocktail Glass Collection" label at right toward the top of the page.

The Cocktail Glass Collection: Negri's in Occidental, California

Negri's is a hotel in the small town of Occidental, California, in Western Sonoma County. The hotel has a bar with an old school neon sign out front. This example has a skewered cherry, I believe--the neon looks red, anyway. I suppose it's a Manhattan that sits atop the lettering.

To see more in this series of photographs, click on the "cocktail glass collection" label at right.

The Cocktail Glass Collection: The 500 Club, San Francisco

I found myself walking along Valencia St. in San Francisco yesterday, winding my way back to my car  after an appointment--a lot of interesting shops there. I walked a few blocks on 17th St. on my way back toward Dolores Park. At the corner of 17th and Guerrero, I spied The 500 Club, apparently a well-known dive bar, judging from Internet comments I found. I photographed the sign out front to add to my Cocktail Glass Collection--a collection of photos of the martini glass signs in front of bars I began last year (not very seriously--I just enjoy seeing good examples of variations on a theme). This one actually has two martini glasses incorporated into the sign--a large one in neon and other lights perched on top and a smaller all-neon glass at the bottom. Both have skewered cherries.

Click here to see it lit up at night--the top half anyway.

To see others in this series of photographs, click on the "cocktail glass collection" label. 

The Cocktail Glass Collection: The 8 Ball, Cotati, California

There are two or three bars in downtown Cotati. I've never been to any of them, but they keep the town center lively on weekend evenings. I noticed recently that one has a neon cocktail glass sign, so I thought I'd add it to my small but growing collection. This one has a cherry but the glass has no stirring stick or skewer. The bar is at 8 Charles St., Cotati, CA 94931.

To see others in this series of photographs, click on the "cocktail glass collection" label. 

Plants I'm Growing: First Blooms--Roses "Cocktail" and "Altissimo"

First blooms of 2012 on a number of roses in the garden in the past few days. The big red climber on the back fence called "Altissimo" bloomed on April 26. The single-petaled rose called "Cocktail" (pictured) started blooming on April 27. "Flutterby" by the front door is now in full bloom. "Cocktail" bloomed on April 19 in 2011.

Miscellaneous: Yet Another New Cocktail (February 29, 2012)

Rare it is to witness the birth of a classic. Presumptuous it is of me to think that this new cocktail I've concocted will become a classic, but, I rather like it, and I have high hopes for it. I've even decided to call it by my own name: The Talcroft. Here is the recipe.

The Talcroft
1 oz quality Vodka
1/2 oz Gin (I prefer Bluecoat American)
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth (I prefer Noilly)
1/4 oz Averna Amaro Siciliano
1/4 oz Malibu Coconut rum (but see below)

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until thoroughly chilled. Strain into a well-chilled martini glass. Garnish with a paper-thin wheel of lemon.

This drink, like a classic Manhattan, perfectly balances the sweet and the dry, and spicy herbal flavors (in this case, the gin and the dry vermouth) with the sweet and the exotic (the Averna and the coconut rum). In short, it is a delectable opposition of disparate flavors. Making cocktails, I've decided, is very much like painting, but it's an exercise in painting with flavors rather than colors and textures.

Important note: the proportions above assume the use of the very distinctively flavored Bluecoat gin. A more neutral gin might require using a little less vodka and a little more of the gin. (The Bluecoat is delicious in martinis, too).

I imagine this drink could be made with a coconut-flavored vodka instead of the coconut-flavored Malibu rum, but I don't want to buy a whole bottle of coconut vodka just to try that out, and I suspect that using only coconut Vodka would make the coconut flavor too strong. The thing to remember is that the coconut should be in the background; its presence should be just apparent. It should be the sort of flavor that sends the mind searching for a name--something familiar but not immediately obvious. It should add an element of mystery rather than make a statement.

[Update: I bought a bottle of Bacardi Coconut Rum following this post and compared it to the Malibu Coconut Rum. The latter seems coarse and excessively sweet in comparison. I tried the Talcroft using the Bacardi Coconut Rum and it results in a drier, altogether more subtle drink. I would now recommend making this drink using Bacardi Coconut Rum rather than the Malibu Coconut Rum.]

Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Penstemon Heterophyllus, Rose "Cocktail" (2011)

First blooms of 2011 on the pretty blue penstemon Penstemon heterophyllus and on the rose called "Cocktail." The penstemon is a variety I've seen blooming wild in northern California and Oregon by the roadside, but it has done very well in the garden here, despite (because of?) getting very little water or attention. The bright blue flowers have a beautiful, almost iridescent purplish sheen to them. Cocktail has been a reliable bloomer as well, with very cheerful bright red, single flowers with beige centers.

I'm surprised to see that I don't seem to have records for either Penstemon heterophyllus or "Cocktail" in 2010 or 2009, so I can't say whether they've bloomed early or late this year. In any case, they're pretty.

Miscellaneous: My New Cocktail Debuts--Sonoma Dry Sour

The cocktail I invented one day last year, inspired by Mad Men, has made its official debut, at the Zig Zag Café, in Seattle, mixed by the Zig Zag's Master Bartender, Murray Stenson, my recipe having been delivered to him by hand last night by Louis Broome, Seattle playwright of note, and my first-ever college roommate. Facebook had a hand in organizing the debut: I met up with Louis again only a few months ago (via Facebook) for the first time since 1979 and learned that he had become a cocktail enthusiast in the interim. Louis went way out of his way to get it right, stopping off to pick up some pink Murray River flake salt and a Meyer lemon to be sure all the proper ingredients were available. Thanks Louis!

I call it a Sonoma Dry Sour. I won't divulge the recipe here, but if you have a favorite bartender, let me know.  I'll send the recipe to any bar you name if you agree to order it there and give it a try (and tell me what you think--even if you don't like it). Or you can hand deliver the recipe, as Louis did. Surely you know an artist at the bar in your fine city that might like to add it to their repertoire? Feel free to pass this post on to any of your friends that appreciate cocktails or link to it from any appropriate site. This is partly an experiment in tracking the dissemination of the recipe.

Photo by Louis Broome.


[Update at the end of 2011: I laugh at my own naiveté here. For a better drink I've invented since this, see my December 2011 post on the Fertile Eve.]

Plants I'm growing: First Blooms--Roses and Phlomis Lanata

The Phlomis lanata in the garden started blooming today (pictured) as did the "New Dawn" climbing rose on the back fence (pictured) and the rose "Cocktail." Nearly all the roses are going strongly now. I'm not especially a rose fan, but the old-fashioned single-petaled ones remind me of the wild roses I saw as a child in England, in Somerset (Taunton). I like these very much. "New Dawn" is an old-fashioned climber with quintessentially rose-like buds--chaste almost.