Because we all know the Twain adage about summer in San Francisco, we'll skip it and throw out this recipe for a slightly wintry concoction that comes to us via Greg Lindgren of Rye (688 Geary). It's their signature infused whiskey called Rock & Rye; it would mix well with ginger ale and makes for a great hot toddy base for those cold and foggy July and August nights. From Greg:

When we decided to name our bar "Rye" we figured it would be a good idea to familiarize ourselves with all things having to do with this great American whiskey. At the time it was fairly easy to put together an inventory of most of the rye that was commercially available (this amounted to a collection of little more than a dozen bottles). Thankfully a wave of enthusiasm for rye whiskey has swept the drinking world and more of the stuff is being produced by visionaries like Fritz Maytag of San Francisco's Anchor Distilling Co.

One particular obsession of ours has been the curiosity known as Rock & Rye. Near as we can figure, tavern keepers in the North East used to keep a jar of rye sweetened with rock candy, or rock candy syrup, with the addition of citrus fruits, spices, and the herb, horehound. Various recipes made it sound as if the bartender simply emptied the contents of his garnish fruits into the jar at the end of the evening: orange slices, lemons, cherries, etc. Jacquin's, one of the few remaining brands of Rock & Rye sold in bottle has the actual citrus fruit floating in it.