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Cocktail Gift Ideas – Winter 2017

Black Friday is behind us and Cyber Monday is upon us.  If that hasn’t already driven you to drink, then you might be sober enough to be wondering what to buy the home bartenders in your life for the holidays.  Here are a few cocktail gift ideas for your list.  (Note that some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning this website might earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.)

A culinary torch.  This fall I finally acquired a torch for my cocktail toolset – the Keen Smart Culinary Creme Brulee Torch.  And I have no regrets.  The joy of playing with fire speaks for itself, and it has practical applications, too.  Use the torch to add a burnt finish to your citrus garnish (see my recipe for the Smoked Pearl).  Or use the torch with some wood planks (I used this variety pack) to smoke your glasses (see my take on the Old Fashioned for an example).  Don’t forget to add fuel; Keen recommends at least 5x pure butane.  On Amazon.

A set of cocktail vinegars from Shrub District.  The folks at Shrub District are champions of the “old art” of the shrub, in which vinegar and sugar are used to preserve fruit.  Shrubs make for a brilliant addition to a cocktail (see my recipe for the Autumn Breeze, and also check out many compelling recipes on one of my favorite cocktail feeds on Instagram, @sashadallasgirl).  Pineapple Allspice shrub from Shrub DistrictAs a bonus for buy-local enthusiasts in the D.C. area, they are locally based and put a premium on local ingredients.  And they have a Cyber Monday deal going; use the code “cranberrysauce” at checkout and save 10% on your order.  On the web at www.shrubdistrict.com.

Two-inch ice square ice cube tray.  For some drinks, standard freezer-made ice or ice-tray ice cubes won’t do the trick.  The problem is that small cubes melt quickly.  This is fine for some drinks, but others need a bigger ice cube that allows you to finish a drink before it gets too watered down.  I like this tray from Cocktail Kingdom, which allows you to make six square two-inch cubes and doesn’t take up too much space in the freezer.  Pro tip: let the cubes sit for a couple of minutes after you take the tray out of the freezer.  They’re easier to pop out if they warm up a bit first.  On Amazon.

Chartreuse.  If you have been following my Instagram (@capitalcocktails), you know that I am obsessed with Chartreuse.  It’s a monastic liqueur from France that is predominantly available in two varieties – green and yellow.  Both are unique herbal liqueurs; the green is slightly stronger than the yellow, and the yellow is slightly sweeter.  Either would make a great gift for a home bartender.  They will also come in handy if you’re following along with any of the recipes I post here (try the Autumn Breeze or the Decorator’s Drink) or on Instagram, which will continue to make good use of this excellent spirit.  Available at many liquor stores; average price $55.

‘Imbibe’ by David Wondrich.  If you’re looking for a great gift for the cocktail enthusiast/history buff, consider this great book by David Wondrich.  Wondrich, a regular contributor to Esquire, chronicles the history of the cocktail and its evolution over the years, with a particular focus on Jerry Thomas, known as “The Professor” and godfather of the modern cocktail arts.  The book is well-researched and easy to read.  It also includes recipes for some classic cocktails to make the tour through history even more tangible.  On Amazon.

Authentic D.C.-area “medicinal” whiskey prescriptions from the Prohibition era.  Finally, a cocktail gift for the history buff who prefers artifacts to books:  authentic whiskey prescriptions written by D.C.-area doctors during Prohibition.  It actually wasn’t impossible to drink legally during Prohibition; you just needed a doctor to write you a prescription.  This loophole  kept the Buffalo Trace distillery in business and many good Americans drunk while the Temperance experiment ran its course.  And now, it will help you get your home-bartending friends the best gift of the season.  On Etsy through the ProhibitionAct store; prices range from roughly $10 to $45.

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Recipe: The Thanksgiving Boulevardier

Searching for an aperitif to round out that fantastic Thanksgiving dinner you have been planning?  Try this twist on the Boulevardier, a classic cocktail based on the Negroni, but with whiskey instead of gin as the base spirit.

The traditional Boulevardier recipe calls for 1 1/2 ounces of bourbon and an ounce each of Campari and sweet vermouth.  But Thanksgiving can involve more drinks than the average meal so I dialed back the bourbon just a touch to 1 ounce.  I also replaced the sweet vermouth with Kina l’Aero d’Or (more on this fantastic aperitif wine here).  And I added 1/4 ounce of lemon juice to balance out the sweetness just a touch.  Stir these ingredients together, strain into a rocks glass, express a lemon peel and add the peel as garnish, and you get something like this:

The cocktail works nicely as a Thanksgiving aperitif because the tangy flavors of Campari and lemon combine in a way that pleasantly previews the cranberry sauce to come.  And as noted above, the drink isn’t so strong that you could not have a couple of them if the dinner takes a little bit longer to get to the table than anticipated, as is often the case at Thanksgiving.

Here is the recipe:

Thanksgiving Boulevardier recipe
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Thanksgiving Boulevardier

Looking for the perfect Thanksgiving aperitif?  Try this twist on the classic Boulevardier cocktail to round out that fantastic dinner you have planned.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Spirit-Forward
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 245kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 1 oz. bourbon I used E.H. Taylor
  • 1 oz. Campari
  • 1 oz. Kina l'Aero d'Or quinquina
  • 1/4 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • lemon peel

Instructions

  • Combine the bourbon, Campari, quinquina and lemon juice with ice in a mixing glass and stir.
  • Strain into a rocks glass.
  • Add a large ice cube.
  • Express lemon peel over the glass and add the peel as garnish.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Drinking D.C.: Speakeasies in the Washington Post

In its Going Out Guide last week, the Washington Post (digital subscriptions available here) covered several D.C.-area speakeasies in D.C.’s Hidden Bars, Ranked from Easiest to Hardest to Get into.  In the article, the Post’s Holley Simmons (@holleyunedited) tells us how to get seats at Chicken + Whiskey on 14th Street, Nocturne and Backroom Bar in Shaw, Captain Gregory’s in Alexandria, Le Cafe Descartes at the French Embassy, Sidecar downtown, and Bar 3100 at the British Embassy. Consider it a roadmap to your next bar crawl in D.C.

Simmons also tantalizes us with tales of an Ernest Hemingway-themed bar at the Cuban Embassy, to which she was unable to gain access, but the existence of which was confirmed by another Post reporter in 2015. Bonus points to the reader who makes it in and reports back to us!

Update:  Some Instagram sleuthing suggests that the Cuban Embassy’s Hemingway bar indeed exists!  Check it out:

The Ernest Hemingway bar inside Cuba’s embassy 🍹

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“Hemmingway’s”

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Someone tell us how its drinks are already!

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Classic Recipe with a Twist: The Old Fashioned

It’s old fashioned week, where we celebrate a cocktail that (per the preceding source) has roots as far back as 1802.  The classic cocktail uses classic ingredients:  whiskey, sugar and bitters, along with some muddled fruit or at least a cherry, depending on what you have handy.

But after 215 years of the same old recipe, @theoldrefashioned thought it was time for an update.  This Instagram feed invites followers to submit their variations on the classic, and I couldn’t resist joining in the fun.  Expanding on the use of fruit and sugar in the original, and with the fall season on my mind, I started by smoking a rocks glass with orange peel and cinnamon, which I torched over a maple wood plank (I found an assorted set of planks here):

For the recipe, I kept the traditional sugar, bitters, whiskey and fruit ingredients, but I added a bit of amaro and Maraschino liqueur.  I muddled and mixed and added a big cube of ice, and it came out looking like this:

(Ignore the gridlines. Oops.)

I really liked the way this tasted.  The smokiness was subtle but definitely there – there was a hint of cinnamon on the nose the whole way through.  And the amaro and Maraschino combination combined with the fruit in a very pleasant way to make this an exceptionally smooth old fashioned.

Here’s the recipe:

Geoff's Old Re-Fashioned recipe
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Geoff's Old Re-Fashioned

A new twist on the classic Old Fashioned recipe in celebration of the "Old Re-Fashioned" thread honoring Old Fashioned Week.
Prep Time7 minutes
Total Time7 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Ancestral
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 200kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 2 oz. bourbon I used E.H. Taylor
  • 1/2 oz. amaro I used Averna
  • 1/4 oz. Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
  • 3 dashes old-fashioned bitters I used Fee Brothers
  • cinnamon stick
  • orange slice
  • lemon peel
  • cherry
  • sugar cube

Instructions

  • Smoke a rocks glass by holding it upside down over an orange peel and cinnamon stick while torching the ingredients over a maple wood board.  Let the orange and cinnamon catch fire before removing the flame and place the rocks glass over them while they continue to smolder.
  • Turn the rocks glass right-side up.  Add sugar cube, three dashes old-fashioned bitters, the orange slice, and a bit of lemon peel.  Muddle the ingredients.
  • Add the bourbon, amaro, and Maraschino, and mix the ingredients.
  • Add the cherry.
  • Add a large ice cube.
  • Optionally, garnish with the burnt orange peel or cinnamon stick.

Try it out and let me know what you think – and please share your own takes on the old fashioned!

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Original Recipe: The Smoked Pearl

Last weekend fall truly came to the District:  leaves are finally turning, temperatures are dipping, and to mark the transition we were visited by a heavy rainfall on Sunday.  It’s the perfect occasion for a new cocktail, and for a shift in thinking toward ingredients befitting the new season.

Maple and fire were the first two that popped in my mind, reflecting two of the better parts of fall:  maple leaves and roaring fires.  Not to be combined in a woodland setting, I suppose, but in a shaken cocktail – using maple syrup, mezcal (smoke) and poblano liqueur (heat) as proxies – I thought they would play very nicely together.

And they did.  I combined those ingredients with lemon juice, added ice, and shook, and out came this beauty:

It was absolutely delicious.  The smokiness, spiciness and tangy sweetness produced a satisfyingly complex flavor profile – with the smoke and spice providing some heft, cushioned slightly by the maple syrup.  I settled on the “Smoked Pearl” name because the drink’s ingredients somewhat resemble those of a margarita, which means pearl in various languages, and because of the smoky flavor.

Update:  After I first posted this recipe I came across Tippleman’s smoked maple syrup for the first time.  It takes this recipe to another level, amplifying the smoky goodness of the mezcal.  (It also works very well on waffles, French toast, and pancakes.)

Here’s the recipe:

Enjoy!

The Smoked Pearl Recipe
Print Recipe

Smoked Pearl

Try the Smoked Pearl, an original cocktail recipe perfect for fall with flavors of maple syrup, smoke, spice and citrus.
Prep Time5 minutes
Total Time5 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: Sour
Servings: 1 cocktail
Calories: 250kcal
Author: Geoffrey Wyatt

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 oz. mezcal I used El Silencio
  • 1/2 oz. Ancho Reyes Verde
  • 1 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 oz. maple syrup
  • 1 fresh lemon

Instructions

  • Prepare a rocks glass with one large ice cube.
  • Combine ingredients in a shaking tin and add ice.
  • Shake ingredients vigorously and strain into the glass.
  • Garnish with a burnt lemon wheel.
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D.C. Cocktail Week 2017 Preview: November 1

D.C. Cocktail Week 2017 is coming up fast.  The event features specially priced cocktails and appetizers at participating D.C.-area restaurants (see individual restaurant pairings here).  This year the event runs from November 13 to 19.  But it’s already time to pre-party.

On Wednesday, November 1, Jack Rose Dining Saloon will host a sneak peek happy hour event from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.  Sample cocktails from Baba, Convivial, Dram & Grain, Indique, Jack Rose, and Sally’s Middle Name; and tastings from area/regional distillers including Belle Isle Craft Spirits, Cirrus Vodka, Capitoline Vermouth, Green Hat Gin, KO Distilling, MurLarkey Distilled Spirits, Republic Restoratives, Vitae Spirits Distillery, and Virginia Distillery Co.

Tickets are $35; purchase here.

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Drinking D.C.: Del Mar de Fabio Trabocchi

In case you hadn’t heard, there’s a lot happening down at the Wharf, the District’s latest development, a long-overdue overhaul of D.C.’s southwest waterfront.  It’s everything you would expect from a fancy new D.C. development, including shopping, restaurants, and even a new concert venue in the Anthem, and, most relevant to cocktail connoisseurs such as yourself, great drinks.

I had to check it out for myself, so I made it down there on a recent Friday evening.  It was a fantastic fall day weather-wise, which I mention because one of the selling points of a waterfront is being outside; indeed, several spots on the Wharf offer outdoor seating, including the latest outpost of Hank’s Oyster Bar.

But our party was headed to the Del Mar, the new spot by Fabio Trabocchi, he of Fiola, Casa Luca, Fiola Mara, and Sfoglina fame.  I’ve enjoyed a number of cocktails at these other establishments, but Del Mar takes it up a notch.  Consider, for example, this gin and tonic for two:

This cocktail – the Habla de ti Gin Tonic – is presented like no other I’ve seen in the District.  And it is a triumph in substance as well as form.  It combines Gin Mare, a house made tonic, lime, cava, brine foam and bay leaf for a complex, tangy gin and tonic that doesn’t last long (especially if you are sharing).  I would love to have the recipe for that house made tonic!

The gin and tonic was a show-stopper, but the cocktail menu isn’t a one-hit wonder.  I also had the chance to sample the Sangre de Toro, a cocktail featuring blood orange and rose infused vodka, spiced syrup, and pomegranate, a sweet and spicy drink with flavors somewhat reminiscent of Hot Tamales candies (but in a good way).  And I couldn’t resist trying the other gin and tonic on the menu (the Estrellas Gin Tonic:  Tanqueray No. 10, ginger, lime, tonic water, star anise, and cardamom) for comparison’s sake.  This one was more of a traditional gin and tonic in terms of flavor, but the garnishes of star anise and cardamom added a unique aroma.

There are others on the menu (pictured below) I would like to try – all of them basically, except Tal Vez (pumpkin isn’t really my flavor when it comes to drinks) – but, in the interests of moderation, put off until next time:

Del Mar's cocktail menu

The dinner was also fantastic.  As the name Del Mar would suggest, the menu has substantial raw bar and seafood offerings, a number of which we enjoyed as appetizers.  But for me the best plate of the night was one of the shared paellas, with duck breast, grilled artichokes, and Malllorcan-style spreadable joked pimentón sausage.  Simply delicious.

In short, if Del Mar isn’t on your list of new places to try, it should be!

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Welcome to Capital Cocktails

I’m almost a year into posting cocktails on Instagram and have really been enjoying it.  So I decided to expand the project to include a blog that elaborates on some of the Instagram posts and offers more detailed tips and suggestions on how to build a home bar and make cocktails in your own kitchen (or living room, dining room, bedroom, wherever).

I have found that the ability to make and serve drinks at home is a great skill to have.  It comes in very handy when entertaining, of course.  And it is also nice to be able to whip up a negroni, martini, or whatever else you can think of at the end of the day or for a weekend happy hour.  It does not take much effort to get the hang of the basics; and it is not that expensive to acquire the essential tools (there really are only a few you need) or liquors, depending on your tastes.

Morning light.

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That is what this blog is mostly about:  sharing my experience with making cocktails at home for those interested in starting to make cocktails of their own.  First the basics:  I will be adding pages setting out the fundamentals, highlighting some products that I have found useful and showing you where to find them, and explaining how shake, stir, and otherwise concoct cocktails.

The regular posts on the blog will provide a little more detail about the cocktails I’m making at home, including recipes, references, and recommendations on ingredients and techniques for producing the best cocktails.

Finally, I will also cover great cocktails I discover away from home – here in D.C. and wherever my travels may take me.

Thanks for visiting.  My main goal here is to help spread the love for home cocktail making, and in that vein, I welcome all requests for further information about anything you find (or wish you would have found) here!  Write me any time with any question at me@capitalcocktails.com (and let me know if I can publish and respond to your question on the site).