This Pisco Sour, however, is delicious.

I’m at a fundraiser being held at Circolo on Florida and Mariposa. Here is my review of this Old Fashioned:

The bartender added the bitters at the end. The orange slice was on the rim of the glass. None of the fruit was muddled. It was made with Maker’s Mark but it is way too sweet. It takes like sugar water. It was $9 + tip. I’m awarding it extra points though, because nothing with any whiskey better than Early Times in it gets less than a D+. D+

I’m Drunk and This Is Why: Super-strong $10 bottomless mimosas at Bisou, 2367 Castro St, San Francisco

A more detailed post is forthcoming, but I promise you: 1/4 cup of orange juice to a bottle of champagne is the only recipe that matter for mimosas.

This is my friend Kellen on her 22nd birthday, with her signature cocktail the Kellen-Kaze. I invented this drink for her as her gift because of how profoundly broke I was (and still am) and it turned out to be really delicious. After Kellen’s birthday dinner, we stopped in at Double Dutch, a hip-hop club on 16th street here in San Francisco, and I asked the bartender to put together what I had come up with. I modeled it after the Kamikaze, but the prominent flavor in this drink is melon, and it’s served as a cocktail rather than a shot. It does not get an orange wedge.

The Kellen-Kaze

-1.25oz Blood Orange vodka
-0.25oz Midori
-0.50oz Fresh lime juice

Served up, shake and strain. Garnish with a lime wedge or, if you’re fancy, a blood orange wheel.

Welcome, friends! I hope you like what you see so far! Here’s tonight’s special…

I came up with this drink on accident, in want of a whiskey sour. There was a lack of good lemons at both of our neighborhood stores so we picked up some 65-cent grapefruits (and two 10-cent lemons with very thick rinds) and made these beauties. Fresh juice is way cheaper but also way more labor intensive, so store-bought juice is more than fine - but in that case, leaving out the extra sugar would be ideal as this is meant to be a little bitter. They’re best when they’re really strong - 2-3 ounces of bourbon should do it - and they’re a great evening drink for San Francisco’s infamously hot Octobers.

**Ideally, this drink would be served in a tall glass over lots of ice, but sadly I had very little ice left and we only have pint glasses (we’ve got big-time droppers in our house). I’ll update the photo when I can. For now, use your imaginations.

Bourbon Bitter

-2-3oz Bourbon
-Juice of one ruby red grapefruit
-Juice of one lemon
-2tbsb simple syrup (omit if using store-bought juice w/ added sugar)
-Lime seltzer (optional, to taste) 

Shake together fruit juices and simple syrup, then build drink over ice: bourbon, juice, and then seltzer if desired.