At the end of each year, amid a sea of annual recap editorials and ins-and-outs predictions, bar/restaurant industry insiders and members of the media come together to forecast the trends they envision taking hold in the year ahead. According to those lists, briny, sea-centric elements in cocktails (think clam juice, preserved fish, and kelp) are going to keep washing up, and if last year is any indication, 2023 might just see more folks playing with the past, such as with nostalgic offerings à la the Dirty Shirley and espresso martini.

There’s something else that’s changed in recent years, though it tends to go unremarked upon due to its outlasting so many short-term fads over the years: more and more menu real estate is being devoted to signature cocktails. No longer an afterthought or hidden in a booklet among hundreds of wines by the bottle, the bartender’s thoughtfully crafted offerings—tailored to fit the cuisine and sensibility of the establishment—have continued to rise in prominence and visibility.

To tap into this inspired synergy between the front and back of the house, the Shift Drinks: Reposado Remix Box features three tequila reposado cocktails, two of which were first featured in the inaugural round back in early 2019 and were created by coworker chefs and bartenders at the time. The other one we, your servers, will recite as an ear-catching special of the day: a fresh, new offering from Sother Teague, who’s no stranger to straddling the line between the culinary and cocktail universes—a chef and bartender in one!   

Each features boundary-pushing ingredients assembled with masterful technique and flair. And with a suggested food pairing for each drink, the local hotspot with an hours-long waitlist’s got nothing on your home this month. Make your reservation today and pull up a chair! Subscribe now to get yours.

The Last Night I Dreamed, created by Patrick Natola and Chef Justin Rucobo, two former colleagues at Town Tavern in Alameda, CA, is a bracing and crisp daiquiri-margarita hybrid that points the way forward to sunnier days ahead made for perusing the local farmer’s market for ingredients and inspiration. There’s a bounty of fresh, green produce packed into this reposado cocktail by way of an herbaceous and vegetal cilantro-jalapeño syrup and a dose of fresh lime. 

A hospitality industry veteran, Patrick has worked as a dishwasher, line cook, server, barback, bartender, and manager in New Hampshire, NYC, Chicago, and the Bay Area. Most recently, Patrick made the pivot to the aerospace industry. 

Justin was the opening chef at Péché Austin and has worked for Aramark at the Oakland Coliseum and Las Vegas Convention Center and in the kitchen at Town Tavern in Alameda. Justin is now the production manager at the Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, where he oversees the menu for patients and hospital staff. 

Emilio “Milo” Salehi and Chef Arnold Eric Wong, formerly of the Beehive in San Francisco, pay tribute to the time-honored traditions of the Mexican kitchen with their old fashioned, the Mortar & Pestle. The toasted nuttiness from the sesame and coconut nods to the preparation of a mole sauce, which typically requires dozens of ingredients and several days. Luckily, quite a bit less work is required to combine the syrup and extract on ice and stir, along with tequila and, of course, mole bitters. The result is rich, earthy, and unforgettable.

Milo is a San Francisco bartender who’s worked at some of the top cocktail destinations in the city, including the Treasury, Whitechapel, Mourad, and the Beehive. He’s now the beverage director at Cavaña, an up-and-coming rooftop bar in the city.

Arnold is a renowned Bay Area chef and restaurateur who started from humble beginnings running his family’s grocery in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood. From there, he went on to open multiple restaurants, bakeries, and bars, including the Beehive, the Treasury, Raison d’etre Bakery, and Joyfull Bakery.

Even the god Odin, who’s suggested by Norse mythology to have created the first humans out of driftwood, would scratch his wise, old head with what Sother Teague came up with in the bitters lab. Driftwood Bitters, a Donn’s Mix–adjacent blend of bright grapefruit and cinnamon, was Sother’s very first, but thankfully not last, contribution to the bitters shelf. And it makes its S&S debut next month in his Ash and Elm, a tasty, tall number that combines tequila reposado with hibiscus-lemon-rosemary syrup and grapefruit soda, with a magical ring of hibiscus salt watching from above!

Sother is the beverage director at New York’s Amor y Amargo and host of The Speakeasy on Heritage Radio Network. In 2018, he was honored with Wine Enthusiast’s Mixologist of the Year Award, and he has authored two books, I’m Just Here for the Drinks and Let’s Get Blitzen. He’s the creator of Driftwood Bitters and Garden Party Bitters, and his bar and restaurant company, Overthrow Hospitality, is fast becoming a pioneer in the vegan hospitality sector. Catch up on all the Sother favorites in the S&S catalog, including Rye-napple Express, The Weekender, Dragon Tears, and Slippery Slopes.

Please follow us to your seat where you’ll experience the Shift Drinks 2: Reposado Remix Box, a very pleasing package full of delicious cocktails inspired by the vast culinary landscape. And even the snootiest of critics agree: each is worthy of a glowing four-star review!

🌿🌺🥥,
The Shaker & Spoon Team

*not vegan: nothing
*potential allergens: sesame extract contains sesame. Toasted coconut agave syrup and toasted coconut flakes contain coconut. Toasted coconut flakes were originally packaged in the same facility as peanuts, tree nuts, soy, and milk products. Sother’s hibiscus salt and hibiscus-lemon-rosemary syrup made with hibiscus that came with the following warning: “may be intercropped with peanuts. Occasionally, fragments of peanut shells may be present.”