Name: San Francisco (Café Royal)
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 25 ml Sloe gin liqueur; 25 ml Dry vermouth; 25 ml Rosso/sweet vermouth; 1 dash Orange bitters; 1 dash Aromatic bitters

San Francisco (Café Royal)
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Serve in a Nick & Nora glass

Ingredients:
⁵⁄₆ oz	Hayman's Sloe Gin
⁵⁄₆ oz	Strucchi Dry Vermouth
⁵⁄₆ oz	Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
1 dash	Orange Bitters by Angostura
1 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Nick & Nora glass.
Prepare garnish of Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.
STIR all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish with maraschino cherry.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Dry vermouth, Rosso/rouge/sweet vermouth (di Torino) - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

San Francisco (Café Royal) lifestyle image

Review:

Fruity, aromatic and complex. This is one of my favourite sloe gin cocktails, made all the more appealing by its bijou serve.

View readers' comments

Variant:

The Café Royal's San Francisco is virtually the same as the older Blackthorn No. 1, which has the same ingredients but (in our rendition) used in slightly more generous measures.

There's also a somewhat different, modern tall fruity San Francisco cocktail.

History:

First published in William James "Billy" Tarling's 1937 Café Royal Bar Book.

SAN FRANCISCO
1 dash Orange Bitters.
1 dash Angostura Bitters.
1/3 Sloe Gin.
1/3 Martini Sweet Vermouth.
1/3 French Vermouth.
Mix and serve with a cherry.
William Tarling, 1937

Nutrition:

One serving of San Francisco (Café Royal) contains 125 calories

Alcohol content:

0.9 standard drinks
15.85% alc./vol. (15.85° proof)
12 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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Showing 10 of 11 comments for San Francisco (Café Royal).
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mregisterfl

29th June at 14:22

Made with Plymouth Sloe Gin, Dolin Dry and Cocci Sweet. As described, it is very fruity and easy on the palate. The bitters play a crucial role in pulling it all together. Enjoyable.

I D

8th December 2024 at 17:35

Currently out of sloe gin but made a very nice drink with damson gin. Also recommended with patxaran instead of sloe gin.

30th September 2024 at 23:37

I appreciate this little gem of a sipper and was able to open an Irish sloe gift. Used: Minke Sloe, Cocchi VDT, Dolin Dry, BT Orange and 1821 Prohibition Aromatic. Lovely. I love an “around the house cocktail” something for whilst cooking or doing house work, unwinding etc. this will certainly be part of my Rolodex of around the housers. Smoothing but not one that will get you shnockered, so you can still run to the market for a missing ingredient for your braise/roast.

Annechien

31st January at 17:53

This idea of “around the house cocktails” got stuck in my head. I love it. Read it the first time I tried this cocktail a few weeks ago and was thinking about it this evening when I wanted an easy and comforting drink for unwinding after work. I really should make myself a list of around the housers too.

Simon Sedgley

24th August 2024 at 13:03

By "bijou serve", do you mean small and elegant?

Simon Difford

29th August 2024 at 05:42

Yup, that's what I was trying to convey. Perhaps I should have said "small and elegant"?

1 reply

Matt

20th August 2024 at 01:34

So much flavor from a simple, equal parts cocktail! Quite sweet, with cinnamon-spice notes. Excellent!

John CARR

23rd March 2024 at 13:42

A perfect little cocktail. The Internet sweetness and fruitiness of the sloe gin is opened and balanced by the herbal and drying characteristics of the vermouths. Beautiful! I served in a mini martini glass xx

John CARR

23rd March 2024 at 14:01

Intense, not Internet 🙄

Anna Thompson

31st December 2023 at 22:44

Very vermouth forward. Not unpleasant but I think I would double the gin next time - probably perfection for me then.

Anne-Marie Murray

2nd May 2022 at 00:18

This is a lovely, soft sip. Not too boozy, just a hint of sweetness.

Paloma Rien

26th February 2022 at 21:33

This was very mellow and vermouth-forward (which will suit some drinkers, like my husband, perfectly!) For my part, I missed some of the punchiness / bite of gin. I’m going to try adding in some additional London Dry next time to try to sharpen it up :)