Yes! Free drinks!

Last night with my boyfreind and I went to Rye, it was our first time there.

I had never heard of this place though it has been open for three years. But then again I am not much of a bar person.

I liked the decor, the space AND they have a smoking section, which is harder to find in San Francisco than affordable rent!

Joke aside the staff was nice and it was a Monday at 7:30 p.m. - pretty quiet.

The reason why we went to Rye was because my boyfriend’s friend was entering the cocktail competition. Every first Monday of the month, Rye is having a sponsored bartender cocktail contest and all cocktails made with the liquor sponsored are free (usually). So two good reasons for us to be there!

Kubler Absinthe was sponsoring the evening. Kubler is a swiss absinthe made in Neufchatel (place of birth of absinthe). They built their reputation just recently. They were distilling absinth in the late 1800 but the production became prohibited in 1910. The resent authorization from government to lift the ban on absinthe production brought back Kubler into business and now they are one of the well-known brand.

I haven’t had a glass of absinthe in a long time, I think the last time was in Paris about 10 years ago, so I ordered one and let the bartender distilled my potion. The liquor was colorless, which confirmed to me it’s provenance, most colorless absinth are from Switzerland. The green one (la Verte), is the one you find most commonly in France.

She put a sugar cube on the slotted spoon and let dripped the chilled water slowly over it. The liquid turned into an opalescent milky concoction. It was nice and strong. anyway, I love the taste of anis: Pastis, licorice, fennel.. Love it!

I followed that with a Blue moon: gin, violette liquor and lime juice. That was really good!

A vôtre santé!

Summary: good drinks, nice place, smoker friendly (smoking booth) and every first Monday of the month free drinks! Rest of the cocktails about $8. See you in December!