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Earl Grey Manhattan and a Visit to (Anchor) Hotaling Distilling

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Last Updated on January 29, 2024 by Leah Hall

 A Tour of Anchor Distilling in San Francisco and a Rye Whiskey Manhattan! See our great experience, and creation of an Earl Grey Manhattan!

 

A lot of folks collect things like a t-shirt or a magnet from the places they travel, but what do we come home with? Bottles of delightful spirits of course! One thing we love to do when we travel is find a local distillery, brewery or winery and go visit! We recently were out visiting the Napa Valley, and Russian River Valley. After a couple of days in a row wine tasting, we were ready for a change of scenery! With San Fransisco a short jaunt away, we decided to head down to the city. We wanted to check out a few famous places like Alcatraz and the Embarcadero.

 

One other place we couldn’t miss being cocktail bloggers is Anchor Distilling. Anchor is a fixture in San Fransisco’s craft spirits scene since 1993. They are famous for their Old Potrero 18th Century Style Whiskey and their Junipero Gin. After the writing of this article, Anchor Distilling is now known as Hotaling & Co.

 

This post contains sponsored content brought to you by Anchor Distilling.  We were provided a complimentary tasting experiences in exchange for coverage on social media and this blog, but all opinions and views presented here are 100% our own. This post contains affiliate links for products that we think you as readers might find useful, and we make commission off of these! For further information, or if you are interested in working with us please see our Disclaimer page. 

The Anchor Distilling building in San Fransisco.

The headquarters of Anchor Distilling on Potrero Hill in San Fransisco.

San Francisco Distillery

Located up on Potrero Hill over looking down downtown San Fransisco and the Bay, Anchor Distilling was started as a side project of Fritz Maytag. He was the owner of Anchor Brewing (the brewers of the famous Anchor Steam beer!) who had always had an interest in brewing and distilling unique styles. Fritz had long been a fan of historic styles of spirits and had been thinking about distilling his own. He wanted rye whiskey in the traditional pot still style.

 

Rye whiskey has long been considered the original American spirit. Rye’s roots tracing back to the original colonists landing in the Northeast. Original settlers had brought barley along with them which they used to make their beer and whiskey. However, barley was not well suited to the cooler climate. Farmers struggled to grow enough barely to meet the ever growing demands of the colonies for beer and whiskey!

In the tasting room at Anchor Distilling, 2 ladies and a man

Leah (aka Mrs. Nom) and our friends Kim and Cobey getting a chance to sample some of Anchor Distilling’s wares in the tasting room atop the distillery!

With a shortage of grain for distilling, distilleries turned to rye. Rye flourished in the cool climate and could be easily adapted to whiskey recipes. Pot stills were soon popping up in the colonies and an American original was born! Of course having famous founding fathers like George Washington distilling his own version of rye whiskey adds to the whole American original angle too!

Big copper pot stills sit in the main distilling room of Anchor Distilling

Some of the massive pot stills inside Anchor Distilling in San Fransisco.

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Tasting room at Anchor Distilling, barbary coast sign in lights

The tasting room has lots of cool decorations that make this tasting room one awesome place to try out some spirits!

Rye Whiskey’s Return

Rye was the popular choice for a whiskey in most places across America until the dark days of Prohibition hit. After drinking was legalized again, a huge influx of Canadian and Irish whiskey’s flooded the American market. The public’s taste for a smoother, milder flavor changed in favor of the imports. Combine that with the rise of corn whiskey after World War II, and rye whiskey fell out of favor. People turned to more popular bourbons and blended import whiskeys.

Earl Grey Manhattan cockatil with whiskey bottle and mixing glass in background

By the late 80’s when Fritz Maytag was dreaming about starting his own distilling company, rye whiskey had been relegated to the dusty back shelves of bars. It seemed they only occasionally were pulled out for the occasional cocktail that called for it. The craft spirit market was all but nonexistent but Fritz decided that he wanted to focus his distillery on small artisanal crafted spirits done in a traditional way.

He and his team exhaustively researched old texts and recipes looking for the secret to making a good rye whiskey. They even took trips to Scotland to learn the secrets of distilling single malt whisky.

a snifter of whiskey in the Anchor Distilling Tasting room.

Enjoying some fine Old Potrero 19th Century Style Whiskey in a custom whiskey tasting glass in the tasting room at Anchor Distilling in San Fransisco, California!

 

Jay taking a shot of whiskey

A behind the scenes look at the life of a cocktail blogger… Taking cool shots to share with you in the Anchor Distilling tasting room! (see photo above for the results!)

Distilling in San Francisco

Finally in 1993, Fritz and his team had their recipe and process figured out. They unveiled Old Potrero 18th Century Style Whiskey. Old Potrero is made with 100% malted rye and aged in toasted oak casks rather than the charred oak casks that more modern style whiskies use.

 

The toasted barrels are closer to the style that would have been used back in the colonial days. Heating the barrel staves over an open flame allowed the barrel makers to form the staves into the proper form for a barrel.

 

The use of the toasted barrels allows for a more robust toasted grain flavor and a hint of oak flavor that makes spirit a complex, rich rye whiskey full of fruit and honey flavors. This makes for a great sipping whiskey and an even better cocktail whiskey (as you might find out with our Earl Grey Manhattan cocktail featured below!)

Earl Grey Manhattan featuring Anchor Distilling Old Potrero 18th Century Style Whiskey. Whiskey bottle, mixing glass, bar spoon, tea tins in background

Mixing Glass / Coupe / Bar Spoon

Gin

Soon after unveiling Anchor Distilling’s Old Potrero Whiskey, Fritz and his team turned their attention to gin. Gin is another spirit with lots of history which means that it fit right into Fritz Maytag’s vision that Anchor Distilling would make traditional spirits in a very focused, artisinal way. They again extensively researched recipes and ingredients for the gin. In 1996 came up with the first craft gin produced in the United States since Prohibition, Junipero.

 

Appropriately named for the main flavoring in gin, juniper berries, Junipero is made with more than a dozen fresh botanicals blended together. to create Junipero is a clean, crisp London Dry style gin. Wonderfully balanced, this even made our friends who came with us on our visit turn to us and say “I could drink this gin straight and I don’t ever drink gin even mixed!”

top shot of the Earl Grey Manhattan made with Anchor Distilling Old Potrero 18th Century Style Whiskey.

Anchor Distilling Tasting Room

Visiting the Anchor Distilling tasting room is definitely worth the stop if you are in San Fransisco. We have been to many distillery tasting rooms, and this was one of our favorite experiences in a tasting room ever!

 

Maybe it was the combination of the location (in the Fritz Maytag’s former penthouse atop the tall distillery building) and little touches. Little touches like the sourdough crackers and ice water to help cleanse your palette, plus the incredible view of downtown San Fransisco amid the rooftop garden surrounded by the botanicals used in the distillation of Anchor Distilling’s products, but the whole thing just worked!

Tasting at Anchor Distilling

The tasting setup that you get to check out in the tasting room of Anchor Distilling!

 

Wall of herbs at Anchor Distilling

Some of the herbs and botanicals found in the roof top garden of Anchor Distilling!

Tasting Experience

Our tasting experience allowed us to try Anchor Distilling’s own branded products that are distilled on property. They are Junipero, Genevieve Genever-style Gin, Anchor Old Tom Gin, Hophead Vodka, Old Potrero 18th Century Style Whiskey, and Old Potrero Single Malt Straight Rye Whiskey along with Luxardo Maraschino Cherries.

 

Each taste of the various spirits was explained the extremely knowledgeable host. Each was with an explanation of how the spirit was distilled and the history behind it. After the tasting, you are encouraged to step out onto the rooftop patio. From there you can see the million dollar view of downtown San Fransisco!

Shot from the patio of Hotaling Distilling of downtown San Fransisco.

What a view of downtown San Fransisco from the patio of Anchor Distilling’s tasting room on Potrero Hill!

 

Jay enjoying his tot of whiskey

Jay (aka Mr. Nom) pauses blogging for a second to enjoy some of the fine spirits we got to sample at Anchor Distilling in San Fransisco!

Earl Grey Manhattan

For our featured cocktail, an Earl Grey Whiskey Manhattan, we used Anchor Distilling’s Old Potrero 18th Century Style Whiskey. This was a great spin on a classic cocktail. Also in the whiskey Manhattan is a bit of vermouth and added a little earl grey infused simple syrup. It’s a nice combination of boozy and sweet, the earl grey adds a rich undertone of bergamot and black tea which compliments the herbal notes from the vermouth and the peppery warmth of the rye whiskey Manhattan.

 

This is a nice sipper for a winter’s night or for drinking as a cool bay fog rolls in over the bay!

top shot of the Earl Grey Manhattan made with Anchor Distilling Old Potrero 18th Century Style Whiskey. Whiskey bottle, mixing glass, orange, flowers and tea tins in background

What Ingredients are Needed for the Whiskey Manhattan?

  • Earl Grey Simple Syrup
    • Earl Grey Tea
    • Sugar
    • Water
  • Earl Grey Manhattan
    • Earl Grey Simple Syrup
    • Sweet Vermouth
    • Whiskey
    • Angostura Bitters

 

Go check out our friends at Hotaling Distilling! If you happen to be visiting San Fransisco, make your way up to Potrero Hill visit their tasting room, too! If you are headed to northern California, stop in at Humboldt Bay Social Club or Humboldt Distillery.

 

Cheers!

 

Other Distilleries

Jay and Leah at the Bar at Anchor Distilling

We couldn’t resist taking a shot in front of this gorgeous bar inside Anchor Distilling!

Other Earl Grey Cocktail Recipes

 

Also, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and tag #gastronomcocktails so we can see all the wonderful recipes YOU recreate from this site!

 

You can also subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss a delicious recipe again!

 

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A cocktail coupe filled with an Earl Grey Manhattan made with Anchor Distilling Old Potrero 18th Century Style Whiskey.
Yield: 1

Earl Grey Manhattan and a Visit to Hotaling Distilling

Prep Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 3 minutes

Earl Grey tea Manhattan cocktail, a twist on a classic, and we went on a tour of Hotaling (Anchor) Distilling in San Francisco.

Ingredients

Earl Grey Simple Syrup

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 Earl Grey tea bag

For the Earl Grey Manhattan

  • 2 ounces Hotaling Distilling Old Potrero 18th Century Style Whiskey
  • .50 ounce Earl Grey simple syrup
  • .25 ounce sweet vermouth
  • 3 dashes Angostura bitters

Instructions

For the Earl Grey Manhattan

Add all ingredients into a mixing glass.

Add ice.

Stir until chilled.

Strain into a cocktail coupe.

Cheers!


For the Earl Grey Simple Syrup

Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan.

Remove from heat.

Add tea bag and allow to steep for 30 minutes.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

1

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 195Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 10mgCarbohydrates: 12.2gFiber: 0gSugar: 0.1gProtein: 0g

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Tamara Andersen

Thursday 16th of April 2020

Leah! This is an awesome cocktail! I just discovered we have an unopened box of Earl Grey. I vaguely remembered you had an Earl Grey Manhattan. Hubby googled it and came up with this post. He just made the syrup, and we're sipping this lovely cocktail. You just improved our "every day the same" existence. Thank you!

The 'Noms.

Thursday 16th of April 2020

I love to hear that! So glad you enjoyed it!

Jessica Robinson

Wednesday 20th of December 2017

This drink looks amazing and I'm sure delicious! Perfect for the holidays!

The 'Noms.

Wednesday 27th of December 2017

Thanks so much! We loved this combination, cheers!

Ruthie Ridley (@RuthieRidley)

Thursday 14th of December 2017

This looks and sounds amazing!! I wanna try!

The 'Noms.

Wednesday 27th of December 2017

Thanks so much! We love this one, cheers!

Marlynn | UrbanBlissLife

Wednesday 13th of December 2017

If I find myself in the area, I'll have to check it out. It looks great!

The 'Noms.

Wednesday 27th of December 2017

You should, such a neat experience! Cheers!

Gunjan

Wednesday 13th of December 2017

Looks like a beautiful place. My brother liver there for 2 years but I never had a chance to visit Manhattan.

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