Name: San Francisco
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 45 ml Vodka; 15 ml Triple sec; 15 ml Banana liqueur; 45 ml Pineapple juice; 22.5 ml Orange juice; 10 ml Grenadine syrup; 7.5 ml Lime juice

San Francisco
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Photographed in an UB Koto Collins 35cl

Ingredients:
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Ketel One Vodka
¹⁄₂ oz	Cointreau triple sec liqueur
¹⁄₂ oz	Giffard Banane du Brésil liqueur
1 ¹⁄₂ oz	Pineapple juice
³⁄₄ oz	Orange juice (freshly squeezed)
¹⁄₃ oz	Monin Grenadine Syrup
¹⁄₄ oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Collins glass.
Prepare garnish of pineapple wedge.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
STRAIN into ice-filled glass.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Long, fruity, slightly sweet and vodka-laced.

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Variant:

This fruity drink should not to be confused with the very different sloe gin-based San Francisco cocktail which dates from pre-1937.

History:

Unknown, but almost certainly not originally from the city of San Francisco in California. It certainly originated before 1992, as that's when I first encountered this cocktail.

Nutrition:

One serving of San Francisco contains 246 calories

Alcohol content:

1.5 standard drinks
12.75% alc./vol. (12.75° proof)
20.4 grams of pure alcohol

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Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Gavin McCarthy

10th October 2024 at 06:55

All ingredients I used are identical to the brands specified in the recipe above).

Don’t agree about it being too banana forward, it’s a nice background note that melds seamlessly.

What it is, however, is cloyingly sweet, to an absurd degree. There is no conceivable way this could be a 5/10 on the sweet-dry/sour scale! I even made it a second time, figuring I’d absent-mindedly tripled the grenadine or some-such.

Matt B

23rd March 2024 at 02:28

This is very banana forward, and it could probably use to be dialed back a bit so it doesn't overwhelm the other flavors.

tihy romain

11th February 2024 at 20:03

+ lime juice

Simon Difford

15th February 2024 at 18:59

I've tweaked the recipe to include lime juice, but I've kept it on the sweet side as, in my experience, that's part of this fruity cocktail's appeal.

Anonymous

1st September 2020 at 19:42

Your review on the Banane du Brésil inspired a purchase and an urge to do some experimenting on alternative versions of this one. The vodka cedes the leading part to Damoiseau 5 ans rhum agricole. The obvious working title is “Saint-François”, after a town conveniently situated just south of the Damoiseau distillery on Guadeloupe. A splash of absinthe and Peychaud’s is also at play, and lime juice instead of orange juice. Perhaps a bit Clairin Sajous too — marvellous with the banane.

Anonymous

23rd July 2020 at 06:58

Wow. I never expected to see this one again. I bought one for a girl I liked on the ferry from Stavanger to Newcastle in 1988, on her request. My first attempt at being a gentleman in a bar.