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When the McBrothers converted their old Nob Hill haunt
Rams Head into an artisanal cocktail bar last summer, the starting drink
menu was a wee 14 pages long. There are liquor jellies, four whiskey
flights, and flights for brandy, rum and tequila. Among the mixed
drinks, an endless list of classics shares page space with variants made
from Edgefield and Cornelius Pass' stock: A Nieux Carre with Hogshead
whiskey instead of rye (and their excellent 13-year Alambic brandy in
place of cognac) is a slightly caramely take on the classic Cajun
cocktail Vieux Carre, while a Manhattan variant makes the same whiskey
trade but compensates with a bit of hot sherry. There's still some
tuning to do there, but a pomegranate-infused sparkler was a revelation
as part of a three-deep bartender's choice cocktail flight—a novel and
welcome addition to the mixology repertoire—matched with a serviceable
Blood and Sand and a copper-cupped Apple Pie that tasted a lot like
apple pie. With cocktail prices significantly lower than Pearl and West
End competitors', Rams Head is a solid utility cocktail bar.
Happy hour: 3-6 pm and 10-midnight daily. Food specials and $1 off drafts, wells, and McMenamins wines.
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WWeek 2015