Cocktails the Bay Area gave the world
The Bay Area has one of the deepest cocktail résumés anywhere: the Mai Tai (Trader Vic’s, Oakland, 1944), America’s first Irish Coffee (the Buena Vista, San Francisco, 1952), the modern Tequila Sunrise (the Trident, Sausalito, early 1970s), the Lemon Drop (Henry Africa’s, San Francisco, 1970s) and the Cable Car (Starlight Room, 1996) — plus the Martinez, if you believe the town of Martinez. Below: the story and the recipe for each one, with every ingredient available at Fifty’s Market & Liquor on Mission Blvd in Hayward.
🍹 Mai Tai — Trader Vic’s, Oakland, 1944
The world’s most famous tiki drink wasn’t invented on an island. Victor “Trader Vic” Bergeron mixed the first Mai Tai at his Trader Vic’s restaurant in Oakland in 1944, about ten miles up the road from our front door.
- 2 oz rum Bacardí Gold — in stock
- ¾ oz fresh lime juice limes at the counter
- ½ oz orange curaçao triple sec works too
- ¼ oz orgeat (almond syrup)
- ¼ oz simple syrup
Make it: Shake everything hard with crushed ice and pour it all — ice included — into the glass.
🛒 Every ingredient is available at Fifty's Liquor in Hayward — one stop and you're set.
Want it richer? Float a little Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum on top — it’s on the shelf next to the Bacardí.
☕ Irish Coffee — the Buena Vista, San Francisco, 1952
Irish Coffee made its American debut at the Buena Vista near Fisherman’s Wharf in 1952, after a Chronicle columnist and the cafe’s owner spent a night reverse-engineering the drink they’d had in Ireland. The Buena Vista still pours thousands a day.
- 1½ oz Irish whiskey Jameson — in stock on our whiskey wall
- 4 oz hot, strong coffee
- 2 sugar cubes
- 1 oz heavy cream lightly whipped, just past pourable
Make it: Warm the glass with hot water and dump it. Dissolve the sugar in the coffee, add the whiskey, then float the cream over the back of a spoon — drink through it, don’t stir.
🛒 Every ingredient is available at Fifty's Liquor in Hayward — one stop and you're set.
🌅 Tequila Sunrise — the Trident, Sausalito, early 1970s
The Tequila Sunrise you know — tequila, orange juice, grenadine sinking to the bottom — was created at the Trident in Sausalito in the early ’70s and took off after the Rolling Stones drank them at their 1972 tour kickoff party. A Bay Area drink that conquered the world.
- 2 oz blanco tequila Hornitos Plata, Lunazul Blanco or Herradura Silver — all in stock
- 4 oz orange juice Dole OJ in the cooler
- ½ oz grenadine
Make it: Build the tequila and orange juice over ice, then pour the grenadine slowly down the inside of the glass and let it sink. Don’t stir — the sunrise is the point.
🛒 Every ingredient is available at Fifty's Liquor in Hayward — one stop and you're set.
Feeling fancier than the Stones? The rest of the tequila wall — Don Julio, Patrón, Herradura up to Ultra Añejo — is right behind the blancos.
🍋 Lemon Drop — Henry Africa’s, San Francisco, 1970s
The Lemon Drop came out of Henry Africa’s, the famous San Francisco fern bar, in the 1970s — vodka, lemon and a sugar rim, built to be dangerously easy to drink.
- 2 oz vodka Tito’s or New Amsterdam — in stock
- ¾ oz triple sec
- 1 oz fresh lemon juice
- ½ oz simple syrup
- sugar for the rim
Make it: Rim a chilled glass with sugar. Shake everything hard with ice and strain it in.
🛒 Every ingredient is available at Fifty's Liquor in Hayward — one stop and you're set.
Grey Goose is on the top shelf when the night calls for the upgrade.
🚋 Cable Car — Starlight Room, San Francisco, 1996
A modern classic from the Starlight Room atop the Sir Francis Drake Hotel: spiced rum shaken with orange curaçao and lemon, served with a cinnamon-sugar rim — named for the cable cars rattling past Union Square below.
- 1½ oz spiced rum Sailor Jerry — in stock
- ¾ oz orange curaçao triple sec works too
- 1 oz fresh lemon juice
- ½ oz simple syrup
- cinnamon sugar for the rim
Make it: Rim a chilled glass with cinnamon sugar. Shake everything hard with ice and strain it in.
🛒 Every ingredient is available at Fifty's Liquor in Hayward — one stop and you're set.
🥃 Martinez — Martinez, California (if you ask Martinez)
The town of Martinez, thirty minutes up the 680, has claimed since the 1880s that the Martinez — the granddaddy of the martini — was invented there. Historians argue; the plaque in downtown Martinez does not.
- 1½ oz gin Seagram’s Extra Dry — in stock
- 1½ oz sweet vermouth
- ¼ oz maraschino liqueur
- 2 dashes aromatic bitters
Make it: Stir everything with plenty of ice until well chilled, then strain up.
🛒 Every ingredient is available at Fifty's Liquor in Hayward — one stop and you're set.
🍻 Want to rep the Bay without a shaker? The canned cocktail cooler is stocked cold, and the beer wall carries the local heavyweights — Drake’s from San Leandro, Laughing Monk from San Francisco, Ghost Town from Oakland and Altamont Beer Works from Livermore.
🏛️ The one that got away: San Francisco’s other legendary drink, Pisco Punch, was invented at the Bank Exchange saloon — the spot where the Transamerica Pyramid now stands — and the original recipe supposedly died with bartender Duncan Nicol in 1926. Pisco is a special-order bottle for us; call ahead and we’ll see what we can do.
Mix Bay Area history tonight
Fifty’s Market & Liquor, 27826 Mission Blvd, Hayward, CA 94544 — easy parking, and we’re open until 2 AM on Fridays and Saturdays, later than nearly any liquor store in Hayward. Not sure we have your bottle? Call us at (510) 963-5961, or order on DoorDash — $0 delivery fee on your first order (delivery details). Must be 21+ with valid ID. Plan your visit →
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