While the Castro has no shortage of bars, lately we've earned more of a reputation for bottomless mimosas (and the drunk-and-crying over-indulgers they leave scattered across the sidewalk) than for finely-crafted libations. Don't get me wrong, there will always be a place for the quick and dirty Jack and Coke in this town. But thankfully, for cocktail geeks and other alcohol enthusiasts, there are plenty of careful, handcrafted drinks to be had.
On the edge of the Castro, two mixed bars in particular are mixing up amazing artisinal cocktails, with an eye toward innovative ingredients and menus that change with the weather. New kid on the block Churchill (198 Church St. at 14th St.) has taken over space formerly known as the Bar on Church (and The Transfer before that). The former windowless cave has been transformed into something that feels like a modern throwback, evoking the WWII style of the bar's namesake.
You could call Churchill a whiskey bar, as the menu skews heavily toward the dark spirit. It's well showcased in the Jennie Jerome From Brooklyn, an homage to Winston Churchill's mother, who hailed from Brooklyn, and was responsible for the invention of the Manhattan cocktail.
Churchill's Brooklyn pairs Bulleit rye with Dolin dry vermouth, Averna, Maraschino, bitters and orange peel. For fans of the Manhattan, this twist on a lost classic manages to feel fresh, and the light herbal sweetness cuts nicely through the rye.
If you're in the mood for something lighter, Churchill's homegrown Homefront mixes Hangar One vodka, Dolin Blanc, rosemary syrup, and lemon into an amazing concoction that tastes like summer in a glass (or a Mason jar, in this case). Other favorites include the very retro Bee's Knees, with gin, honey, and Cr�me de Violette, or the Pi�a Colada, which tastes nothing like that sugary coconut thing you had in Key West last Summer.
Just around the corner at Blackbird (2124 Market Street, between Church & Sanchez), the handwritten cocktail menu features house specialties using top shelf ingredients and lots of house-made infusions and syrups. The cleverly named Tequila Mockingbird is an interesting twist on a standard Margarita, combining adding guava, lime, agave syrup, and bell pepper (really!) alongside the tequila. One sip of the Blackbird version, and you may swear off everyone else's artificially-flavored sugar-water versions forever.
If you're in the mood for something even more exotic, Blackbird features barrel-aged cocktails, which are exactly what it says on the tin: cocktails aged for four to six weeks in bourbon barrels. While the aging might seem a little gimmicky at first, it definitely imparts a mellowness and complexity to the cocktails that you'll miss drinking the same thing made straight from the bottle. A recent session of daytime drinking included a Fairbanks (gin, vermouth, Cr�me de Noyaux-an almond liqueur-and orange) as well as the Apple Cart, an aged blend of Applejack, vermouth, casis, lemon, and lavender.
If you're more of a traditionalist, nothing beats a Martini. And if you're talking about Martinis, you ought to take a trip down Market Street to Martuni's (4 Valencia St. at Market St.) the venerable piano bar known for its extra-large, extra-strong cocktails. Stepping into the dimly-lit space is almost like taking a trip back several decades in a time machine-and we mean that in a good way. The candle-lit front room is a good place to meet a friend (or a "friend"), and you can find the piano bar in back hopping every night of the week.
But no matter where you belly up, the Martinis are the draw. The bar specializes in classic gin/vermouth/olive versions, and you can pick your poison from a wide variety of brands. For the Martini-averse, there's a wide selection of "Martinis" at Martuni's, running the gamut from cantaloupe to the inevitable apple-tini. Either way, they're big and strong, and who doesn't like that?
Back in the heart of the Castro, Starbelly (3583 16th St. between Market and Pond) is a notable drinking spot for two reasons. One, it's a restaurant, making it a good stop in the middle of your bar crawl (the burger is just the thing to counteract one too many cocktails). Secondly, Starbelly only serves beer and wine, which makes it's small-but-tasty drinks menu all the more impressive. The Diablito is a beer-based version of a Bloody Mary, but my personal favorite is Starbelly's rendition of a Shandy, a blend of beer and lemonade that's the perfect thing for those sweltering-by-SF-standards Indian Summer afternoons. And don't tell my friends in Jolly Old England, but Starbelly's Shandy beats the hell out of the mediocre pub versions I recently had on a trip across the pond.
And if all this alcoholic alchemy leaves you yearning to roll your own cocktail, might I suggest the DIY Margarita bar at Lookout (3600 16th Street at Noe St.), which happens every Saturday at 3pm. Choose your tequila and the bartender hands over a nearly-full salt-rimmed pint. Then choose from a variety of juices to customize your cocktail. While the results may not be aged in barrels or enhanced with house-made ingredients, enjoying your custom blend perched on the Lookout's second-story balcony offers a charm all its own.