Average
Fruity
5 minutes
Highball Glass
Ingredients
This version is more like a tiki drink in both taste and appearance but made with vodka instead of rum. In addition to vodka, it mixes triple sec, banana liqueur, orange juice, pineapple juice, and grenadine, resulting in a fruity, subtly sweet and tangy summer cocktail.
How to Make a San Francisco
Bar tools you’ll need
Jigger
Hawthorne Strainer
Citrus Press
Knife
Bar Spoon
How to Mix
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Fill a highball glass with ice cubes.
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Use a jigger (or measuring instrument) to measure and pour Absolut Vodka into the glass.
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Use the jigger to measure and add triple sec, followed by banana liqueur.
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Slice a pineapple in half, remove the skin and core, and cut it into chunks, saving a wedge for garnish. Place the chunks in a blender with about 1 cup of water and blend.
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Use a jigger to measure and add the pineapple juice.
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Cut an orange in half, then use a citrus press (or citrus elbow) to juice the orange halves.
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Measure and add orange juice.
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Use a bar spoon to give the drink a good stir.
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Rest the back of a bar spoon slightly above or inside the glass, and gently pour grenadine down the spoon to let it sink and create a layered effect.
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Garnish by perching the pineapple wedge you set aside earlier on the rim of your glass.
All about the San Francisco cocktail
The San Francisco is a vodka cocktail that channels the vibes of a tiki drink. It’s made with vodka, triple sec, banana liqueur, pineapple juice, orange juice, and grenadine. In our recipe, we prepare the San Francisco as a built drink, made directly in a highball glass, though it can also be shaken for a different texture.
Tangy, fruity and sweet, much like a tiki drink minus the rum. It perfectly marries citrus flavors and tropical flavors.
You get rich, sugary sweetness from grenadine, bright citrus juiciness from orange juice and triple sec, and tanginess from pineapple juice. The banana liqueur adds a unique subtle layer of sweet and creamy complexity, while vodka serves as the perfect base, letting each ingredient shine in its own right.
The origins of the San Francisco cocktail remains unknown, with no documented history. What is clear is that this version is a modern creation, developed long after the original San Francisco (Café Royal) made with sloe-gin, which dates back to the 1920s or 1930s.
Some sources suggest that this vodka-based San Francisco cocktail may have emerged in the late 1980s
- Use a citrus-flavored vodka
To amplify the citrus notes in the already-citrusy San Francisco cocktail, swap out original Absolut Vodka for Absolut Citron (lemon-flavored vodka), Absolut Lime (lime-flavored vodka), Absolut Mandrin (mandarin-flavored vodka), or Absolut Grapefruit (grapefruit-flavored vodka).Each of these flavored vodkas will introduce a new flavor nuance to the drink’s base. Mix it up and see which you like best! - Add lime juice
To balance out the sweetness of your drink, add 5 – 10 ml of fresh lime juice to your drink. - Another flavored vodka
In addition to the citrus-flavored vodkas we named above, choose any other Absolut flavored vodka to add another flavor element to your drink. For example, use Absolut Peppar (black pepper-flavored vodka) to add a peppery heat to the tropical and citrus flavors. - Shaken, not built
You can also make the San Francisco cocktail. The built version, which you see on this page, creates a layered look and flavor, with each ingredient added sequentially to highlight distinct tastes.In contrast, a shaken cocktail with ice quickly chills and dilutes the drink, resulting in a smoother texture and a well-mixed, uniform flavor profile.If you want to make a shaken version of the San Francisco, simply add all the ingredients into your shaker, including grenadine. Next, strain into a highball glass filled with ice cubes. No need to fine strain your drink, since your glass already has ice cubes.
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Make your own grenadine
Store-bought might be more convenient, but the difference between homemade grenadine and store-bought stuff is like night and day.Store-bought grenadine is usually made with high-fructose corn syrup and artificial colors, along with synthetic flavors. Homemade grenadine is a natural, lively syrup that’s sweet and tart, made from real pomegranate juice and sugar.
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Make your own orange juice
See a theme happening here? At Absolut Drinks, we’re big fans of making your own fruit juice. As we often say, if you want your drinks to rival those at your favorite bar, homemade juice is the way to go. Skip the store-bought orange juice and juice some oranges.Ideally, you’d have a centrifugal juicer for your oranges, but a citrus press or citrus elbow does the trick just fine. The taste of real orange juice will do wonders for your drink.
Check out this article on how to juice your fruits for cocktails.
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Juice your own pineapple juice
You saw this one coming, right? We highly recommend making your own pineapple juice for your San Francisco cocktail. There’s nothing quite like the taste of fresh, sweet pineapple juice. To make your own pineapple juice, you’ll need a blender or a centrifugal juicer. It requires a little more work, but it’s worth every second. -
Layer your drink properly
To achieve that mesmerizing layered look, follow the order in our recipe, adding each ingredient sequentially with the pomegranate as the final touch. Use the back of a bar spoon to carefully pour the grenadine syrup into your glass. As it sinks to the bottom, it’ll create an incredible layered effect.
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We recommend serving the San Francisco cocktail in a highball or collins glass – both glasses are great for holding all the ice and liquid while showing off the grenadine’s layered effect.
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To garnish your drink, a single pineapple wedge perched on the rim of the glass is perfect.
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However, if you want to really push those tiki vibes, add a maraschino cherry and a pineapple wedge, and toss in a couple of pineapple leaves for extra eye candy.
San Francisco Cocktail FAQ
A San Francisco cocktail is made with vodka, triple sec, banana liqueur, fresh orange juice, pineapple juice and grenadine.
It’s not to be confused with the San Francisco (Café Royal) cocktail, which is an entirely different drink.
You can use bottled or store-bought juice but we highly recommend juicing your own fruits when you’re making cocktails. Fresh, homemade juice will always taste fresher and have a greater flavor profile, which will make a huge difference to the taste of your drink.
That’s up to you. The San Francisco can be made a shaken cocktail, where all the ingredients are shaken at the same time, or as a built drink where you layer each ingredient, finishing with grenadine to create a layered effect.
Yes, you can! See the ‘Variations of a San Francisco cocktail’ section above.
The San Francisco cocktail you’re looking at here is a modern version made with vodka. The “gin” version is, in fact, an entirely different cocktail known as the San Francisco (Café Royal) made not with gin but sloe-gin and bears no similarity to the vodka San Francisco cocktail.
