Enjoy

Bartender's Choice

Remember video stores with "Staff Picks" areas? This section is kind of like that, except every drink is an original created by one of the exceptional bartenders at The Interval. Each of us has specific cocktail interests, and here we share our creations with you.

Pictured here: I've Grown to Love Life Too Much

Drinking Around the World

Every culture has idiosyncratic drinks or ways of drinking that delight the locals yet remain little known to the rest of the world. Here we bring you some regional specialties that are celebrated outside our borders.

Pictured here: Mezcal, Bodega Style

Daisies for All

The Daisy is a drink family rather than a specific cocktail, comprised of spirit, citrus, and a flavored syrup or liqueur rather than plain sugar. Historically the sweeteners were curaçao, yellow Chartreuse, raspberry syrup or grenadine (orgeat was added in 01928), and were often topped with seltzer. The quintessential example is the Margarita, the Spanish word for Daisy, with tequila, lime, and curaçao, served without seltzer.

Pictured here: Gin Daisy

The Old Fashioned in All its Glory

The Old Fashioned is the original cocktail. Comprised of spirit, sugar, water and bitters, 200 years ago this was the civilized way to drink what was often rough, poorly distilled booze. As the story goes, once creative bartenders started serving fancier drinks and calling them cocktails, conventional drinkers asked for their whiskey "the old fashioned way" and the new moniker was born. "Fancy" and "Improved" versions call for small amounts of liqueurs or flavored syrups, but the Old Fashioned is at its heart spirit seasoned lightly.

Pictured here: Whiskey Cocktail

The Fern Bar

Before the 01960s, bars were saloons: refuge for the dark, brooding men who drank their spirits neat, or with ice to be fancy.

Around 01965, a few well-lit bars in California and New York opened, showcasing classy furniture and domestic touches like doilies and ferns in an effort to bring in women customers. Coinciding with the sexual revolution and the invention of the birth control pill, Fern Bars became a sexy new place for women and men to mingle.

Classic Fern Bar drinks are the cocktail equivalent of comfort food: smooth and easy and uncomplicated. We, ahem, put more care into our versions than is historical, so you can enjoy this tradition without sacrificing good taste.

Pictured here: Harvey Bell-Ringer

Temperate and Teetotaling

Imbibing is often seen as part of the bar landscape, yet there are many times when we may want to go easy on our alcohol consumption or abstain completely without missing out on the social virtues of an evening get-together. Here we provide several options for the lower-octane occasion.

Pictured here: Jamaica Cooler & Bitter Orange Old Fashioned

Wine and Beer

Long Now Spirits Tasting

St. George Spirits in Alameda graciously created three spirits for The Interval; they can be seen hanging in our bottle keep above you. A donation of $1500 to The Long Now Foundation gives you your own liter of gin, bourbon or single-malt whiskey, which we will pour straight or make cocktails with for you and your guests.

Coffee and Tea

Coffee and Tea by Heart Roasters and Song Tea

Bites