Drexl Brings Bunny Breckenridge to the Bar

Drexl Brings Bunny Breckenridge to the Bar

PHOTO BY LORI EANES

Alex Condé of Drexl presents a frothy Bunny Breckenridge.


The prettiest gentleman’s cocktail debuts at Drexl with a twist of Bill Murray.

If only all committee meetings went like this: Come up with a cocktail concept, taste it, flirt with the idea, find the perfect balance, and make it official with a catchy name.

Fortunately for the eight-member bartending crew at Drexl, that’s exactly how the process goes. And for veteran bartender Alex Condé, who hails from the likes of Gather, Penrose, and San Francisco’s Verbena among others, there’s an extra shot of fun when it comes to furnishing a cocktail with a title of its own. That’s because, as he explained, “Every cocktail I put on a list has to be named after a Bill Murray character. I don’t know how that came about, but you’ll always know which is mine, because it will almost always be a name, the only name on the menu.”

So when you hop onto one of the swiveling stools at this downtown Oakland bar that boasts an upstairs skeeball lounge, peruse the list of house-styled drinks with your Hollywood favorites in mind. If you missed the Raleigh St. Clair (named for Murray’s character in The Royal Tenenbaums), then make sure to mark your calendar for this month’s Bunny Breckenridge (so named for Murray’s role in Ed Wood). A blend of Deschutes IPA, mezcal, green chili vodka, and beet juice, this juxtaposition of drinkability looks like a bachelorette party concoction (frothy, pink) and tastes like a Madison Avenue gentlemen’s special (smoky, earthy). The complex combination of masculine and feminine characteristics gives a nod to the man for whom the cocktail is named. In Ed Wood (and in real life), Bunny Breckenridge is/was a flamboyant stage actor and drag performer who flouted gender norms of the 1920s. Plus, added Condé, “The pronunciation of the name speaks to the aesthetic of the cocktail. It’s a pretty, masculine drink, so there’s a twist of irony there.”

Whether you choose to whip this gem up in your kitchen or sit mesmerized while the Drexl staff shows how it’s really done, you can bask in the unusual mix of flavors while contemplating how you would design a Ghostbusters-inspired drink. Why? Because Condé told us, “The next cocktail I name will be the Peter Venkman; I promise that.”

 

The Bunny Breckenridge

 Egg white

 2 bar spoons of St. George Spirits Green Chili Vodka

 1 1/2 ounces Mezcal Pelotón de la Muerte

 1 ounce Cocchi Americano

 1 1/2 ounces beet juice

 1 1/2 ounces Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA

 

Combine all but IPA in a shaker and dry shake, no ice. Add ice, hard shake, double strain into a coupe glass, and top with IPA.