Bourbon, popcorn, banana caramel, bitters & clarified butter — Tiya SF
Clarified butter (ghee in Hindi/Sanskrit — the cornerstone fat of Indian cooking for 5,000 years) is the trick in Civic Center. Fat-washing spirits with clarified butter introduces a rich, dairy-adjacent creaminess and an intensely savoury, nutty quality that bourbon's caramel and vanilla flavours are uniquely suited to carry. Popcorn-infused bourbon adds a distinct toasty, corn-forward note — corn is bourbon's primary grain, so the infusion amplifies what's already there. Banana caramel provides sweetness with a tropical-fruity character. The result is an Old Fashioned-adjacent cocktail with a culinary depth that could only come from a kitchen like Tiya's.
This is the most technically demanding cocktail on Tiya's menu. The ghee fat-wash takes patience — completely remove the solidified fat layer by straining through cheesecloth after freezing, or the drink will be greasy. The banana caramel can be made ahead and refrigerated for 1 week. Regular unsalted popcorn works better than buttered microwave popcorn for the infusion.
Replace banana caramel with date syrup for a more Middle Eastern flavour profile.
Tiya takes the intersecting immigrant histories of San Francisco's Japanese and Indian communities and distils them into a cocktail menu. Each drink is named after a San Francisco neighborhood, building a portrait of the city through layered flavour — yuzu meets curry leaf, matcha meets chai, Calpico meets tamarind. A genuinely original vision in American craft bartending.
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