SF Cocktail Club Turns Trash Into Cocktails

When a client challenged SF Cocktail Club's Drew Record to come up with a drinks menu for an event that was loosely described as "SF meets Palm Springs," the mixological wizard came up with a fresh idea: A cocktail with a frozen popsicle in it instead of an ice cube.

A gin-based cocktail made with seasonal kumquat cordial, and Lillet gets a sorrel and meyer lemon popsicle dropped in, adding tartness and herbaceousness. Or a lime leaf-infused tequila drink with Cocchi Americano and Suze that gets splashed with a strawberry pulp, basil, and turmeric shrub — both easily adaptable for N/A renditions.

"As it starts to melt, the popsicle changes the drink and transforms the flavor," Record says. "The idea here is that your first sip and your last sip are two different experiences."

Las Palmas Cocktail Ice Pop by Drew Record

It's this kind of whimsy that has helped set SF Cocktail Club (SFCC) apart from other event cocktail pop-ups and beverage caterers. Record says they're always trying to create sensory memories for people with his drinks; a touchstone that they can come back to. "It's like a bomb pop, with its layers of flavor." Given that SFCC plans to expand its offerings into gelato catering later this year, it explains the inspiration behind Record's creation. But it's also a potentially subversive idea in the cocktail game.

"I see the popsicle as an answer to closing the loop on waste in garnish and production," Record says. "It allows us to use parts of the fruit that might otherwise have gone to waste."

Before becoming SFCC's Director of Ops and lead bartender, Record was most recently working on concepts for Ne Timeas (the Flour+Water empire) and Bon Vivants (of Trick Dog fame) groups. His background is similar in spirit to many of the now nearly 40 freelance bartenders who work with SFCC, who've come from behind the bars at Michelin-starred beverage programs and local institutions alike.

You're likely to find SFCC's offerings at San Francisco events in go-to museums like SFMOMA, the Exploratorium, and the Academy of Sciences, as well as frequently at the Ferry Building. They're the primary beverage concessionaire for Stanford Athletics (cocktails and college baseball? Yes please.) and Oakland's Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, where Record and company conceived thematic drinks recently for performances from Americana crooner Jason Isbell (a margarita with an Ancho and stone fruit shrub) and comedian Marlon Wayans (a whiskey and gentian amaro cocktail infused with a strawberry herb shrub).

What does it take to be able to get the proper permitting to not simply be a bartender in a suitcase, but to serve drinks that are truly interesting and made well ahead of time?

"We have someone from our team at an ABC office in front of the liquor control board literally every week," Record says. "We're not just bartending out of a suitcase."

SFCC's license doesn't just allow them to serve at events, it also allows them to warehouse spirits and produce. So along with building beverage packages around local spirits from the likes of St. George, Brucato Amaro, 49 Mile Whiskey, and Sonoma Distilling, SFCC can also capture seasonal flavors well in advance.

"If we get tabbed in March for an event in August, we have a pretty good idea of what's going to be in season then," Record explains. "So we've created this pantry using fresh fruits, frozen purees, dried herbs, and botanicals that lets us put together seasonal menus — it lets us take something with a small season and extend that season, while also being creative in another dimension beyond the glass and the liquid.

Las Palmas Cocktail Icepop

Yields: ~10 medium popsicles
Time: 5 min prep, 5 min cook, 7 hrs total

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1 tbsp Meyer lemon zest

• 1 cup Meyer lemon juice

• 1/2 cup sorrel leaves (mint works too)

• 1 can coconut milk

• For layered version: reserve half sugar, all sorrel, and coconut milk for second layer

Instructions:

1. Blend water and sugar until dissolved

2. Add lemon juice and zest, pulse briefly

3. Pour into bottom half of molds, freeze 3 hours

4. Blend remaining sugar, sorrel, and coconut milk; refrigerate

5. Pour mixture over frozen first layer, freeze 4 more hours

6. Remove from mold when ready to serve

COCKTAIL

• 2 oz Kumquat bitter aperitif

• 1 oz St George Valley Gin

• 1 oz Lillet Blanc

• 2 dashes absinthe

Stir ingredients with ice, strain into a double old-fashioned glass. Add popsicle and enjoy!