One of the things you will learn quite quickly if you spend enough time in San Francisco is that the great quake and fire of 1906 continues to shape the city today. Sure, it was over 100 years ago, but any time a city suffers that kind of trauma, it lingers. It shaped our streets, it’s why people take unusual pride in structures from 1903, and it’s just something that you learn about. As one of our public officials put it, the city has an ancestral memory of fire.
Now I don’t need to get into the exact origin of that statement because well, we don’t need to go down that rabbit hole, but that phrase has become a bit of a shorthand among my friends about some of the…process of the City. Which led to the following exchange recently
And well…here we are.
So what should an Ancestral Memory of Fire consist of? If it’s a drink that has a lot of San Francisco to it, what does the base look like? I kept coming back to the basic liquors of a Fog Cutter for some reason, gin, pisco, and rum. And wouldn’t you know it, you can easily find examples of all of those with some San Francisco lineage, and even one that is an homage to the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, itself an event designed to showcase to the world that San Francisco is indeed back.
For the gin? Gotta be No. 209, a proud gin that can trace roots back to San Francisco’s Pier 50. As for the pisco (a beverage with a long relationship with San Francisco itself), that bottle of Frisco is the perfect choice. And as for the rum? Panama-Pacific is great. I only have the 9 year for this, but you could use the 5 pretty well in this too.
From there…well, I bought the other stuff in San Francisco? Whatever, it needs citrus, so lime and some freshly squeezed pineapple juice. Why those? Well, I just squeezed the pineapple, but more to the point, I didn’t want something as bold as fresh orange juice can be, which is what you would see a lot of in a Fog Cutter. As for the sweetener, largely because I want to lean into the aroma in a second, let’s pull out some rosemary syrup.
But something is missing…something that is not uniquely San Franciscan, but may as well be in many peoples’ experience…that’s right, Fernet. Certainly you’ve had Fernet. Italian by nature, and loved the world over by Argentinians, San Franciscans, and your service industry friends. I had my first Fernet in San Francisco, and it is a quintessential delight each and every time (quote me on that).
Alright, so you got it all together, what are you doing with it?
1 oz lime
2 oz pineapple
.5 oz rosemary syrup
1.5 oz 209 Gin
1 oz Frisco
1 oz Panama Pacific 9 year
Fernet float
Take everything but the Fernet and build it in your mixing tin. Give it a good shake after packing it with ice, strain into a Hurricane Glass, and fill it with fresh crushed ice. Float some Fernet. Take a butane torch or whatever handy fire producing tool you have around to a sprig of rosemary until it gets nice and toasty. You want that aroma. Honestly I would smoke this thing if I had a smoker at home but…next time. Top with that garnish and there you go
This is Trader Jane’s, a periodic newsletter about drinks (mostly tiki) and other fun writing. Follow me on Substack for something every couple of weeks (a low volume Substack, I swear!), and follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more timely updates on my beverages (and for lots of other things of course!)
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