Bottoms up: Cocktails at Motor Supply Co.

Since 1989, Motor Supply Co. has been a dining oasis for anyone looking for a unique culinary experience.

But the handwritten lunch and dinner menus, updated daily, are not the only things patrons have come to expect from one of the Vista’s most beloved establishments. Its bar is growing quite the reputation for its cocktails.

“I like to experiment,” said head bartender Josh Streetman. “We have a menu, food-wise, that changes daily. So when we have something that changes so often, we want to use that emphasis on putting out cocktails that are seasonal and interesting and that will challenge our staff.

“I really enjoy putting together flavors and blending different things and having a good time doing it,” Streetman said. “Right now, we’re using a lot of things that are seasonal – getting a lot of those fall flavors. I’ve been using persimmons for the short amount of time that we have them in season. … We’re getting beautiful Bartlett pears in and great Honeycrisp apples.”

One of Streetman’s seasonal drinks – aptly named “Robbing the Apple Tree” – is a play on an apple martini using those Honeycrisp apples instead of a liqueur.

“The apple martini is not really a martini; it’s a cocktail,” said Streetman. “And that’s one of the things I played off of lately – the idea of not using syrups and making an apple martini out of all-natural products. I’ve been mixing apple and bourbon with black walnut. It’s a really good fall flavor. It’s crisp, but it leaves a structure of the bourbon.”

Another drink, called a Pale Shelter, incorporated the Bartlett pears. Streetman made a variation of a margarita using barrel-aged tequila to make for a more savory drink fragranced with fresh rosemary.

“The rosemary gives it big nose, the pear gives it structure, and the tequila gives it a backbone that pulls it all together,” Streetman said.

A third drink, Streetman admitted, is a bit off the wall. Streetman received locally grown honey-roasted coffee beans and created a drink around them. “The Little Red Corvette” blends the beans, scotch and two vegetable-based liqueurs to create a complex yet smooth drink. Admittedly, the taste is jarring at first, but the more you sip, the more you realize just how dangerously good it is.

“It’s one of those drinks that makes someone who doesn’t like scotch rethink that,” said Streetman.

As for the bar’s menu, Streetman prefers to showcase what the bar can create besides your typical cocktail.

“It’s not about changing someone’s perspective, but just challenging it and helping them branch out. That’s the idea that I have when I make drinks,” Streetman said.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 10:52 AM.