
Locals know that our breezes are top-notch, and an essential part of a Bay Area summer. Unfortunately, when it comes to summer cocktails, their namesake drink the Bay Breeze is … just okay.
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Made with vodka, cranberry juice and pineapple juice, the Bay Breeze is tart, sweet and sippable. It’s one of a trio of cocktails invented in the 1940s as part of a marketing campaign by Ocean Spray and the Cranberry Growers Association to increase cranberry juice sales. (The others were the Sea Breeze, which features grapefruit juice instead of pineapple, and the Ocean Breeze, which features orange juice.)
Closing in on a century later, there’s plenty of room for improvement.
Just ask Kiernan Moran, bar manager at Wunderbar in San Mateo. “To be honest, the original “Bay Breeze” is a very mid cocktail. Not a lot going on and pretty one-dimensional,” he writes in an email.
So, as we do in the Bay, home to so many inventors and creators, we asked four top cocktail creators to take this concept and make it better. Mixologists at Los Gatos Soda Works, Tallboy, Wunderbar, plus Beer Baron and the Fat Pigeon all took on the challenge — and delivered. Here are their Bay Breeze reboots.
Los Gatos Soda Works, Los Gatos
“At Los Gatos Soda Works, we’ve taken the classic Bay Breeze and given it a bold, imaginative twist,” says Nicole Seele, owner of Los Gatos Soda Works. “Traditionally made with vodka, cranberry juice and pineapple juice, our version stays true to its roots while reimagining each ingredient with care and creativity,” she says. “The result is a cocktail that’s familiar in spirit but entirely original in execution.”
1.5 oz Pineapple skin-infused Ketel One Vodka
1 oz Pineapple Cordial
2 oz Spiced Cranberry Soda
Pineapple Skin-Infused Vodka:
16 oz Pineapple skins
1 Liter Ketel One Vodka
Infuse for 24 hours.
Strain and bottle.
Spiced Cranberry Syrup:
16 oz Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail
16 oz white sugar
6 dashes Angostura bitters
Heat and stir until sugar dissolves
Spiced Cranberry Soda:
2 oz Spiced Cranberry Syrup
6 oz water
Carbonate
Pineapple Cordial:
16 oz fresh pineapple juice
8 oz sugar
2 oz citric acid
1oz Ketel One Citroen Vodka
Tallboy, Oakland
The Trade Winds cocktail, a riff on the Bay Breeze, by Den Stephens, owner at Tallboy in Oakland, is made with vodka, Aperol, cranberry liqueur, pineapple and lime juice. (Courtesy Den Stephens)
At Tallboy, Oakland’s thriving new ‘tinis-and-weenies dive joint, owner Den Stephens shared his spin on the Bay Breeze, which he calls Trade Winds. It features aperol and lime juice alongside cranberry liqueur and fresh pineapple, vodka and simple syrup.
TRADE WINDS
1.5oz vodka
.25oz Aperol
.25oz Clear Creek Cranberry Liqueur
1.5oz fresh pineapple
.5oz fresh lime juice
.25oz 1:1 simple syrup
Build all ingredients in a Collins or pearl diver glass. Swizzle. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs and a tall straw.
Wunderbar, San Mateo
Kiernan Moran’s riff on the Bay Breeze, called “I’m the Problem,” starts with Lo-Fi Gentian Amaro. “This particular amaro has great red berry and herbal complexity that mimics the cranberry juice used in the original cocktail but offers a little more complexity with the herbs and spices used,” he says.
It uses pineapple and guajillo-chile-infused vodka. Why? “Well, pineapple and chile go hand in hand! Have you ever had Tajin sprinkled on pineapple?! Muah! Chef’s kiss!” he writes. “The chile is there to add warmth to the cocktail but not spice. I do not intend for this cocktail to be spicy.”
Wunderbar’s bar manager Kiernan Moran uses amaro, lime cordial, and pineapple and guajillo chile-infused vodka to add some heat to the classic Bay Breeze cocktail. (Courtesy Kiernan Moran)
I’m the Problem
1 1/2 oz pineapple and guajillo-chile-infused vodka
1/2 oz Leopoldo’s Sour Lime Cordial
1/2 oz Lo-Fi Gentian Amaro
3/4 oz lime juice
3/4 oz simple syrup
To make the pineapple/ guajillo chile vodka:
One 750ml bottle of your favorite vodka
1 ripe pineapple (skinned, cubed and cored)
4-6 (depending on flavor you prefer) dried guajillo chiles
Rip the ends of the guajillo stems off the chile and split down the seam of the chile, remove all seeds. Repeat for all chiles being used. In a sous vide safe bag, place the pineapple, chile and vodka into the bag and then carefully drop into a sous vide bath set at 145 degrees. Let contents steep for 1 hour. Remove bag from the bath and, using a chinois or cheese cloth, pour contents of the bag through to strain out solid ingredients. Because of the alcoholic nature of the contents, these should last at shelf temperature indefinitely.
For the drink: Combine all ingredients into a Boston shaker. Add ice and shake ingredients vigorously for 8 sec. Double strain contents into a Collins glass over a long spear cube.
Garnish: Dust the outside of the glass with tajín or a chili lime salt. Place a lime wheel deep inside the glass.
Beer Baron, Oakland, Livermore, Santa Rosa and Pleasanton, and Fat Pigeon, Livermore
Beer Baron and Fat Pigeon owner Harpreet Judge crafted a version of the Bay Breeze made with grilled pineapple juice, cranberry and peach juice, citrus vodka and a clarified milk wash — all topped with sea salt foam. (Courtesy Harpreet Judge)
Harpreet Judge, owner at Beer Baron and Fat Pigeon, crafted a different spin on the drink. He uses grilled pineapple juice, citrus vodka and white cranberry-peach juice for a balance of flavors, then clarifies it in milk tea and adds sea salt foam to the top.
Ingredients:
1 oz grilled pineapple juice (see prep below)
2 oz white cranberry & peach juice
2 oz St. George California Citrus Vodka
1/4 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz fresh lime, juiced
Milk Tea
Ingredients:
1.5 g Russian River “Italian Holiday” tea
1 cup whole milk
Instructions:
1. Heat milk over medium-low heat until it reaches 125 degrees.
2. Add tea and let steep for 10 minutes while keeping milk at a gentle simmer.
3. Turn off heat, remove tea bag and set milk aside.
Sea Salt Foam
Ingredients:
1.5 g soy lecithin powder
200 ml water
¼ tsp sea salt
Instructions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a wide container.
2. Lower a hand frother just below the surface.
3. Froth until a stable foam forms on top. Set aside.
Grilled Pineapple Juice
1. Cut fresh pineapple into ½-inch rounds.
2. Grill over medium-high heat for 5–6 minutes per side.
3. Juice the grilled pineapple and strain for a smooth texture.
Assembly:
1. Combine grilled pineapple juice, white cranberry & peach juice, vodka, simple syrup and lime juice in a container. Chill thoroughly.
2. Prepare milk tea and keep warm (around 125 degrees.)
3. Slowly pour the chilled cocktail mixture into 1.5 oz of the warm milk tea.
4. Let sit undisturbed for one hour to allow curdling.
5. Strain the mixture through a coffee filter for a crystal-clear result.
6. Prepare sea salt foam.
To Serve:
1. Place an artisan ice cube in a double rocks glass.
2. Pour the clarified cocktail over the cube.
3. Spoon sea salt foam on top.
4. Garnish with a dusting of dehydrated pineapple and black lime powder and two fresh pineapple fronds.
Pro Tip: Clarification requires patience. Don’t rush the straining process.