“It starts at 10. See you then. P.S. Don’t wear heels. ”
The text message inviting me to an underground cocktail speakeasy on a recent Sunday night was short, to the point and kind of mysterious. But I guess brevity fit occasion.
It told me to show up at an alley near Adams Avenue and between two streets in Normal Heights. The password was zipper. So just after 11, I headed out to find the party. I don’t normally make a habit of driving down alleys. Besides not being very picturesque, I quickly discovered they’re net exactly linear. The alley ended in a T intersection with another one.
I decided to go right and spotted a shaggy guy standing in the alley talking on his cell. I went around the block and checked out the other end of the alley. Nothing there. On my second trip, the same guy was still standing there. So I rolled down the window and asked if he was there for the speak easy? He stepped forward with a smile and said “You’re looking for Zipper? I’m Zipper.”
I park and enter through a makeshift plywood gate. There’s a path covered with rough rock gravel illuminated by luminaria in white paper bags. I hear music coming from a building in front of me. Inside it’s dark too; the room s illuminated with little candles that show swaths of red, and yellow and green on the walls.
The first person I recognize is local bartender Ariana Johnson. She’s is serving lemongrass infused Veev acai vodka, poured from a delicate absinthe fountain. Her drink ware? A half lime rimmed in dehydrated honey crystals.
Then I spot Whisk’n’ladle Bartender Ian Ward along with Lucien Conner and Jen Queen of the nucleus of the nascent San Diego Bartender’s Guild. Ward — the ring leader — stepped up and handed me a green Mickey’s Big Mouth. Malt liquor?? Well, not exactly. He’d made it into a Brass Monkey. The ghetto version of this drink aka a Poor Man’s Mimosa according to the Urban Dictionary is OJ and beer. Ward created his own with a mixture of passion fruit juice and chamomile. It was fragrant, lightly sweet and tart, a perfect summer’s day drink.
Next up in the cocktail tasting was the Panhandler’s Punch, an autumnal drink that starred organic apples and persimmons from Crow’s Pass Farm in Temecula. Ward imagined it as the kind of thing someone foraging around might be able to make – as long as they also had Goldschlager, vodka and juniper berries handy.
The final drink – an oddly enough my favorite for its creativity – was the Chorizo Margarita. Somehow, Ward captured the smoky paprika, peppery and herbal flavors – without the grease and the garlic. It was like drinking a light, tangy and slightly smoky version of a blood mary. I wouldn’t mind having one again.
