Cocktails are mixed with great sincerity at Bourbon and Branch in San Francisco. Take the Clermont Affair, a marriage of pear-infused Old Overholt whiskey, a liqueur called Amaro Nonino, barrel-aged bitters and a house-made tincture of cloves.
The $12 drink, the menu reveals, “tells the story of a flawed love.”
But for state liquor license regulators, the concoction itself is flawed. On a recent Friday night, they entered the speakeasy-themed Tenderloin tavern and warned bartenders they were breaking California law by altering alcohol – infusing it with the flavors of fruits, vegetables and spices.
Mixing elaborate drinks – say, muddling mint leaves in mojitos – and serving them immediately is OK. But, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control agents said, Bourbon and Branch was changing the character of the booze by allowing it to mature on the shelf – “rectification” that is illegal without a special license.
Read more: SFGate
Filed under: SF Tenderloin, Tenderloin, What's Going On?
