The Story Behind The Cable Car

In between the disco era and the modern cocktail renaissance, there existed a gray area in the mid-’90s. Drinks like the Cosmo and Sex on the Beach were still go-to orders for most bar-goers, but a wave of mixologists began the practice of riffing on classics and opting for fresh-squeezed citrus over syrupy sweet and sour mixes. One such bartender was Tony Abou-Ganim, a.k.a. “The Modern Mixologist,” and arguably his most famous creation was the Cable Car: a Sidecar riff made with spiced rum, orange curaçao, fresh lemon juice, and simple syrup served in a cinnamon sugar-rimmed glass.

Abou-Ganim invented the Cable Car in 1996 while working as the head bartender at San Francisco’s lavish Starlight Room. The city itself is home to the world’s last manually operated cable car system, with the Nob Hill line passing right by the bar — well, sort of. The Starlight Room (now Starlite) is actually situated on the 21st floor of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel (now the Beacon Grand), hence its original slogan: “Between the cable cars and the stars.”

One afternoon, a few representatives from Captain Morgan reached out to Abou-Ganim and asked him to craft a new drink featuring their spiced rum. At the time, the Sidecar had been a largely forgotten classic, but being a fan of the cocktail, Abou-Ganim thought to bring it back to life by swapping out the Sidecar’s base of brandy with Captain Morgan. He slightly tweaked the proportions, added a splash of simple syrup, and finished it off with a cinnamon sugar rim. The new drink, dubbed the Cable Car, debuted on the Starlight Room’s second menu, and became an immediate crowd favorite.

Two years later, Abou-Ganim was recruited to run the many bars housed in Las Vegas’s Bellagio Hotel and Casino, allowing him to introduce the Cable Car to tourists from around the globe. The drink gained yet another set of wings in 2003, when legendary bartender and author Gary “Gaz” Regan included it in his book “The Joy of Mixology.”

We unfortunately don’t see too many Cable Cars crossing bar tops these days. Perhaps that’s due to the waning popularity of spiced rum among bartenders, or maybe it’s because so many cocktails that came after it stole the spotlight. But the Cable Car was indeed a modern classic before the term was even coined — a drink that was ahead of its time but still anchored in the preferred tastes of the ‘90s.

There are plenty of spiced rums to choose from when one goes to shake up a Cable Car, but of course, Captain Morgan is preferred. The same goes for the myriad orange curaçaos on the market, however Abou-Ganim has always been loyal to the Marie Brizard brand, which blends Spanish orange zest with bitter oranges from Haiti. For the cinnamon sugar rim, simply blend equal parts cinnamon and sugar in a bowl, and you’re good to go.