Doble Bar’s Feather Weight Shim

Doble Bar’s Feather Weight Shim

LORI EANES

Moncada and Carrasco


A pop-up party cocktail features less alcohol for easy sipping.

Weddings are supposed to be a celebration. And yet, observes bartender Jessica Moncada, “The most celebratory aspect is often overlooked.” Moncada was surprised to discover that with the high-end, eco-friendly weddings she assists in planning, the bar was often an afterthought. So she and Zoe Carrasco—who met when they were the first female bartenders to be hired at Flora—started Doble Bar to provide special events of any size with customizable, highly personal cocktail experiences.

The “doble” part of their partnership’s name comes from the Spanish for “double,” a nod, first and foremost, to Carrasco’s Mexican and Moncada’s Nicaraguan roots. “Establishing ourselves as women of color in this industry has been pretty important to us,” says Moncada, “because we are few and far between, and it’s been pretty challenging sometimes.” In the bar world, they add, the number two comes up a lot: Make it a double; a shot is 2 ounces. And, of course, there are two of them.

But what began at weddings—another couplish affair—has taken on a life of its own. With 14 years of bartending experience between them (at Penrose, Duende, Camino, Bourbon & Branch, the Ramen Shop, Doña Tomás, and Flora) the pair wanted someplace to experiment. So they started doing pop-up parties at Geoffrey’s Inner Circle, whose owner is a family friend of Moncada’s. With its fireplace, lavish décor, and dark wood bar whose past life includes a ship and a World’s Fair, Geoffrey’s is a perfect place for a speakeasy-style cocktail ’do. The next pop-up at Geoffrey’s (410 14th St., Oakland) is 7 p.m.–midnight Thursday, May 22, and will feature an exhibition of local artists’ work.

Lately the two women have been relying heavily on shims, or lower-alcohol cocktails, like the Americano and the Shandy. “At dinner parties you can’t drink cocktail after cocktail for hours,” says Carrasco, “but you can drink a pitcher like these.” Their cocktail of the month, the bready-sweet Feather Weight, is one such shim.

Feather Weight Shim

1 1/2 ounces Cocchi Vermouth di Torino

1 ounce Jamaican rum (Appleton Estate recommended)

3/4 ounce IPA syrup (made from equal parts sugar and very hoppy IPA beer)

2 dashes orange bitters

Build in a Collins glass, top with soda, stir. Add ice, then garnish with a flower and grapefruit peel.

 

Check out www.DobleBar.com for info on their services-for-hire. Follow Doble Bar on Instagram @stirring_sipping to learn about future pop-ups and other events.

This article appears in the May 2014 issue of Alameda Magazin
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