Dry Drunk: The Cocktails of Thad Vogler at Beretta

What’s up with my iPhone-tography skills? Do I have to be good at everything?

Anyway, Beretta. I was only thinking about the cocktails when I went there, but it turns out that with inexpensive food and lots of communal seating, this may be the one cocktail restaurant in which I can actually afford to eat. (Small plates priced as small plates- what a concept!)

But back to the important stuff: the drinks. Thad Vogler’s drinks, unlike many in San Francisco, eschew the farmer’s market fruit, flowers, and herbs in favor of the basics- lime, lemon, grapefruit, and pineapple. The flavor profile of most could be considered classic for that reason, but as opposed to classic derivative drinks that go wild with brown spirits and amaros or other unusual modifiers, these cocktails are more like simple drinks reconsidered.

What sticks out is the types of sweetening agents used in each drink- honey, gomme syrup (made by Slanted Door’s Jennifer Colliau), sugar cane syrup, agave syrup, etc. I don’t know if they use plain old simple syrup at all. But when you drink them, “sweet” isn’t a word that comes to mind. Vogler makes the driest drinks in town. He uses a lot of gin, rhum agricole, and maraschino liqueur, and even the Pisco Sour isn’t sweet (or all that sour- it’s almost earthy).

Of the drinks I tried, the Nuestra Paloma is the most pleasing and probably the safest bet for the less adventurous drinker (It’s delicious- don’t get me wrong). The Dolores Park Swizzle looks great with a few drops of bitters atop the crushed ice of the drink like a happy red treat, but packs a wallop of flavor. I like it more as the ice melts starts and dilutes it. The same is true of the Rangoon Gin Cobbler, my favorite drink on the menu so far that has a nice orange aspect to it from the Cointreau. I also liked the Single Village Fix, making this the second time I’ve ever enjoyed a drink with mescal in it.

Is anyone else bored of my typing? I am. Long story short: tasty dry drinks, go good with food, it’s in my neighborhood, I’ll be back lots.

Labels: bars, cocktails, SanFrancisco