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September 2018 Cocktail Events Round-Up

Summer is over, people are back at work, and you’re already looking for September 2018 cocktail events in the District to take the edge off.  You’ve come to the right place – at least, for cocktail events.  Whether they will take the edge off might depend on your taste in music.  But if a death-metal-themed pop-up bar inspired by Virginia’s own Gwar puts you in the right mood, you’ll love this:

 
 
 
 
 
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Join us opening week at #GWARPUB! 💀Enjoy a Jagermonsta Colada while you witness a 34-year retrospective of the band’s signature stage props and costumes! 🤘🏼

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That’s Drink Company’s latest, honoring 34 years of Gwar just in time for Halloween, running at 1839 7th Street N.W. from September 6 through October 31.

Even if that’s not your cup of tea, there’s more in store this month.  For one thing, September is National Bourbon Heritage Month, which one could celebrate any number of productive ways; the 20th and 28th also bring us National Rum Punch Day and National Drink a Beer Day, respectively.  And there are also a bunch of fun events around town.  Read on for cocktail classes and other events on offer in our Nation’s Capitol this month.

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August 2018 Cocktail Events Round-Up

Your August 2018 cocktail events guide is a bit abbreviated because I didn’t find that many events on offer this month.  Apparently you should be vacationing.  (May I recommend Maine, where I visited last month and came up with this take on the Scofflaw.)  For those who, like me, will be spending most of August in the District working, here are some things to put on your calendars, along with National Rum Day (August 16th) and National Whiskey Sour Day (the 25th):

Medicine Making Class: Herbal Vinegars, Cordials, & Cocktails at Smile Herb Shop.  The Smile Herb Shop in College Park has specialized in herbal products since 1975.  This month, herbalist Besty Miller will teach you to make herbal vinegars like “fire cider,” strawberry rose shrubs, and herbal cordials with elderberries and fruits.  These ingredients can be used to make “delicious and healthful herbal cocktails,” and cocktails, we are assured, “can be medicine too.”  (This brings to mind the Traditional Chinese Medicine cocktails at Tiger Fork, which you can read about here.)  Tickets are $100; more information here.  4908 Berwyn Road, College Park; August 18 from noon to 3 p.m.

Cocktail Class: Make Your Own Gin at Via Umbria.  As past round-ups reveal, Via Umbria has been conducting monthly cocktail-making classes.  This month it mixes things up slightly by showing you how to make your own gin at home.  Continuing this month’s herbal theme, Via Umbria tells us that gin’s first use was as an “herbal medicine” (but also its current use, am I right?).  Via Umbria also explains that the heart of gin is the juniper berry (which is not actually a berry but can be found in abundance in Maine, so one more reason to visit).  Playing host to District 209 – maker of several gins – Via Umbria will show you how to mix those (non)berries with “sugar, spice, and ice” to craft your own home gin.  1525 Wisconsin Avenue; August 29 from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Class: Cocktails 101.  If making gin is not your thing there is another option at basically the same time:  a cocktail-making class for “the novice and intermediate home mixologist” at Benjamin’s on Franklin at Tastemakers in Brookland.  Benjamin’s promises to teach you how to make three classic cocktails and educate you on the history behind them.  2800 10th Street N.E.; August 29 from 7 to 9 p.m.

That’s all I have this month.  As always, please send me any events you’d like to see featured here!

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Classic Recipe with a Twist: Meet Me in the Woods at Midnight (a take on the Scofflaw)

You could do a lot worse than spend a week or two or your summer in Maine.  I’ve spent some time with my family up on Mount Desert Island the last few summers, near Acadia National Park.  One favorite activity there is hiking on one of the many trails on the oceanside mountains; another is making cocktails at happy hour with made-in-Maine ingredients.  This year is no exception, and after one of these hikes I wanted to make a cocktail that captured the beautiful Maine woods on a foggy, misty day – a drink I called Meet Me in the Woods at Midnight, which is a slight variation of the classic Scofflaw:

Meet Me in the Woods at Midnight

I always feature the drink first in these posts so you can see what you’re getting into.  But that makes this post sort of backwards because you’re seeing the ultimate creation before its inspiration.  So without further ado, let me share a bit of what I saw earlier in the day.  The first part of the hike featured a long stretch of woods immersed in fog – with living trees standing comfortably next to the dead.  The forest floor was covered with almost glow-green moss that added to the eerie effect.  It was a beautiful, almost haunted scene:

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Recipe: Founder’s Fizz

Happy Fourth of July!  Today we celebrate American Independence, which, as a recent article in the Atlantic noted, a European visitor once described as “almost the only holy-day kept in America.”  As the same article noted, drinking has long been practiced in observation of the day.  In that spirit, I bring you this short post to offer you a recipe for the Founder’s Fizz – a refreshing drink perfect for a hot summer day, conceived by Michael Anthony, the bar manager at the Richard Rodgers theatre, the Broadway home of Hamilton:

Founder's Fizz

Like many classic and enduring drink recipes, this recipe is very simple, consisting of gin, simple syrup and lime juice, topped off with seltzer.  Pour that over a glass full of crushed ice and you’ve got a drink that will help keep you cool as you wait for the sun to set and the fireworks to commence.

Now, to be clear, the Founder’s Fizz is a modern creation.  But here’s a bit of history to put you in a July-4th-type of drinking mood.  On July 6, 1803, the Washington Federalist recounted the Independence Day festivities in the District that year.  On that day, “the Artillery and Grenadiers under their Captains, Edgar and Benjamin Patterson, with several respectable citizens, retired to the Federal spring on Rock Creek.”  Following an “elegant dinner,” several “toasts were drank, under discharge of cannon and musketry.”  As one does (don’t tell me you forgot to order the cannons and muskets for your Fourth of July party?).  And here were the toasts:

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July 2018 Cocktail Events Round-Up

We are at the start of another month, and so I offer you this list of July 2018 cocktail events in D.C.  Of course, July means hot weather (i.e. frozen drinks) and Independence Day in the District.  Note that these two things can be profitably combined:

July also provides several opportunities to celebrate cocktails and spirits at home, bringing us National Anisette Day (July 2), National Piña Colada Day (July 10 – see recipe here), National Mojito Day (July 11), National Grand Marnier Day (July 14), National Daiquiri Day (July 19 – see my recipe for a blood orange daiquiri here), National Tequila Day (July 24 – try Ted’s Tequila Cocktail if you haven’t already), and National Scotch Day (July 27).

But if you want to escape the comfortable air conditioning of your house this month, here’s what’s happening around town:

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Classic Recipe: Piña Colada

Today’s forecast is 95 and sunny, with more of the same (and even hotter) for the next two days.  When this part of the summer comes around, I resort to standard survival methods:  crank the air conditioning; put out the inflatable backyard pool; and blend up some frozen drinks.  To help you in your fight back against the heat and humidity, I offer you a recipe for the classic frozen cocktail:  the piña colada.

Piña Colada

The piña colada combines pineapple and coconut flavors with ice and rum and – through the power of these tropical flavors and the position the drink has come to occupy in the collective imagination – mentally transports you to a breezy tropical island.  Suddenly, the blazing heat and humidity of the Washingtonian jungle feels right – almost as if you really are at the beach:

Tropical island

Even if all you are really doing is filling your inflatable pool for that inflatable-pool party you’re hosting later (but trust me, this is a good idea – it helps with the tropical-island fantasy):

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June 2018 Cocktail Events Round-Up

I’m writing to you from the road to bring you this slightly overdue list of June 2018 cocktail events in D.C.  It’s June, so that means Negroni week – check out the options below.  And as always we have classes and other cocktail-themed events for you to explore this month.

To start, although this isn’t really a “cocktail event,” per se, you could do worse than spend one of your June nights at a Rake’s Progress.  Rake’s is using unique ingredients, with an emphasis on local products, and it has one of the most thoughtful cocktail menus I’ve seen in the District.  Plus, the drinks just look good:

June 2018 cocktail events

Read more in my review of Rake’s.  Then consider your other options for June:

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Original Recipe: Ted’s Tequila Cocktail

My friend Ted hit a birthday milestone earlier this year.  I was invited to contribute to the celebration by designing a signature cocktail that the fantastic bar team at Del Mar would serve the guests at his party.  The only guideline I was given was to use tequila.  This turned out to be harder than I thought.  I haven’t worked a lot with tequila outside of making margaritas (though my Desert Orange and Smoked Pearl recipes use mezcal).  And I wanted to live up to the circumstances – an important occasion attended by a lot of people.  The recipe had to be good and have wide appeal.  Needless to say, there was a lot of trial and error before settling on a final recipe.  But I think I succeeded, and now I’m sharing it with you – Ted’s Tequila Cocktail:

Ted's Tequila Cocktail

The concept I had in mind was to make a drink that marked a transition from spring to summer, which seemed both literally and metaphorically apt.  For spring I chose the floral and herbal flavors of St.-Germain and yellow Chartreuse; for summer, pineapple and jalapeño.  I also added a little lemon juice to amp up the tanginess a little and balance against the sweetness of the spring flavors.

It worked!  In fact, this is one of my favorite concoctions to date.  It’s a perfect balance of sweet, tangy and spicy, and very easy to drink.  It went over very well at the birthday party, and it has been a crowd-pleaser in subsequent events, too.  Be prepared to serve multiple rounds if you’re making this one for guests!

A word on spice.  You can modulate how spicy the drink is by being mindful of the number of seeds in the jalapeño pepper.  As I detail in the recipe, this drink should be shaken with one slice of jalapeño pepper and garnished with another slice.  More seeds (in either place, but especially in the shaker) means more spice.  You can minimize the spice by using slices of pepper that contain no seeds.

Here is the recipe:

Ted's Tequila Cocktail recipe
Print Recipe

Ted's Tequila Cocktail

This cocktail celebrates spring with some herbal and floral flavors provided by yellow Chartreuse and St.-Germain, warms you up with a bit of jalapeño, and previews summer with pineapple juice and citrus.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Sour
Keyword: Pineapple tequila recipe
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 182kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 1 oz. tequila I used Espolòn
  • 1/2 oz. yellow Chartreuse
  • 1/2 oz. St.-Germain
  • 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
  • 1/2 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 pineapple chunk
  • 1 jalapeño

Instructions

  • Combine the tequila, Chartreuse, St.-Germain, juices and a slice of jalapeño pepper in a shaking tin with ice.  Note that more seeds in the jalapeño pepper means more spice.  Shake vigorously.
  • Strain into a rocks glass over ice.
  • Garnish with a chunk of pineapple and a slice of jalapeño pepper.

Enjoy!

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Classic Recipe with a Twist: Cherry Blossom Negroni

Cherry-blossom season is basically over in the District.  But cherry-blossom drinking need not be.  So far I’ve offered you two cherry-blossom cocktails.  The Sakura Sparkler is a refreshing non-alcoholic cocktail made with Seedlip.  In that recipe, I also showed you how to make your own cherry-blossom ice cubes.  Bookmark that, because we’ll use it again here.  I also brought you another original recipe – the Cherry Blossom Cocktail – which was made with Cerasum cherry-blossom liqueur by D.C.’s own Don Ciccio & Figli.  Now I bring you one last recipe for this cherry-blossom season:  the Cherry Blossom Negroni.

Cherry Blossom Negroni

The Negroni needs no introduction.  It is made with equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth.  One of the classic cocktails, the Negroni has one of those colorful and contested histories.  The leading versions agree that the drink is named after a Count Negroni of Italy.  But they disagree as to when the drink was invented, and by which Count.  And other historical research casts doubt on whether the inventor was really a Count at all.

What is certain is that the drink is a legacy of which any family should be proud.  The same is true of Don Ciccio & Figli, that District-based distiller that traces its roots to a family liqueur-making business back (also to Italy) in 1883, somewhere in between the competing dates (1857 or 1919) on which the competing Counts Negroni might have first invented their eponymous drink.  In one of its latest offerings, Don Ciccio has brought forth Cerasum, a cherry-blossom-based liqueur that stands in very nicely for the Campari that usually serves as the Negroni’s signature ingredient.

The Cherry Blossom Negroni is a worthy cousin of the original.  The classic bitter taste of the Negroni is still there, but softened slightly, with subtle floral and cherry flavors that give the drink a smoother, almost velvety finish.  Here’s the recipe:

Cherry Blossom Negroni recipe
Print Recipe

Cherry Blossom Negroni

Try this twist on the classic Negroni recipe, substituting Cerasum, a cherry-blossom liqueur by D.C.'s own Don Ciccio and Figli, for the traditional Campari.  It's a velvety-smooth cocktail perfect for enjoying cherry-blossom season!
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Spirit-Forward
Keyword: cherry blossom Negroni
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 190kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

Cocktail

  • 1 oz. gin I used Botanist
  • 1 oz. vermouth I used Cocchi di Torino
  • 1 oz. Cerasum

Ice cubes

  • cherry blossoms

Instructions

Ice cubes

  • In advance of making the drink, fill large ice cube tray with water. Add 1 to 3 cherry blossoms per cube. If working with dried cherry blossoms, be sure to rinse the salt off the flowers before adding. Try to orient the flowers in the cube so they will appear near the surface when the ice freezes. Leave in the freezer until completely frozen.

Cocktail

  • Combine the gin, vermouth, and Cerasum in a mixing glass with ice and stir.
  • Strain into a rocks glass.
  • Add cherry-blossom ice cube.

Enjoy!

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May 2018 Cocktail Events Round-Up

As you may have noticed, I didn’t publish too much in April.  The day job crept into nights and weekends this month, making it difficult to bring you the hard-hitting cocktail coverage you have come to crave and expect.  My apologies!  But I’m taking a brief break from the action to bring you the May 2018 cocktail events in the District that should be on your calendar.  And if you’re making drinks at home this month, remember that we are still solidly in flowers-in-drinks season:

Flowers in Drinks

I don’t think daffodil water is a thing, but if it is, there you are.  Also, don’t forget that May brings us many drink-worthy themes and occasions, three celebratory and one somber:  horse races, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, and Memorial Day.  Plan your home drinking accordingly.  Onward:

Master Cocktail Class Series: Kentucky Derby Cocktails at St. Regis.  In May, St. Regis focuses its monthly cocktail class on the Kentucky Derby – and on Derby Day, conveniently enough.  They are cutting it close on timing though; the class is scheduled to run right up to 6 p.m., less than an hour before the big race (scheduled start time 6:46).  So if you plan to serve cocktails and watch the race somewhere else, you’ll need to … uh … race to your next stop.  (Sorry, I had to do it.)  Tickets are $55; info here.  923 16th Street N.W.; May 5 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Cinco de Mayo at basically every bar in town.  If it’s not mint juleps it’s margaritas on the first Saturday in May this year.  I wanted to provide you with an authoritative, here’s-where-to-celebrate-Cinco-de-Mayo event, but I can’t parse the many, many options and pick a winner.  Here’s a sampling:  there’s a rooftop pig-roast at the Taco Bamba in Shaw (1-4 p.m.); another rooftop event called “View de Mayo” at the Graham Hotel in Georgetown (1-6 p.m.); and yet another rooftop event at Flash (3-9 p.m.); and, for those whose thirst is not yet quenched the following day, a “Morning After Brunch and Day Party” at Ozio on May 6 (12-9 p.m.).  Remember to hydrate, everyone.  Pretty much everywhere that leaves the door to its rooftop unlocked; May 5 from first to last call.

Kentucky Derby AND Cinco de Mayo in One Place at “Derby de Mayo” at Jack Rose.  It need not be a choice between mint juleps and margaritas as I suggested above – you may wish to live dangerously and have both at Jack Rose on the – wait for it – rooftop.  But also in the basement at Dram & Grain if you prefer a more “intimate viewing experience,” per Jack Rose’s description, or if it rains and you have to flee any of the aforementioned rooftop Cinco de Mayo parties.  Also note that Derby attire is encouraged.  No charge for getting in the door; more information here.  2007 18th Street N.W.; May 5 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

More, non-Derby, non-Cinco de Mayo events after the jump. Continue reading “May 2018 Cocktail Events Round-Up”