These Girl Scout Cookie Cocktails Are Only Available Once a Year in San Francisco

Thin Mints. S’mores. Lemon-Ups. Tagalongs. Samoas.

If you grew up in the United States of America, you’ve eaten at least a few boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. There might not be anything more discernibly American, in fact, than coughing up some dollar bills for the old-fashioned treats to a group of young girls and their overworked parents in a grocery store parking lot.

Now, for the true devotees, Girl Scout Cookies can now be imbibed in a cocktail glass during happy hour at Causwells, a neighborhood bistro and bar in San Francisco’s Marina District, during the month of April.

“I was literally just walking down Chestnut Street and seeing girl scouts selling cookies, and thinking ‘What could we do to develop our menu with that?’ We bought out the whole stand, and the local troop leader had to bring more from down the street. And from there, it just began by eating a lot of cookies,” Elmer Mejicanos, the bar’s Beverage Director and co-owner, recalls.

The limited-time menu, which debuts on Tuesday, April 2, for its second annual iteration, is playfully designed to look like a Girl Scouts Cookie box.

Thin Mints are served as vodka with hits of creme de menthe, creme de cacao, fernet and cream (it has a distinctly mint-ish hue, too). Lemon Ups are represented by gin, hazelnut liqueur, and lemon and orange flower water poured over sugar-powdered Japanese shaved ice (to give it that cool lemony kiss). And Adventurefuls? That round cookie of brownie-esque girth? It’ll come as bourbon mixed with vermouth, lemon and mole bitters whisked in egg whites (for that extra creaminess).

Mejicanos’ favorite is the Samoa — which mixes rum with organic coconut milk, mint and fresh mandarin in a Tiki-inspired mug. In total, there are six cookies alchemized into cocktail form.

Each cocktail incorporates the actual cookies, too — Mejicanos purchased over 250 boxes of each variety from local sellers — with a mix of infusions, syrups and actual shavings from the various cookies to highlight their iconic flavor profiles. A whole cookie garnishes every drink.

“The goal was to mimic the flavor without making it too rich or too sweet,” says Mejicanos.

Causwells started churning out their Girl Scout Cookie-inspired beverages a year ago, seasonally aligned with the time of year that local girl scouts distribute their cookies. It proved so popular that Causwells decided to bring it back.

“It was cool to get the [local girl scouts] to their goal and be involved in the neighborhood that way,” Mejicanos, who has a younger daughter, says. “The moms were really happy. We’re not just riffing on cocktails. We actually want to help out as much as we can.”

Causwells (2346 Chestnut St., San Francisco) will serve their second annual edition of Girl Scout Cookies cocktails from Tuesday, April 2 to Tuesday, April 30. One dollar from every drink purchased will be donated to the Girl Scouts of America Opportunity Fund for girls in low-income households.