Cocktail purveyors and mixologists all around the Bay Area rejoiced this week after California Governor Jerry Brown signed a senate bill lifting a ban on infused alcoholic beverages.

Senate Bill 32, authored by San Francisco state Senator Mark Leno, allows California restaurants and bars to infuse alcohol with fruits, vegetables, herbs or spices.

The bill reverses what Leno called a “Prohibition-era statute” disallowing the practice, as bartenders were reportedly fined for not complying with the rules and restaurants threw out thousands of dollars in infused liquor.

“In San Francisco and other cities where tourism is critical to the local economy, restaurant owners have been asked to stop serving infused cocktails in the name of an outdated law written decades ago,” Leno said in a statement.

The bill includes an urgency clause that allows the new law to take effect immediately, perfect timing as San Francisco celebrates Cocktail Week.

Photo Credit: CUESA, via Flickr

• Tag: Infused Cocktails, Jerry Brown, Mark Leno, New Law, Senate Bill