San Francisco Cocktail Week

(This is an article that was written for the San Francisco print edition of the Onion, just before it was announced that this local edition would cease publication last week. An abbreviated version of this article was published today on Decider, the Onion's San Francisco and Bay Area entertainment website)

San Franciscans have long enjoyed a romance with alcohol—from the debauchery of the Barbary Coast era, when miners flush with gold would spend their riches at waterfront saloons, to the rebellious Beats that weaved their North Beach drinking escapades into poetry and novels, to the modern renaissance of the artisan cocktail, the city by the bay knows how to knock 'em back. In fact, according to a 2003 federal study, residents of San Francisco spend more per capita on alcohol than any other city in the country.

Celebrating this high-proof history with a multitude of events is San Francisco Cocktail Week (May 11-18), a fete that includes a variety of parties, classes, workshops and competitions lauding a myriad of mixed drinks, ranging from classics like the Sazerac and the Martini (which according to legend was invented in nearby Martinez, California) to more modern creations by a new generation of mixologists.

Jeff Hollinger, co-founder of The Barbary Coast Conservancy of the American Cocktail, the group that is promoting the event, points to the city’s colorful and booze-infused past as something that is deserving of proper recognition by today's cocktail enthusiast.

“You’ve got some of the most legendary, historic bartenders having played a part in San Francisco’s cocktail history—Jerry Thomas bartended here in the Barbary Coast area for a good chunk of his career, you’ve got people like “Cocktail Bill” Boothby who was just kind of larger than life and played a part in politics, and you had Duncan Nichols popularizing the Pico Punch here. There’s a lot of different things that have happened here, so we decided that it was really up to us to start celebrating that."

A historical bar crawl through the North Beach area will provide participants with the opportunity to imbibe in locations that have been around since before prohibition, and in some cases, since the gold rush itself, such as the Old Ship Saloon. Originally situated in an abandoned sailing ship along the old city waterfront, it was eventually landlocked as the area was filled in—the current brick building sits atop the wooden hull that lies below street level.

Hollinger, who is a manager at Absinthe Brasserie and Bar and the co-author of the 2006 book "The Art of the Bar," is also emphasizing the focus on education at this year's Cocktail Week, noting that a host of classes will be taught where people from all walks of life can learn about a variety of subjects, including the basics of bartending, how to create their own home-made ingredients, and how the process of distillation works.

“Sure, there’s going to be some celebrations where it’s just going to be kind of a big party, but at the same time the idea is give people the tools to be able to learn about the history of cocktails and spirits, and to broaden the knowledge about cocktails as they are today.”

The United States Bartender’s Guild National Championship is another part of this year's event, pitting finalists from around the country head to head as they attempt to woo judges with drinks of their own invention, the winners of which will head to international competition.

Overall, Hollinger hopes that people will learn a thing or two about the cocktail's place in history, along with having a great time. He cites a certain sense of nostalgia for another time and era when explaining his love for mixology and the culture that surrounds it today.

"In the couple of generations before ours, there was the idea of the cocktail—you would have your cocktail parties before you went out to dinner and there was something to me that was kind of romantic about that. When I was a kid, my grandfather had a little two-seat bar at his house, and my brothers and I would play behind that bar. He had all kinds of great glassware and really cool bar artifacts—as I got older and joined the drinking world, there was always an element of me that looked back fondly on that.”

Info Box:
Prices vary with events, ranging from free to $45.
www.sfcocktailweek.com