10 Cocktails With Stunning Garnishes

by Carolyn Alburger@CarolynAlburger Nov 27, 2012, 7:00am PST

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by Carolyn Alburger@CarolynAlburger Nov 27, 2012, 7:00am PST

In the great world of cocktail garnishes, there are Old Fashioneds with maraschino cherries, margaritas with salt and wedges of lime, and then there are cocktails with flourishes that rev your engine before the sweet booze ever hits your lips—like this ol' thing. Here's a guide to 10 Cocktails With Stunning Garnishes, for you to digest from every angle.

Bocanova's El Vaquero

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Bar manager Stella Davies shakes pisco, smoked paprika, beef bouillon, burlesque bitters, and barolo chinato to make the El Vaquero. The proverbial "cherry on top" is a slab of beef jerky with a slice of jalapeno.

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55 Webster St., Oakland, CA 94607

(510) 444-1233

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Goose & Gander's Cucumber Collins

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Scott Beattie uses fresh and pickled cucumbers stained with huckleberries for this take on a classic Collina; and the berries themselves are pickled with mirin, sake, rice wine vinegar, and sugar. This show-off is topped off with bright yellow sunflower petals.

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1245 Spring St, St Helena, CA 94574

(707) 967-8779

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Fifth Floor's 9 Herb Charm

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Brian Means finishes this drink with an aperol-Tia Maria-orange juice cocktail sphere perched on an absinthe spoon. Then the garnish is garnished with dehydrated aperol. It's a bitter "adult gusher" to balance out the sweetness of drink below.

12 4th St, San Francisco, CA 94103

(415) 348-1555

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Park Tavern's Bloody Mary

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Park Tavern pours its Bloody Mary into a Mason jar, then tops it with a toothpick strung with an olive, pickled string bean, and smoked Waygu beef jerky. Unemployed celery sticks need not apply.

1652 Stockton St., San Francisco, CA 94133

(415) 898-7300

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AQ's Mexican Piano

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A fuchsia combination of Espolon blanco tequila, lime juice, and tarragon-huckleberry syrup is topped off with a torched Bay leaf, causing a dramatic curl of smoke to rise off the cocktail's surface like witch's brew.

1085 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103

(415) 341-9000

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Zaré's Fly Trap Martini

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The classic Zare at Fly Trap Martini is garnished with pickled fiddlehead fern curlicues for fall. This baby comes with your choice of Hangar 1 vodka or Damrak gin.

606 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA 94107

(415) 243-0580

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Upstairs Bar's Bourbon Dynasty

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Fig- and vanilla-infused Bulleit bourbon is shaken with Carpano Antica Vermouth. Licor 43, and chocolate bitters, then served up in a martini glass with a Moscato-poached fig for garnish.

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181 3rd Street, San Francisco, CA

415-817-7836

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Michael Mina's The Orient

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This Thai take on the Moscow Mule comes with vodka, Thai basil syrup and ginger liquer, served in copper mug with a garnish of young coconut foam, pink peppercorns and two Kaffir lime leaves.

252 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111

(415) 397-9222

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The Thomas's Gin & Tonic

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Not your grandma's gin and tonic, this beaut is composed of housemade tonic water, Beefeater gin and an ice spear made with water, fresh cucumber juice and a long slice of cuke. As the ice spear slowly melts, it infuse the cucumber flavor further into the drink.

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813 Main St, Napa, CA 94559

(707) 226-7821

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Foreign Cinema's "Sunday Bloody Caesar"

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Not only is Foreign Cinema's Bloody Mary made with housemade "Clamato," fresh lime, Worcestershire, and jalapeños, but it is also garnished with one, honking poached Gulf prawn.