How do you take a 148-year-old neighborhood bar and turn it into an iconic staple for the future of sustainable cocktails, spirits, and brews? Elixir’s owner H. Joseph Ehrmann knows how, and in 2005 he jumped ahead of the game with the first Bay Area Green Business certified bar in San Francisco.

Ehrmann and Elixir are innovating new ways to make cocktails and spirits green and sustainable. This year’s Slow Food Nation in San Francisco actually featured this idea alongside the notion that spirits are an agricultural product that can actually allow farmers to diversify their production.

And a national financial crisis hasn’t slowed the Green revolution – in fact, green businesses are one of the few growth sectors during these hard economic times. Trend-setting and greenwashing aside, Elixir delivers as a genuine pioneer in The Industry – only seasonal, organic fruits are used, only environmentally-friendly cleaning and other products are purchased, and Ehrmann requires his team to recycle and compost.

What’s even better? If you’ve ever been to Elixir you have probably picked up on the welcoming vibe the bartenders give off when you sit down at the dark Mahogany bar. You’re at ease with the nice mix of people seated all around you. And you can let your imagination run wild picturing how Elixir went from Wild-west Saloon to a prohibition ‘Soft Drink Bar’ to a Gay/Latino/Transvestite bar to more recently a chain ‘Jacks’ Bar --and finally San Francisco’s first Green Bar/Saloon.

Stopping in for a drink at Elixir might actually end up being the healthiest part of your day. Not only are the libations made fresh, with high quality ingredients, you also get to participate in a cool idea: Green Saloons and Bars that actually care about what their patrons are taking in and what they’re putting out.