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Sippin’ Santa, the newest offering from the boozy-IP workshop behind seasonal pop-up bar Miracle, delivers a fresh twist on Christmas spirits, but it can’t quite escape the ghosts of temporary holiday watering holes past.
Since 2014, mixology master Greg Boehm has spread the gospel of a Santa Con-cept bar. He first opened Miracle in his East Village New York cocktail lounge while it was under construction, adorning the space in over-the-top Christmas décor and serving themed drinks. That experiment was so successful that there are now 100-plus Miracle-branded sites worldwide with menus of pricey beverages that come in kitschy drinkware (which you can purchase and take home).
But a 2018 pop-up collaboration with Tiki god Jeff “Beachbum” Berry drifted somewhere decidedly more niche. Sippin’ Santa, as its name in no way suggests, doesn’t so much spin off Miracle’s nutmeg-scented charms as leave them sun bleached and zombified in its attempt to meld tiki culture vibes with the trappings of the most wonderful time of the year.
Before addressing the incoherent ambience, we must first discuss the cocktails. Winter typically ushers in menus of warm dairy-laden drinks; however, tiki beverages are largely built around fruit juice. In the ensuing struggle to avoid curdling, something had to give. So Sippin’ Santa’s offerings lean heavily toward citrus, like the refreshing, nuanced namesake cocktail (Demerara rum, amaro, lemon, orange, gingerbread mix; $18) or the utterly enchanting Yule Tide (tequila, applejack, lime, maple-cranberry syrup; $16).
If the ginger and macadamia liqueur-sweetened navy-strength-rum-fueled Ginger Snapper shot ($10) sounds a bit too powerful for the Mary Anns in the room, the cold-brew Holiday on Ice (vodka, ancho chile liqueur, cinnamon syrup; $14) could deck our halls on a steady drip. The only out-and-out failure was a bizarre passion fruit-focused take on a ye olde hot buttered rum dreamt up by someone who hates butter, Christmas, and, most likely, themselves.
The food menu wisely avoids directly addressing the Yuletide altogether. The resulting blend of pu pu platter staples and enlightened pub grub felt a bit tame, and slightly overpriced for the Portland market; nonetheless, they were far better than expected.
As unholy a pairing as midcentury mayo-swamped recipes and the least healthy Chinese comfort food may be, tiki cuisine still manages to reward nearly all the senses. The crab Rangoon ($16) (miniature ergonomic balls that reverse the usual fried-dough-to-cream-cheese ratio) may be the best we’ve ever sampled. And the accompanying sauce prompted visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads. Then there were the bao bites ($18), which arrived overstuffed with crisp yet succulent burnt ends.
But let’s face it: Food is not the focus here. To underline the point for anyone lured to Sippin’ Santa by the potential of daily ugly sweater contests, booze is not just the key component of this experience; it’s the sole reason for the pop-up’s being.
Ultimately, a themed pop-up bar should offer perfectly mixed drinks inside a well-chosen locale (see Miracle’s annual residency at cozy hipster boîte Deadshot). And anything less than full devotion from all shareholders renders the whole enterprise irredeemably silly (should, alas, bar staff greet the festiveness of it all with a massive shrug, as with Miracle’s regrettable initial 2018 Portland iteration at Kimpton Hotel Vintage’s Bacchus Bar).
Sippin’ Santa’s local host, Courtyard by Marriott Portland City Center (the former Original Dinerant) poses challenges when it comes to immersing drinkers in tropical holiday cheer. The venue’s outsize dimensions and overlit artificiality would surely seem daunting to transform even without the pop-up’s mass of pink flamingos and inflated bartop- surfing Kris Kringle. At least the rotating pie case has been repurposed as a display for Sippin’ Santa merch.
While we won’t pretend a boatload of Sippin’ Santa décor entirely triumphed over the forces of visual chaos, the resulting miasma proved a worthwhile selfie backdrop for what became a bustling industry event during our visit. As DJ Gregarious unfurled a soundtrack heavy on the futuristic carols of yesteryear and homespun exotica, the ginormous barroom somehow reached capacity via novelty-chasing Instagrammers, die-hard tiki fans, and weary hotel guests escaping the rain and ended up discovering a Portland Christmas tableau as weird as would be expected in our city.
Out-of-towners and workaday revelers getting tipsy on the company dime are the prime demographics for a hotel Christmas tiki pop-up. And given our current concept of the holiday, what is Santa but the quintessential business traveler? Sippin’ Santa understands these people. He sees them when they’re sleeping. He knows when they’re awake. And he suggests more rum.
DRINK: Sippin’ Santa: Sippin’ on Sixth at the Courtyard City Center, 550 SW Oak St., 7 am-1 pm Sunday-Monday, 7 am-1 pm and 4-10 pm Tuesday-Friday, 7 am-11 pm Saturday, through Dec. 31.