San Francisco’s Bar 888

At Bar 888, InterContinental San Francisco celebrates one of the best traditional drinks of Italy. Here, the famous grappa comes out of the shadows and stars as the main attraction with tantalizing cocktails and fabulous elixirs. It’s this unique tradition that ranks Bar 888 among the best bars in San Francisco.

Grappa is a fragrant, grape-based pomace brandy of between 30% and 80% alcohol by volume (60 to 160 proof), of Italian origin. Literally “grape stalk,”, grappa is made by distilling pomace, grape residue (mainly the skins, but also stems and seeds) left over from winemaking after pressing. It was originally made to prevent waste by using leftovers at the end of the wine season. Grappa quickly became commercialized, mass-produced, and sold worldwide. The flavor of grappa, like that of wine, depends on the type and quality of the grape used as well the specifics of the distillation process.

In Italy, grappa is primarily served as a “digestivo” or after-dinner drink. Its main purpose was to aid in the digestion of heavy meals. Grappa may also be added to espresso coffee to create a caffé corretto, meaning corrected coffee. Another variation of this is the “ammazza caffé” (literally, “coffee-killer”): the espresso is drunk first, followed by a few ounces of grappa served in its own glass. In the Veneto, there is rasentin: after finishing a cup of espresso with sugar, a few drops of grappa are poured into the nearly empty cup and swirled, and drunk down in one sip.

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