Blinded by Science

With her standout gums and syrups, Small Hand Foods' Jennifer Colliau is already the best friend of local bars that specialize in pre-Prohibition cocktails.

And Heaven's Dog in SoMa is her laboratory for works in progress.

Recently, Colliau's longtime friend Erik Adkins and his team used her bright passionfruit syrup for Heaven's Dog's take on tiki classics, like the rum-heavy Sidewinder's Fang.

At the moment, Colliau's cream of coconut--made with coconut cream, lime, cane sugar and coconut water--shows its tropical promise in two brilliant cocktails:

Heaven's Dog's piña colada (pictured) eschews the blender, instead featuring pineapple and lime juices, Barbancourt rum, Colliau's pineapple gum and rich cream of coconut served over crushed ice. Puerto Rico, meet San Francisco in January.

The other is the justly named Painkiller, modeled after the signature drink of the Soggy Dollar Bar on tiny Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands. There, visitors are invariably soaked as they wade ashore, so they hang their currency to dry and nurse their wet woes with the Painkiller's unsteadying mix of Pusser's rum, orange and pineapple juices, and cream of coconut.

Thanks to Colliau's incessant tinkering, our city's Painkiller is as effective--and probably more delicious.

Heaven's Dog, 1148 Mission St. (bet. 7th and 8th Sts.); 415-863-6008 or heavensdog.com