In Search of Raw-Egg Cocktails (Video)

Has the salmonella scare kept Bay Area hipsters from sipping pisco sours?
By: Queena Kim, Tanya Jo Miller, Zoe Corneli

Before you slurp up that trendy pisco sour, make sure you know what you’re drinking.

As local, organic food has become more popular in the Bay Area in recent years, so have intricate cocktails made from fresh fruits and vegetables — and, yes, often raw eggs.

In recent weeks, 550 million eggs have been pulled off the shelf due to possible salmonella contamination that may have sickened more than 1,400 people. We wondered whether that was having an effect on the local cocktail scene.

Though the risk of salmonella is low — the current large-scale recall accounts for less than 1 percent of total egg production — the public panic appears relatively high. Or is it?

We visited several cocktail bars in San Francisco’s Mission District to find out.