If you’ve ever wanted to run a marathon but worry about whether your beer gut will slow you down, Washington Wine Academy’s DC School of Beer has a perfect solution: the Beer Walk!

The beer walk took place last Saturday and Sunday – a week after the wine walk – in the underground maze of the Crystal City Shops. Both “Beer Walk” and “Wine Walk” are pretty self-explanatory.

After you sign in and show ID, you pick up your race number, t-shirt, glass, and drink tickets. With twenty tickets and generous pours, a $20-$35 ticket (depending on the day/time of the heat you sign up for) will get you feeling pretty good – especially if it’s only 2pm when you start, like it was for me.

Volunteers stand at stations all over the mall ready to pour you anything from Duvel to Sam Adams. Some local and nearby breweries sent their own reps – like Port City, which had a station all to itself and a crowded room of eager fans. Others hoped the free food at their stations – provided by Authentic Memphis Barbeque in Crystal City, Cabot cheese, and The Perfect Pita – would gather crowds to them.

Cabot
courtesy of jcm_DC

(On a side note, did you know people who are lactose intolerant can eat cheddar cheese? I didn’t. Thanks, Cabot!)

Personally, I enjoyed Station Four the most. There I met some other Memphians (the owners of Authentic Memphis Barbeque, of course), tried their pulled pork (not bad), and drank Ommegang and Duvel.

Sadly I missed Synetic Theater’s mini-performances, which took place at Station Six in their lobby every 30 minutes. Hopefully next year they’ll bring that element back (and advertise it better), because a free Synetic performance is another big perk.

If you aren’t familiar with the Crystal City Shops the beer walk makes for a good intro, although the route can get a little confusing. The whole event must help area businesses: by about Station Eight I was deciding whether to buy a marionette puppet from Puppet Heaven or a whale-shaped snuggle pillow from Rite Aid. Plus I left with a plethora of coupons, gift cards, and freebies from shop owners.

Academy faithful
courtesy of jcm_DC

I wish I could tell you more about Station Ten, the last station of the walk and the one containing the most beers (well, “beers,” since it included Pabst and Old Milwaukee). But I don’t really remember Station Ten all that well… I remember really, really, really liking the Leinenkugel Berry Weiss, and then I remember drunk dialing my husband.

Point is, come down to Crystal City next year and try your hand at walking with either wine or beer to slow you down. And just like with any big race, bring some friends to keep you motivated, drink plenty of water, and eat some carbs beforehand.

Like

Unlike

Another year, another round for the bar. Before launching into the drinks team’s reminisces of 2011, forgive me for doing something I rarely do as a writer – get a little personal. Just imagine you’re a bartender, and I’m pouring out my sob story at last call.

I almost gave up on drinks writing in 2011. After three years, frankly, I was feeling a bit jaded, and then personal set-backs began piling up, cruel jokes galore, making it difficult to stay focused. So I took some trips, detoxed on coconut water, did the “what’s it all about?” cliche. But after my return I was sitting at American Ice Company, as Patrick Owens happily sparked flames off an orange peel and Black Sabbath blared for Metal Night, and it hit me: what the hell am I thinking? I love drinks, I love DC and especially I love these people whose passion it is to create something so ephemeral and magical as a cocktail. Thoughts of sabbatical left my head, and I was back.

Through it all, the fantastic drinks team of We Love DC held it together – Brittany, Fedward, Moses – and now we’re lucky to add Addison to our imbibing crew. Let’s take a look back at our authors’ thoughts on drinks in 2011. And cheers to the bartenders who fill our glasses with craft, care, and a little magic.

DC Brau – The Public in a Tulip Glass – 08-28-11
courtesy of mosley.brian

Brittany:

This has been an amazing year for me – often nutty, sometimes inspiring, always amazing. I have had the opportunity to drink some amazing things, some frankly terrible things I never want to try again (see: the Easter Peep cocktail concoction I tried in April) and most of all have enjoyed some excellent company. It is a pleasure to say that it is hard to select a stand-out for bests of the year.

Having Matt Ficke at the Columbia Room make me a cocktail with Fernet Branca which I actually loved, in spite of being sure for years I could not stand the stuff, was pretty special. It was fascinating to meet Melanie da Trindade-Asher, the maker of Macchu Pisco, at Zengo in October and learn from one of the only young women ever to launch her own spirits brand and talk to her about her impressive success in spreading the gospel of Pisco in the US and Europe. I drank a lot of mescal this year, particularly after Oyamel’s tequila and mescal festival in March, and I loved just about every sip of it, particularly a mezcal Old Fashioned whipped up by Alexandra Bookless at The Passenger, set apart from the standard with grapefruit peel and mole bitters. While the aforementioned Peep drink may be both the silliest and ickiest cocktail I tried this year, the P.O.V. bar at the W Hotel is hard to beat for glamour and I have certainly been delighted by every opportunity I have had to dress up and take in that stunning view of the city – ideally with one of their Dark and Stormys in hand, rather than anything crayon-colored.

Some wonderful new things have come to town this year, including Jack Rose and Blackbyrd, DC Brau and I cannot wait for what 2012 will bring. Of course, at the end of the day, all the best drinks-related memories I have from this year will really be more about the people than what we were imbibing. Whether it was pickle backs at American Ice in August after a magical 9:30 Club show, drinking gin on an H Street stoop late into the early-summer night, or tasty beers at way too many leaving-DC parties, it has all been about loving the people with whom I shared this crazy year. I look forward to another.

Friday Night at The Passenger
courtesy of Kevin H.

Fedward:

My highlight was pretty much the month of May.  I got to go on the town with Dale DeGroff, I used Dan Searing’s new book to make a punch for the Social Chair’s birthday party, and I was part of an epic Tiki Tuesday at the Passenger (beer in a pineapple!).  Outside May, another highlight for me was the Rickey Month party at Jack Rose, and of course, the Repeal Day Ball was a huge success, as it has been every year.  In general this has been a great year for me being welcomed into the cocktail community.  Many of the city’s craft bartenders now recognize me, know my preferences, and steer me towards new, exciting drinks they know I’ll like.  Or even put one of my drinks on the menu themselves!  I’d say it’s been a good year.

Blackbyrd Warehouse
courtesy of Fedward Potz

Jenn:

Crisis of libation faith aside, I did have a lot of fun in 2011 covering drinks, especially in the spring when I was lucky enough to judge ARTINI at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. It was an incredible night filled with volumes of talent, bartenders mixing up art-inspired cocktails while marble Greek goddesses looked over the columned hall.

I learned about sake while saying goodbye to one of our best photographers, Max Cook, and returned to the Columbia Room for elegant whimsy, perfectly poured by Katie Nelson.  There was an afternoon with the charming Jonathan Fain previewing the menu changes at Saint Ex and Bar Pilar, as the golden sun set over glass after glass. An introduction by Fedward to the simply fantastic drinks of Jeff Faile at Fiola, which resulted in several return visits to indulge in bitter Italian digestifs and one of my favorite drinks of 2011 – the Coventry (Redemption rye, Averna, and Maraschino liqueur, oh my).

As my neighborhood exploded seemingly overnight with activity, bars crowding up more than ever before, I retreated to comfort spots like Dodge City, perched with a cider on the back patio as laughing strangers became accomplices. Or the quirky salon at Rogue24, where a burning bison grass garnish in one of Derek Brown’s fanciful cocktails brought back to memories of nights filled with Balinese incense.

Two moments really stand out in my year of drinks, moments of strong community. When I interviewed Andy Duffy on the challenges and rewards of owning your own bar, there was a chance he wasn’t going to be able to keep Duffy’s open much longer. Three months later, Duffy’s is finally able to keep regular hours. Much love for a simple neighborhood pub. A day at the Maryland Renaissance Festival on the crazy Boomerang Bus filled with industry friends from my favorite bar The Passenger, readers and writers who instantly bonded on a wild ride back in time gave me so much joy. A sunny day filled with mead and good company. That’s what it’s all about.

Mai Tai at Jack Rose’s Tiki bar
courtesy of Jenn Larsen

Moses:

For me, 2011 meant one thing in particular in DC: a beer crafting revival in the District, with local brewery start-ups Chocolate City, DC Brau, Port City, launching or making headway in their nascent months.  And, kudos to the many local establishments that are pouring fresh local beverages from their taps or refrigerators!  My favorite new watering hole is undeniably the cathedral to all things whisky: Jack Rose Dining Saloon — thank you for enriching our neighborhood!

My personal Drinks highlights for 2011 include covering the SAVOR craft beer and food festival in June, and the “Vintage Crystal: A Taste of Wine & Jazz” festival in September, but also includes a shout-out to Brittany’s picks for DC Beer Week 2011 which provided an insightful tour guide to liven up my evenings that week as a spectator!  Looking forward to an amazing 2012, including the International Wine and Food Festival in DC — the first time in memory it won’t be over Presidents Day weekend!

options
courtesy of Plantains & Kimchi

Addison:

Favorite Drinks articles: William Couch’s profile of ChurchKey’s Nahem Simon, and Fedward’s recap of Garrett Peck’s talk about his book on Prohibition in DC.

Best: The bourbon/whiskey resurgence. Ok, so it has never really gone out of style, but I love that booze is back in a big way. There’s not much better than a good bourbon with a couple of ice cubes. Between Bourbon, Jack Rose, Mad Rose Tavern, Irish Whiskey (I’m sure I’m leaving some out here), it is good to see more places offering expanded liquor lines.

Second best: Finally having a stable enough life to become a regular at two local places.

Worst: Bailey’s. Dear god, Bailey’s. Ordering a bourbon on the rocks, and getting a Jack and Coke instead.

We here at We Love DC are unabashed, unequivocal fans of the DC Craft Bartenders Guild and their annual Repeal Day Ball. So much so that, within about 48 hours of the announcement that tickets were on sale (by which I mean within about twelve hours, really), Jenn, Brittany, and I (and the Social Chair, naturally) had all bought our tickets for this year’s ball. It’s the biggest party of the year, it’s focused on craft cocktails, and it’s thrown by bartenders themselves. This idea intrigues me and I would like to subscribe to its newsletter.

The ball (8pm Saturday at Halcyon House) is sold out now, but those of you who are going for the first time are in for a treat. A continual supply of treats, to be honest. I won’t go over all the names (you can do that yourself) and I can’t predict what the drinks will be, but I can provide the voice of experience to get you to the end of the night with your dignity intact and your clothes unstained. Join me, won’t you?

First off, you’ll want to dress for the occasion. If you’re like me, your trusty tuxedo will do. Yes, I have a trusty tuxedo (I was a music major in college and this is actually my fourth trusty tuxedo. It came from eBay). Renting is a fool’s game; a one-time investment pays off in fit and convenience, and makes it possible for you to do things like be somebody’s last minute date for a formal event where people bring you drinks and food. But if you can’t bring yourself to buy a tuxedo, a well-pressed suit will do. I can’t speak about women’s fashion except in examples, so: if you’re like Brittany, you’ve probably got some awesome vintage dress with a story attached, and lots of fancy accessories. If you’re like Jenn, you’ll end up with something slinky like this:

Voice of experience: last year’s event was on a particularly cold night, and the line for the coat check was long. If you can see your way to leaving your coat at home, you can skip the coat check and head straight inside. And forget about being fashionably late. You’ve paid for that time with those bartenders making those drinks. Don’t waste it!

Once you’re inside, do two things: take a moment to identify the bartenders you want to meet and the cocktails you want most to try, and locate water. It is critical to pace yourself. Drink too much too fast and you’re not getting the full benefit of your experience; sip too slowly and you’ll leave feeling like you’ve missed something special. Also, the moment you see food, eat some of it. It will run out early.

Voice of experience: it’s OK not to finish a drink that isn’t wowing you. Last year the Social Chair and I took turns with the drinks from various stations, and we lived to talk about it.

Know what you can skip, but be open minded. Last year’s event featured a Cosmopolitan made by King Cocktail himself, Dale DeGroff. Under most circumstances I’ll skip vodka-based drinks in order to make room for something not made with a spirit defined as flavorless, but Dale’s Cosmo (each served with a flamed orange peel) was one of the highlights of the night.

Move around. Mingle. Compliment people on their outfits and body art. Drink water. Keep notes of what you’ve liked, because people will keep asking all night long. If you repeatedly hear the same answers to that question, waste no time in trying for yourself. While there has been an ample supply of booze remaining at the end of the night at both of the balls I’ve attended, individual cocktails did run out, some of them quite early. Some surely will this year.

Most of all: have fun! If I told you to drink responsibly at a party run by bartenders you’d laugh in my face (and rightly so), but remember to make travel arrangements that don’t require driving, remember to hang up those fancy clothes when you get home, and drink a couple glasses of water before going to bed. The next morning when you’re wondering what hit you (hint: the last martini) you’ll be glad you had at least some sense the night before.

Jack Rose Dining Saloon has been opening in stages, overlooking the seemingly interminable construction at the intersection of 18th Street and Florida Avenue NW. Now that the dust is finally clearing from the brand new sidewalk outside, its long-awaited dinner menu has debuted as well and is being served seven nights a week in the downstairs dining room and bar. The upstairs patio has been in full swing for most of the summer and is due to continue the grilling and swilling through the fall, including a Tiki bar on the back porch that served me up some killer classics two weeks ago when I visited for the official debut of the downstairs menu.

The key visual of Jack Rose is certainly its downstairs dining room’s wall of scotches, bourbons and spirits – 1400 bottles lining the bar in bookcases of booze. Between liquor, wine and beer the catalog of offerings can be a bit staggering, but the elegant room invites relaxed sifting through the menu while sipping some Ardbeg at the long bar, watching bartenders climb up ladders library-style to fetch bottles. Turn a corner at Jack Rose and the atmosphere can instantly change – every space here has its own feel, so give yourself some wandering time before deciding where you’d like to perch for a while.

Upstairs is divided into several sections, including a front balcony overlooking 18th Street off a small lounge bar complete with fireplace, the main open-air deck with a wood-fire grill and bar, and the small back bar that’s slowly turning into a Tiki spot. I started back there and almost never left, as a friend sipped a perfect Painkiller. After watching the moon rise off the back porch with a classic Mai Tai (orgeat syrup? yes please!) it was time to head downstairs and sample some whiskey cocktails from the excellent selection crafted by Rachel Sergi.

‘Painkiller at Jack Rose’s Tiki bar’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

‘Walls of Whiskey at Jack Rose’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

The downstairs dining room features about twenty cocktails for $13 each, divided into Classics like the Bee’s Knees and New Creations like the two I sampled. The first, Knuckleball, was a ridiculously delicious drink with Wry Moon white whiskey. If you haven’t tried white whiskey yet, “white” simply refers to whiskey that hasn’t yet been aged (also called “white dog” or well, moonshine). Wry Moon is unaged Kentucky rye made in small batches by Corsair Artisans, and in this drink it’s beautifully rounded out with Cocchi Americano, Pernod absinthe, Aztec Chocolate bitters, and Maldon sea salt. It reminded me of eating salty caramels.

‘Cocktail, Jack Rose Dining Saloon’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

‘Mixing Up Drinks at Jack Rose’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

The second cocktail I tried, with the clever name of Not Your Mother’s Scotch Bonnet, uses Bushmill’s Irish Whiskey as its base. Before you think it’s cheeky to use Irish whiskey in a drink with Scotch in the name, the Scotch here refers instead to the Scotch Bonnet pepper syrup (let’s not start an international incident!). The peppery heat is well contrasted by Combier orange liqueur, Dubonnet, and both grapefruit juice and grapefruit bitters. A wicked gorgeous combination of spicy, sweet and bitter flavors.

‘Cocktails, Jack Rose Dining Saloon’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

In the fall, Jack Rose will hold events to highlight the natural affinity of whiskey and cigars, as well as pairing dinners held the first Monday of every month – kicking it off October 3 with an Irish whiskey dinner featuring Knappogue Castle 12yr, 16yr and 1951 (a good friend ranks this whiskey his personal favorite, so I’m seriously excited to share the news!). There’s also something for beer lovers – on October 4 it will debut Flying Dog’s newest beer poured from a pumpkin cask (yes, carved from an actual pumpkin), along with fifteen other pumpkin ales just in time for autumn breezes. I’m looking forward to working my way through the cocktail menu, expanding my whiskey knowledge, and watching the harvest moon rise.

Jack Rose Dining Saloon is now open for dinner seven nights a week. Located at 2007 18th Street NW, Washington DC 20009. For more information call 202-588-7388.

Cocktails follow formulas, and the combination of a single base spirit and a particular mixer often lends its name to some other concoction made with the same mixer and a different base spirit. The Tom Collins, for instance, begat the Vodka Collins. You could ask a bartender for a Whiskey Collins, and while he or she might look at you funny they’d know exactly what you mean without having to stop to think. Some names have lost popularity over time (Mamie Taylor, anyone?), but others are still current and show up in all sorts of interesting combinations. The Mojito, by the way, is also a long drink; replace the rum with gin and it becomes a Southside; add lemon to that and it turns into a Major Bailey. Formulas! They’re magic!

Common long drinks include DC’s native Rickey (soda, lime juice), the aforementioned Collins (soda, lemon juice, sugar), the Buck (ginger ale, lime), and my current favorite, the Mule (ginger beer, lime — a Mule made with Gosling’s might be better known to you as a Dark and Stormy). The best known Mule is the Moscow Mule, made with vodka and traditionally served in a copper cup.

I like rye whiskey in my Mule, since the spicy rye and the spicy ginger beer really play well off each other. Thanks to the recent boom in artisan spirits, at both the Passenger and Bourbon Steak I’ve recently had Mules made with white whiskey. Bourbon Steak calls theirs the High Plains Mule, and it’s made with High West Silver Whiskey. Oat whiskey! Oat!

So the next time you think of ordering a Dark and Stormy, think of the many variants of the Mule and try branching out. Try gin! Try rye! You’ll be glad you did.

Like

Unlike

You’re probably familiar with the fact that wine and whiskey are aged in barrels. But cocktails? It may seem like a trend, popping up in bars in London, Portland and New York for the past year or so, but it’s actually a much older revival – aging cocktail ingredients in oak barrels was a popular technique back at the turn of the last century. But for Bibiana’s general manager Francesco Amodeo, it’s not a matter of trend. It’s practical.

“I was talking to my mother about their cellar at home,” he tells me, referring to the family home on the Amalfi Coast, “what to do with all the barrels?” His grandfather makes wine, and his mother was looking to get rid of the excess refuse. Francesco jumped at the chance to put them to another use. Starting with two sizes, 1 and 5 liter barrels, he’s crafted two cocktails for Bibiana that were just uncorked for the first time Tuesday evening after three months of aging.

As they’re produced in small quantities (at least until Francesco’s grandfather finishes crafting a 250 liter barrel for him) they’ll go fast, so get over to taste them. Aging cocktails gives the liquor a beautiful toasty quality, rounding out the flavor. Let’s take a closer look at Francesco’s two drinks and the process.

‘Aged Cocktail Barrels at Bibiana’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

Francesco mixed up two cocktails on June 9th and away they went to age in these perfectly miniature barrels. It’s important that the ingredients are solely liquor-based – for example, if the recipe calls for freshly squeezed fruit or even sparkling wine, you don’t want to add that to the drinks until after the aging process. Also, Francesco advises being careful with liquor that already has a strong smoky quality, as that will intensify in the oak barrel.

‘Ready to Uncork’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

The first aged cocktail that I sampled was the Katia, made with Redemption rye whiskey, Amaro Averna, marasca liqueur and chocolate bitters (those last two made in house). This drink could quite frankly be renamed “Jenn Catnip” as I’m a sucker for Italian digestifs. Aging the cocktail resulted in a rich, round caramel taste with the liquid noticeably deeper in color. It’s beautifully complex and definitely meant to be sipped slowly, giving everything an autumnal glow.

‘”Katia” aged cocktail at Bibiana’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

Next up was the Maddalena, which is a riff on the classic Negroni – the usual trinity of gin, Campari and sweet vermouth were aged three months, and then after uncorking Francesco finished off the drink with prosecco and a lemon peel garnish. Again the flavors seemed smoothed out, mellowed – like the last day of summer after a long beach weekend.

‘Aged Cocktails at Bibiana’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

Francesco mixed up versions of the two cocktails unaged for comparison, and it was fascinating to see how aging deepens the color and rounds out the taste. “I can make magic,” he quipped, “I am Neapolitan.” Part of the challenge and the fun of making aged cocktails is that Francesco has to look ahead when deciding what drinks to feature – after all, it takes three months before the cocktails are ready, so seasonal forecast is important. When he put down these two it was the height of summer, but the Katia especially makes you ready for fall.

‘Walnuts in a Glass’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

As a special lagniappe, Francesco also gave me a little tour of the housemade liquors at Bibiana, which were absolutely delicious – limoncello, walnuts, even biscotti flavored! Something I had never tasted before and went right to my addiction list was the one made of coffee, barley coffee, and over 20 spices. Ridiculously rich and intense, Francesco called it “concerto, like concert,” and I’ll definitely be back to sip some more.

‘Housemade at Bibiana’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

The two barrel aged cocktails I sampled Tuesday are available now until the barrels run dry, priced at $16 each. Given the amount of time that goes into their preparation and the fact that they really are sipping drinks, I think that’s a fair cost. After this batch is done, the barrels will be dried out for their next mix. I can’t wait to see what’s next uncorked, in three months when winter’s upon us happy lushes.

Bibiana is located at 1100 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005. Closest Metro stop: Metro Center (Red/Orange/Blue). For more information call 202.216.9555.

SAVOR 2011. Photo courtesy of the Brewers Association. Photo credit: Eddie Arrossi.

Greetings from the morning treadmill, where I get to recover from the decadence that was this weekend’s “SAVOR – American Craft Beer & Food Experience” event. With 144 different brews from 72 craft breweries, the extravaganza put smiles on 2,000 very happy visitors to the spaciously inviting National Building Museum in downtown Washington, DC on June 3 & 4, 2011.

Each of the star-spangled craft brews – from pilsner to stout, singles to quads – were paired with a delectable selection of culinary creations to complement each work of liquid art.  The food pairings on Friday night were succulent enough to almost steal the show (strangely, Saturday’s food wasn’t as well done and disappeared early), but undoubtedly the stars of the night shined brightly in their gently swirled tasting glasses.

Some guests performed some advance research, like Brian from Washington.  In addition to a checklist of his previous favorites, he came prepared with a list of must try selections, especially a host of India Pale Ales. “I checked a few local blogs and went to a few of the brewer sites,” he said.  Amanda from Ballston also visited some of the brewery web sites when she bought her ticket, “but it was a long time ago, and the actual beers weren’t known then, so it was like a surprise tonight.”  My bet is that most guests were like Shawn from Bethesda, who was “just here for a great time!”

Fortunately, for the first time, this year’s 4th annual event added a second night to create even more first impressions.  Unfortunately, the over 1,700 gallons of brews on display could only be sampled with an advance purchase ticket – offered months ago. No wonder the event sold out in less than a day!  Before heading out the door, I signed up for the mailing list to be notified of advance sales for next year’s event.  I’d suggest the same for you.

Some of my observations (with some actual quotes heard around the venue):
“This pilsner tastes nothing like Miller Lite, Toto.”

SAVOR 2011. Photo courtesy of the Brewers Association. Photo credit: Eddie Arrossi.

Spotlight: LTD 03, Full Sail Brewing Company, Hood River, OR
Craft pilsners have a challenging identity crisis as our mass consumer market is told by major breweries that light beers are “pilsner-style” beverages. Well, this lighter bodied but full-flavored pilsner just might be the best example to change that notion.  One gentleman described it as “Stella on Steroids” but it conjured from my taste buds a memory of the justifiably renowned Samuel Adams Noble Pils – then keeps on delivering more and more flavor.

“Pass the barbecue, please. Today I’m eating with my lunch.”

Spotlight: Sweet Josie, LoneRider Brewing Company, Raleigh, NC
This little lady is a solid, easy-drinking brown ale – medium body and well-balanced maltiness with a clean finish.  Unlike many other varieties that hit hard or deliver some stickiness in the finish, Sweet Josie is like a richer Newcastle Brown Ale.  It’s a wonderful choice with food or when you can have only one, but you’ll be hankering for chances to have more.

SAVOR 2011. Photo by the author.

“Is it supposed to taste like trees?”– “That’s called ‘resin-y.’”

Spotlight: Shorts Spruce Pilsner,  Shorts Brewing Company, Bellaire, MI
At 7.5% ABV, this sharp flavor is like a tree in a bottle. I was told with age it mellows a bit.  But it sure seemed more air freshener than thirst refresher to me.

“Stouts and Porters in the summer?”

Spotlight: Rise Up Stout, Evolution Craft Brewing Co., Delmar, DE
It’s amazing how diverse the assortment of stouts and porters can be! The 40+ dark varieties here range from light hints of coffee and/or cocoa to an explosion of coffee in the Rise Up Stout. While last week’s 90+ temperatures in DC wouldn’t generally inspire me to reach first for one of these full-bodied beauties, the typical pairings of Coffee Rubbed Pork Loin with White Bean Cassoulet or Double Chocolate Bread Pudding helped me rouse up the “somewhere in the world, it’s cold right now” rationalization.

“C’mon, is the original still a Craft Beer?”

Spotlight: Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Boston Brewing Company, Boston, MA
The granddaddy of the modern craft beer movement was a surprise SAVOR selection from one of the event’s major sponsors.  “It’s craft beer, just one everyone’s had hundreds of times,” explained Bryan from Arlington.  Lots of questions, and shrugs, were prevalent as elbows bumped ribcages clamoring for the accompanying lobster rolls – sans beverage.

“Hoppy Birthday, Astoria!”

Spotlight: 1811 Lager, Fort George Brewery, Astoria, OR

Commemorating the bicentennial of this historic fishing town on the Oregon Coast, Fort George Brewery launched a celebratory lager that goes down smoothly with a healthy hit of malt and a dry finish.  Don’t let the can container fool you; the four-year-old Fort George revived some of Astoria’s historic fish cannery infrastructure to create an attractive vessel for bringing that refreshment home with you.

SAVOR 2011. Photo by the author.

“Tripels, Quads, and Doubles – This sure beats figure skating!”

Spotlight: The Sixth Glass, Boulevard Brewing Company, Kansas City, MO
A true craft beer event needs a real icon to represent how far the American craft brewing community has come in recent decades.  Some votes would go to the Green Peppercorn Tripel, a 9.2% ABV abbey tripel ale from Baltimore’s Brewers Art.  However, Boulevard’s complex quadrupel ale seems a candidate for belle of this ball, according to some of the guests with the most discriminating palates.  My conversations with a few brewery representatives included a few nods to this beauty as their pick.  With 10.5% ABV, this libation may not be for everyone, but it sure was the one for me to cap off a flavorful sensation of an evening!

What’s Next?
“Craft Beer is the new Cupcake!”

Spotlight: Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Founders Brewing Company, Grand Rapids, MI

This quote came from one of the many ladies waiting in the substantial line for this coffee-infused darling.  The analogy was appropriate, especially while sipping on creamy goodness paired with Double Chocolate Bread Pudding.  Of course, she was also quick to clarify: “That’s not a bad thing, really it’s not!”

SAVOR 2011. Photo courtesy of the Brewers Association. Photo credit: Eddie Arrossi.

As mentioned, for the first time, this year’s SAVOR event included a second night, with admission capped each evening to prevent overcrowding.  As SAVOR Event Director Nancy Johnson explains, “I liken SAVOR to the cool, tiny jazz club in NYC that stays small even though it continues to gain in popularity.”  Nonetheless, the rapid sell-out clearly illustrates the growing public demand, and broader recognition, of the joys of skilled craft beer pairing – whether it’s by a celebrated brewmaster, or in your own dining room.

For now, the ascent of craft brewing may continue to increase the profile and availability of fine beers, similar to how the Starbucks revolution raised the bar for coffee in every neighborhood of the country.   However, if these 72 breweries, and the others of almost 150 breweries that applied to SAVOR, have anything to say about it, the craft beer movement will include many players.  I say “Cheers” to that!

If you follow me on Twitter, you might be aware that this has been an eventful week. Literally. Friday the Social Chair and I hosted her birthday party, Sunday we hit our usual brunch, Monday I had a tasting, and Tuesday saw the launch party for Dan Searing’s new book, The Punch Bowl. Plus Tuesday was, as always, Tiki Tuesday at the Passenger. So I was busy.

Instead of picking just one of those, I thought this week would be a perfect opportunity for a photo feature. So here goes.

At Friday night’s party everything we served had a DC connection. There were pitchers of bourbon cherry lemonade, a white sangria like the one at Jaleo, and Gin Punch à la Terrington, straight out of Dan Searing’s book. In that picture you can see the fruit for sangria being fortified by brandy and Cointreau, and the concentrated punch (just pour over ice and add seltzer). The only problem we have now is we made too much, so two of those jars of fruit and two bottles of punch concentrate are still in our fridge. I guess that’s not a bad problem to have.

Sunday night we had finally shaken off our hangovers enough to make it to hangover brunch at the Passenger, but I didn’t actually take any pictures that night. Here’s a picture of a chili half-smoke, if you need it.

Monday I attended a tasting of Hennessy Cognac at the French Embassy, with special guest Maurice Hennessy (a 7th generation member of the family). In the receiving area Hennessy Black ($43/750ml online) was on offer, pre-mixed with apple juice, cranberry juice, or ginger ale. I also tried it neat.

I had arrived early so I had time to wander around while they were setting up. This sample bottle was eventually replaced with a fancy decanter in the house’s signature shape that befits its $500 price tag. I have to admit I like the sample bottle better. It’s understated and shows a confidence in the product the decanter lacks.

Maurice Hennessy himself. With the piano behind him in most of the pictures, he looked more like a lounge singer than a cognac producer. He was a little horrified when I told him I’d tried the Hennessy Black neat (he was drinking it with cranberry).

So much cognac. Oddly, I preferred the $500 Paradis to the $3000 Richard Hennessy. It was more interesting in flavor and aroma (the perfume notes really come out in the Paradis), and the price difference doesn’t hurt.

The French Embassy itself is fantastic. It’s a beautiful space full of French art. What’s not to like? If you get an event invitation, it’s worth going just to see the space.

Dan’s last minute book launch event turned out to be a low-key affair. He took over the train car area at the Passenger, made a bowl of Horse and Carriage Punch, and chatted with everyone who stopped by.

Dan serves up the first cup of punch.

After Dan’s event wrapped up, I found myself at the bar between Joe Riley and We Love DC’s own Jenn Larsen. And Joe offered to buy a Cobra Bowl, as long as somebody would help him drink it. We didn’t say no.

Regular Tuesday night bartender Amy Russell, who came up with Tiki Tuesday as a way to combat winter, was more than happy to oblige.

Amy applies the garnish. The Cobra Bowl takes time to construct.

Last but not least, a little reservoir of overproof rum is set alight.

The menu board said you could order your drink in a pineapple for $5 more. Jenn’s friend Chris ordered an Oberon. The board didn’t say that drink couldn’t be beer!

Thanks for joining me on my drinking tour. Check in soon for the next installment!

Monday I attended a talk by noted (some might say legendary, and they might not be wrong) bartender Dale DeGroff. Arranged by and benefitting the Museum of the American Cocktail (also behind the Hotel Cocktail seminar Jenn attended), the talk had the simple title On the Town with Dale DeGroff and an equally simple, but delightful, construction.

The fact that you probably already know what a Cosmopolitan cocktail is, and most likely even have a mental picture of the sort of person you imagine would drink it, owes its existence to King Cocktail. Widely credited as the bartender who made it popular (if not ubiquitous) from behind the bar at the Rainbow Room in the 1980s, DeGroff has a long history both with his leg up in front of the bar and as the all-seeing, all-hearing master of ceremonies behind it. The “On the Town” seminar is a chance for him to tell a sample of the stories he has collected – or been a part of – since he moved to New York four decades ago.

To hear him tell that history is to see him live it. In DeGroff’s eyes, the bars, saloons, and nightclubs that dot our cities are centers of communities, places where people find and cement friendships. He found his first New York bar before he found his first apartment, and it was in that bar that he met the person who would actually get him the keys. Beer cost fifty cents and he had only a buck fifty in his pocket, but he had a guitar and knew one song (“Your Cheatin’ Heart”) well enough that somebody bought him a beer – and another, and another – and he was still able to tip the bartender at the end of the night.

And I haven’t even mentioned that the admission to this seminar also included drinks. Upon checkin at the Passenger bar each attendee received a sherry cobbler from his recipe (PX and Oloroso sherry, Cognac, orange peel, sugar, and orange juice, served over crushed ice and garnished with berries). After a brief introduction DeGroff took the Warehouse stage, which had been set up with a portable bar, and picked up his guitar. After a song he led us through the past hundred-odd years or so via their drinks, from the cobblers of the 1800s through the absinthe frappé (the Cosmopolitan of its day, so popular a song was written about it), to a long discussion on Prohibition, its malcontents, and its aftereffects.

One particular delight was the fact that some New York bars never closed, even during Prohibition (a fact you may wish to contrast with the hundreds of speakeasies in DC in those same years). The law stipulated that there had to be an intact container for there to be a crime. The Puncheon Club had collapsing shelves, a hole in the floor, and a staff member in the basement, sitting on a case of liquor, holding a baseball bat. In the event of a raid the barman would drop his bottle through the hole, and the guy in the basement would take that as his cue and grab his bat. With all the evidence smashed in a puddle on the basement floor, the lawmen would leave empty-handed. After a safe interval the barman would send for another case of liquor from his secret cellar next door and start pouring again. The night’s third drink came out of this story, as the night the Puncheon Club closed for good (to make way for Rockefeller Center) the proprietors (who went on to open the 21 Club) served a drink known as the Major Bailey (gin, lemon, lime, sugar, and mint) and handed axes to their guests. At the stroke of midnight the revelers tore the place down themselves.

After Prohibition and the Second World War, the US became a nation of highball drinkers (which you probably know if you’ve heard of Mad Men). When he got a job bartending a friend recommended that he seek out Jerry Thomas’ Bartenders Guide, without mentioning that it hadn’t been printed in a number of decades. Nonetheless he found a copy and a calling. Cocktail culture didn’t begin its recovery until the 1980s, and DeGroff was a driving force in that resurgence. When the Rainbow Room opened, he created a bar menu of classic cocktails made with fresh ingredients as they had been in Jerry Thomas’ day. The bar was a sensation, quickly becoming a place to see and be seen, and the cocktails there made bar and restaurant owners take notice that it was possible to go without mixers and still have a successful, profitable bar.

From the first moments of the cocktail restoration in the 80s his story moved to the present day, with bartenders continuing to rediscover lost or forgotten recipes and to create new ones using ingredients that had previously been unavailable. He illustrated this point with the last cocktail of the night, a yuzu gimlet (Hendricks gin, yuzu, lime, Rose’s lime cordial, and honey syrup). He then stayed around to chat, sip drinks, and sign books.

There were many more stories, but given the limits of this space and my memory after four drinks I’ll have to stop there and recommend you catch him yourself the next time he’s in town. And if you’re interested in more MOTAC events, there’s one on May 23rd on (wait for it) Prohibition, featuring Prohibition-era drinks and a talk by local author Garrett Peck. Advance tickets are $45 for non-members, with discounts available for members.

Wednesday night I attended a talk on Prohibition in DC by local author Garrett Peck. He’s got a new book on the subject, developed as a result of his research for his first book, along with the knowledge he’s amassed leading the Temperance Tour. Much as it is now, DC was a playground for politicians who wanted to try out new rules. Prohibition was thus imposed on the District in 1917 by politicians who, privately (and sometimes publicly) didn’t themselves care much for or about the law.

Peck pointed out in his talk that there were more speakeasies in DC during Prohibition than there had been legal drinking establishments before it. It wasn’t illegal to possess alcohol, it was just illegal to produce it, sell it, or transport it across state lines. The assumption had been that the District (and later the country) would just drink itself dry and that would be the end of that. As you might guess, things didn’t work out that way.

One of the most interesting tidbits was on the so-called Man in the Green Hat, a bootlegger named George Cassiday. He was famous for two reasons: first, for ten years during Prohibition he had offices in US Government buildings, first the House Office Building, and then (after a bust) the Senate Office Building. Second: he wrote about his work for the Washington Post while Prohibition was still in effect.

Another interesting revelation was in the slides that accompanied the talk (all of which are also to be found as plates in the book). In 1932 a pro-repeal organization called the Crusaders produced a map of speakeasy busts in the District during 1931 – 1,155 of them. It was published in newspapers nationwide. There are clusters along 7th St NW, K St NW, and across from the Navy Yard, and three marked as having occurred on government property (one just a few hundred feet from the offices of the Anti Saloon League). Oddly enough, Cassiday was arrested in 1930, so the busts in 1931 involved other bootleggers to Congress.

Peck pointed out the locations of several breweries in DC that were permanently shuttered by Prohibition. The Safeway on the Hill was once a brewery (and also an ice cream plant, thanks to its refrigeration capabilities). Few of the buildings exist in those forms today. He also highlighted the locations of the Anti Saloon League offices (no longer standing) and the Methodist Board of Temperance, Prohibition and Public Morals (now the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society). More sites can be seen on the next Temperance Tour.

I enjoyed the talk and look forward to reading the book in its entirety. If you’re interested in the history of Prohibition and its effects, you can also check out Peck’s first book, along with Daniel Okrent’s excellent history of Prohibition Last Call, and Iain Gately’s exhaustive Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol (both available from the DC Public Library and wherever quality books are sold).

It may come as a surprise to you that I have time to read in between all those trips to the Passenger for brunch, but it’s true. It probably won’t come as a surprise, though, that I’ve been reading a lot about drinking and prohibition lately. Two DC area authors have new books on those subjects.

First (in order of release), Garrett Peck, author of The Prohibition Hangover and leader of the Temperance Tour, has a new book on the subject of Prohibition in Washington, D.C. He’s giving a talk tomorrow at Pound the Hill, and will be having a launch party at the Woodrow Wilson House on May 19.

Second (but not least by any stretch), one of our favorite bartenders, Room 11’s Dan Searing, has a book out today. You may recall that Dan started Punch Club before Room 11 even opened. Now you can bring his expertise home with you in book form, as his The Punch Bowl has just been released.

Buy both today and support these DC authors. I’ve reached out to Dan to find out if he’s got a launch event planned, and will post an update here as soon as I find something out.

Got plans Saturday night?

The Grin Gala, now in its fourth year, is a benefit for Operation Smile. It is described as “an evening of cocktails, dancing and silent auction.” Lauren Graham, pictured above, is this year’s honorary host. Tickets come in two varieties: general admission ($120, of which $95 is tax deductible), and VIP ($240, of which $215 is tax deductible).

VIP access includes an early reception on the Chamber of Commerce rooftop with top DC chefs and mixologists including Chef Todd Gray and Mixologist Simo Ahmadi from Equinox; Chef Peter Smith from PS 7; Chef Victor Albisu and Mixologist Troy Bock from BLT Steakhouse; and Mixologist Stephen Warner from Columbia Firehouse.

The Social Chair and I will be there as invited guests. Look for us there Saturday night, and a wrap-up of the cocktails and food here next week!

We Love Drinks continues our series where we look behind the bar, profiling the many people – from mixologists to bartenders, sommeliers to publicans – who make your drinks experience happen.

Up to this point in our profile series, we’ve mainly focused on the craft of bartending, a profession that’s finally getting its due. We’ve also talked to a few beverage program and bar managers, the people who design menus and run operations. But what about doing all that and more? What does it take to own your own bar?

I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of owning a pub, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that idea. To get behind the dream to the reality, I sat down with Andy Duffy on a Saturday afternoon while hockey fans cheered in the background. As I spoke with him about Duffy’s, the Irish tavern that bears his name on Vermont Avenue near the 9:30 Club, it struck me that its one of those “third places” in my life. I’ve had friends work there, close friends are regulars, and hardly a week goes by without someone saying, “I’m heading to Duffy’s tonight.” There have been hockey game viewings, dart league matches, birthday parties and New Year’s. Duffy’s is my neighborhood pub.

Andy Duffy is most definitely the reason why we keep returning. But like the best publicans, he shies away from self-aggrandizement. There isn’t even a picture of him in this profile, at his request, because he believes the bar should be front and center. For him, the primary motivation to have his own place is the people factor. His low key pub is the “living room” for this intersection that used to be marked only by being a rough and tumble wasteland, now occupied by condos, the nearby Howard Plaza Towers, and newer bars like American Ice Company. More development is coming soon, but it’s still a bit rough in a different sense – Duffy’s has restrictions on its hours and is unable to stay open after midnight on weekdays, meaning when concerts let out he loses those potential customers. That’s a financial impediment to a pub’s success, and hopefully the results of a recent hearing will help change that in the future.

He took a serious risk opening his own bar. The five year anniversary is May 11. I wanted to know, has it been worth it?

‘Lazy Saturday Afternoon at Duffy’s’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

Yes.

“I’ve been busing tables since I was eleven years old,” Duffy told me, “It’s always been in the back of my mind to open a restaurant or a bar.” As the general manager of the old Four Provinces (otherwise called the 4 P’s, now known as the Four Fields) up in Cleveland Park, he thought after ten years there he knew exactly what to expect about owning his own pub. He thought he knew exactly how hard and stressful it would be, how big of a time commitment to expect. “Well, I was wrong,” he laughed.

“When you’re the only one, at least for the first couple of years, you can’t really have another life,” he said. Though Duffy’s makes enough to pay its bills, the hours restrictions means less income and he hasn’t been able to hire a manager yet. Waiting for the area to develop, he knew he was taking a gamble, but he was thinking ahead. “I was looking for the future,” he said,”It was an adventure.”

Duffy’s serves food with a tavern license, and before I spoke to him I just assumed the food was an adjunct to the bar in order to meet licensing requirements, as I’m always hearing how difficult that process can be. So I was surprised to learn that wasn’t the reason at all. “I’ve always had my hands in the kitchen,” Duffy said, “I’m no chef by any means, but I’ve learned a lot over the years and I like doing it.” You’ll find the usual Irish pub grub here like fish and chips (my personal favorite) and shepherd’s pie, but also fun items like tater tots, fried pickles and sliders.”Lot of regulars, people who come to shows – we do a lot of food,” he said.

The favorite drinks at Duffy’s? As you might expect, Guinness is the number one seller, followed by PBR and Natty Boh. The crowd favorite for Irish whiskey? Tullamore Dew, at $5 all night every night. Duffy decided to feature Tullamore as something different from the usual pours of Jameson and he said it’s really caught on.

‘The Essentials at Duffy’s’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

Every time I come here, I am struck by the instant camaraderie that Duffy encourages. It’s the kind of bar that you can come to alone, sit at the bar, and within minutes Duffy will have introduced you to a new person. He remembers names and backgrounds, ably matching people up in conversation just as the perfect host should, with a genuine interest in taking care of his patrons.

“I ended up with a very diverse bar – black, white, gay, straight, whoever is at the 9:30 Club will come over,” he explained when I asked him about the usual clientele. Duffy’s is notable for having a loyal crew of regulars, and he said they started coming right after he opened. “My regulars were also people who were taking a risk at that time, plus the people who were already here,” he said. His favorite part about owning a bar really is meeting people. It’s a multi-generational, diverse, and inclusive pub. This isn’t the kind of bar where there’s a lot of attitude, or even fights, and Duffy intends to keep it that way. He’s proud that “since we’ve been open we’ve never had an ABC violation or a major incident.”

His least favorite part? The hours. “At least until I can afford to hire a manager, it takes up all of my time,” he said. Well before official opening he has to be onsite, waiting for deliveries, and well after closing, he’s there working, reconciling financials and cleaning up. Duffy has to be there. “Even with that, I don’t regret it at all.”

‘Hockey Fans at Duffy’s’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

It isn’t all Guinness and roses opening your own place. There’s a significant expense in opening a bar and it’s normal not to see any profit for the first few years. Duffy is too much of a gentleman to say it himself, but the continuing restrictions on his weekday hours are a financial hardship that has often caused regulars to worry about the pub’s future. A recent hearing went as well as it has ever gone, and hopefully extended hours (and maybe even a patio) aren’t far behind. “This will determine whether we can stay open or not,” he said,” if we’re ever going to be profitable, something’s got to change.”

For those who worry about what effect more pubs and restaurants have on a neighborhood, Duffy notes that in the U Street Corridor the owners are responsible, keeping in touch with each other about potential issues and watching out for their patrons. “The more the merrier,” he said, and I agree. When nightlife development is marked by a strong commitment to safety and community, it’s a win for all.

The afternoon I came in to chat, Duffy had the Caps game on and a crew of regulars were cheering, including a newscaster and a cop. It’s that kind of place. A city needs taverns like this to stay vibrant and healthy (and who’s to say a shot of Tullamore Dew isn’t healthy!). Where you can pop in for dinner or a pre-show drink, roll over for a nightcap, sit solo and be fine with it, or strike up a conversation with some new folks. In a city where we’ve been starved for so long, where every new place is hailed as the freaking Second Coming of Foodies, it’s refreshing to know that the good old-fashioned pub is still a well-loved part of the neighborhood.

And Duffy? I think he’s a truly well-loved publican, and deservedly so.

With any luck, every once and a while I attend a drinks tasting where cocktails and setting perfectly align to create a rather magical experience. Ok, maybe the magic is all due to the haze of booze, but there are worse ways to spend an sun-soaked spring twilight than sitting outside at Saint-Ex’s patio with a few fellow drinks lovers and be catered to by the gentlemanly charms of bar manager Jonathan Fain. Al fresco gets me every time; start me off with a champagne cocktail and you definitely have my attention.

Cafe Saint-Ex is something of a Logan Circle/U Street institution now, weathering the changes to the neighborhood and its clientele while still maintaining its credo to feature local sustainable ingredients in a relaxed bistro environment. Do I grumble about its popularity denying me space at the bar? Sure, but I still value it after the eight years it’s been open. And after trying six of Jonathan’s spring cocktails last week, I will definitely be rotating up to that bar on a more regular basis.

First up in that marathon of spring sips was their famous Champagneson. Jonathan explained that you could improve the taste of cheap bubbly by adding whiskey (in this case, Jameson). It makes sense upon reflection, as the oakiness of a good whiskey will elevate the sparkling wine to a more vintage taste. It certainly worked for me, and as I’ve got loads of whiskey at home I intend to blind taste test this on guests very soon. Garnished with a lemon twist, this was a seriously refreshing drink and far sexier than you might think.

Next up, A Sour Thyme. Jonathan pulled out a sheaf of pressed gelatin, some eggs, and got to work making foam.

‘Champagneson, Saint Ex’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

This cocktail had a beautiful aroma courtesy of its base of Absolut Wild Tea and housemade thyme sour mix, with a bit of one of my favorite Italian liqueurs, the artichoke-flavored Cynar. The foam topping was composed of Saint Germain and Campari. Sweet and sour and savory – it was extremely hard to just sip this one and not wholeheartedly gulp.

‘A Sour Thyme cocktail, Saint Ex’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

From a cocktail with a rather complex process (at least for my limited skills!) to one that’s so easy anyone could do it – the Bees in a Beer was surprisingly delicious, a combination of Lagunitas IPA and Wild Turkey American Honey liqueur, with a honeycomb to mix things up inside. Though this was obviously a gorgeous looking drink, with the sun shining through the honeycomb texture like an amber jewel, I was really worried it would be too sweet for me. But, the flavor combination was extremely drinkable and could do some damage to a spring afternoon.

‘Bees in a Beer cocktail, Saint Ex’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

The Ruffled Shirt was another lovely champagne cocktail, with Saint Germain liqueur, Angostura bitters, white sparkling wine and an orange twist. Honestly, if I had only one drink for the rest of my life it would be champagne cocktail, as I never get tired of the magic that happens when bitters and bubbles meet.

‘The Ruffled Shirt cocktail, Saint Ex’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

The last two cocktails were not only delicious but humorous, essential for a season where you just want to shake off winter’s grip and laugh. The Poptail is a cocktail in a posicle, and yes you can suck it right out of the plastic like you used to do as a kid at the beach. It’s potentially messy and just plain fun. Jonathan will be rotating different selections throughout the season; this one was a St. Germain Poptail with the ubiquitous elderflower liqueur, housemade lemon simple syrup and sparkling white wine. It had quite a kick! Since I’m not sure I’ll see the beach for another month, sipping a poptail on Saint-Ex’s patio is a fine substitute.

‘Remains of a St. Germain Poptail’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

Last up was DJ’s Cadillac Luxury Drop. The DJ refers to the Don Julio tequila, the “luxury drop” to the small portion it will be served in as a sort of adult shooter. We were given a larger version, and this is where day turned to night and the moon rose and suddenly the sun did too. Ok maybe not quite like that, but you’ve been warned. This dessert style cocktail also has rosemary infused Cointreau Noir, serrano habanero infused agave, lime juice, and rosemary grapefruit sorbet. It’s spicy and fruity, refreshing and exhilarating at the same time. Like the poptails, Saint-Ex will feature different luxury drops as the season continues.

‘DJ’s Cadillac Luxury Drop, Saint Ex’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention that chef Billy Klein provided three small plates as well, with interesting flavors that went down fast. A dish of wood-grilled prawns with cannellini beans and orange gremolata, a plate of BBQ brisket sliders with surprisingly delicious avocado mousse and spicy oranges, and a decadent carrot parsnip cake with cream cheese frosting and orange rum anglaise sauce – all reminding me that Saint-Ex’s popularity is well-founded.

‘Spoonful of luxury’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

In DC we tend to devour new restaurants and bars like we’ve been starving for years, lining up and crowding them up like a ravenous horde. Not every one survives the onslaught. That happened to Saint-Ex for a time, and I’m glad to see that despite continued popularity, it’s maintained its dedication to good inventive food and cocktails. After an evening lounging on the patio watching the graciousness of chef and bar manager, I’m convinced it’s worth going back, again and again.

Like

Unlike

We Love Drinks continues our series where we look behind the bar, profiling the many people – from mixologists to bartenders, sommeliers to publicans – who make your drinks experience happen.

I swing open the hefty, wide birch door on a cool, clear Sunday evening in March, ascend the metal staircase, and enter into a narrow but deep room, filled with lively chatter and the aromas of sweet and sour beer and freshly-cleaned tap lines. I take a seat at the bar and am immediately approached by one of the bartenders. He reaches out to shake my hand.

“Good evening, Bill! Great to see you. How’s everything going, buddy?”

That’s Nahem Simon, and this is ChurchKey, the acclaimed beer bar brother to its downstairs sister Birch & Barley in Logan Circle. Much has been written on this relatively recent addition to the DC nightlife scene, and if you’re a beer geek you’ve surely heard of Greg Engert, the famed beer director of the two restaurants. But, you may not have heard of Nahem, who on almost any given day can be found pouring one of their 50 taps, hand-pumping a cask ale, or wiping down the bar in a move he calls “the Zamboni.”

Nahem plays Greg’s right-hand man; while Greg researches beers, hosts tastings, and appears in the media as the face of ChurchKey, Nahem’s running the show behind the bar. The two have been close friends for several years and their collective enthusiasm toward craft beer has helped permanently transform DC’s beer scene.

I settle in at the bar as Nahem pours me a glass. He introduces me to some fellow patrons: another ChurchKey bartender off-duty, relaxing with his girlfriend and enjoying a hockey game on the flat screens over the taps, and a general manager of a local restaurant who has stopped in after a busy weekend. Soon, Nahem finds a moment to step out from behind the bar, and we take a seat in the secluded lounge area near the back of the room to talk.

In 2003, during the summer following the sophomore year of his undergrad program at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, Nahem found a job back in DC at the Brickskeller, the once preeminent beer bar in the area which has since become the Bier Baron. He was 20 years old, had heard they were hiring, that it was an easy-going place, knew a friend who was working there, and so he applied. He didn’t know anything about beer at the time, and the Brickskeller was of little help, with only a 30-minute training session at the start of the job. Prior to his experience at the Brickskeller, his primary introduction to craft beer happened, naturally, during college.

“In Canada, you would go to the beer store, you’d see all these 6 packs, and different beers that had really, really interesting labels, but you never really knew what it was all about. The first craft beer I got into was Maudite and I just thought it was devil beer, I just thought it was really cool.”

He realized he needed to fully educate himself on craft beer if he was going to continue with this career. He went on to spend the next four summers at the Brickskeller.

In his second year, Nahem met Greg Engert, who had also started working at the Brickskeller, by way of a mutual friend. When they all had a day off, the three of them would go out to party, but also to learn as much as possible about craft beer, so they spent a lot of time visiting various bars, trying out new styles and different beers.

After his second summer there, he completed his undergrad degree back in Ontario and then returned the next year to the Brickskeller to become a bartender/manager. He and Greg’s schedules aligned which allowed them to spend more time building each other’s interest in the hospitality industry as a whole, understanding what works and what doesn’t, particularly based on their experience with the Brickskeller’s operation.

“One of the things we learned was what you don’t do when running a business. You don’t sit on your laurels, you don’t cast aside your clientele, you don’t tell them, ‘Oh, we’re a beer bar, we’re not going to get you this and that.’ Why can’t you make a martini, why can’t you instruct your staff to be able to be as knowledgeable about the beer as they would about the wine, as they would about the spirits?”

They took note of the staff’s passive-aggressive behavior and general lack of direction as a part of the frustrating experience. Under the previous management of Maurice Coja, there was a six-week training program for new employees, but when the bar came under new management, that six-week program turned into a half-hour lecture.

“I don’t think it was fair to not only the staff, but also the customer. And we had great clientele there, we had people that would come in that would want to try these different beers. There’s nothing more disheartening than somebody getting their hopes up about, ‘Oh my god you have this beer!’ ‘I’m sorry we don’t have that.’”

Nahem put together a beer school to help educate the staff since the days of Coja’s formal training were over. Greg took on the program while Nahem returned to school to pursue an art fundamentals course, but then later left the Brickskeller to become the beer director at Rustico in Alexandria. Nahem spent a year back at school before he realized he preferred the hospitality industry, and so he returned to DC and the two ended up together again at Rustico.

A little known fact about Birch & Barley is that it was originally slated to become Rustico 2. The plan was to have Greg move to this new venture in DC as its beer director, and Nahem would take on that same role at the Alexandria location. However, once Greg settled in at what became ChurchKey/Birch & Barley, he found himself spread too thin, and needed help organizing the program, a perfect job for Nahem.

“When this place opened, 150 people rushed in … and then all of these bartenders were getting asked these questions about 50 drafts — not even the bottles — and I was able to tell them this is this beer, this is that beer. I became kind of a liaison behind the bar, and Greg’s face there while he did the more formal presentation downstairs.”

With his obsessive-compulsive nature, Nahem took it upon himself to make the system at ChurchKey remarkably user-friendly for both the staff and Greg. This allowed Greg to spend more time learning about beer, working in the office, and managing the business side while Nahem took on the work of running the bar, coolers, kegs, lines — the whole system.

“I did a lot of research online etc, and found these beverage dispensing tracks to make sure you’re always able to see what you have, you don’t have a mess of bottles that are falling over on one another as we used to have [at The Brickskeller].”

If you’re ever looking to find Nahem juggling the kegs in the loft, or more likely manning the bar at ChurchKey, it’s probably best to stop by on a Sunday, which is his favorite day of the week to work.

“Friday and Saturdays, you get more of a demographic that comes in … looking to get fucked up. That’s totally cool if you want to get fucked up, but you can get shots anywhere. I want to make sure that if people are interested in craft beer or people are just interested in what we do, whether it be the food being straight from the farm to the kitchen to your plate, or the kind of care the staff takes in learning about the product and really just getting to know people. That’s what I like about Sundays, a little more laid back, everyone’s a little more comfortable, moving at a slower pace after the weekend.

With as much as Nahem cares about giving the best possible experience to customers, I wondered what his take is on mobile devices in use by those sitting at the bar. On any given night at any given bar, you’ll invariably see heads tilted down, faces aglow in blue light. Some criticize that we’re mitigating the conversationalist strength of bartenders, but Nahem doesn’t quite see it that way.

“I know when I’m at the bar, and even when I’m with friends, I end up turning to my phone. I think it’s just some sort of nervous twitch that humanity has gotten into, because we like to be up to date with information and it’s funny because often times that does actually aid in opening up conversation. Sometimes, just asking, ‘What are you doing there, a little work or you know looking something up?’ it’s amazing how forthcoming people are about what they’re doing, even though they might be doing something very, very personal, very private. … Those three feet of concrete between the two people I think creates a dynamic of interests where, because they’re at the bar whatever they’re doing, they’re trying to get as much of that surrounding as possible even though they’re not trying to engage with it directly.

Regardless of what people are doing at the bar though, they’re almost always there to have a drink. At a place with as wide a range and as varying in options as ChurchKey, visitors, both new and seasoned, often ask for a recommendation.

“It’s first about what do they like. I think a lot of people are extremely intimidated and feel that they’re going to look stupid if they don’t know about the beer, I’ll usually ask them — they might be a little hesitant — they might be more towards the whole macrobrewery world, and I’ll tell them we don’t offer that, but I can get you something similar. I always use the same kind of breakdown — I’ve used it since the Brickskeller — ’Do you want something light, dark, pale, hoppy, sweet, bitter, sour, smokey?’ ’cause, from there, they’ll say, ‘Something dark.’ ‘Oh okay, well something dark and sweet, dark and bitter, dark and sour, dark and smokey?’ and then from there, just keep breaking things down. It’s all word association.

Sometimes though, you want a beer that’s easy and cheap. I think everyone has a favorite shitty shitty beer and there’s a bit of a story behind Nahem’s.

“For me, for nostalgia sake, and I don’t even get it all that much anywhere, but if I can find it, Keystone Light. John Jarecki, who’s the owner of Light Horse in Virginia, was our original bar manager at Rustico, and even though he builds some of the beer selection there — he loves his different beers, and he was from Boulder, and he loves his Avery, his New Belgium, you name it, anything over there — but one thing that I always remember him saying, ‘If you’re having the worst goddamn night in the world, and all hell’s breaking loose, you can always count on the fact that you’re going to be completely refreshed and just completely relaxed by the pedestrian experience of just crushing a Keystone Light. ‘Cause it just kind of brings you back from everything. You’re just like, you know what, it was the worst night ever, but I’m enjoying a Keystone Light. It tastes like absolute garbage, but it just kind of reminds me, hey, I’m having a crappy beer, but I’m enjoying it more than all of the shitty things that are going on. And it’s just a way to keep perspective. And he’s always good. Uncle John always taught us much. He would tell me, he always would tell me, don’t forget to breathe. I still need to work on that.

Usually, the first kind of beer everyone has is shitty beer, but Nahem had a different introduction to the beverage.

“It was the Spaten Lager, I was 14 and like, ‘Oh my god, this is great.’ This is also the first time I got wasted. But the beer that really made me like craft beer, was Maudite. I would get it when I would go to poker night during my sophomore year in Canada, I’m like, oh it’s 9%, I’m going to get double the beer, it’s so fucking metal! It’s so fucking punk rock! And we’d get there and we’d all be hanging out, I punished two of these beers before we’d start playing, and by the time the second hand had gone through, I’d already boughten in like four times somehow. Like, I never made a fucking cent, because I was wasted off of fucking 9% beer. But then after that I’m like oh wait, that’s a Belgian style? Teach me more!

We started talking about the last beer we’d ever drink, and Nahem was himself conflicted.

“Holy shit! God, it’s like you’ve got 18 kids, and which one would you say is your favorite before you die. You know, probably the last beer that I like really, really enjoyed in just a good setting. That just really, really depends, but the last time I ended up having a really, really amazing time enjoying that beer ’cause if I’m on my deathbed, I want to think back to that last great time, and I’d probably be like, oh that was good, I’ll have that. I don’t think it’d matter so much on the beer than the correlation, and the emotional investment that I had with that beer.

Where people in the industry eat and drink in their city is always notable, but Nahem found coming up with places difficult, as his days off are rare and he doesn’t go out that often.

“I love Urbana, the bar at the [Hotel] Palomar, just ’cause it’s chill and it is a hotel bar but it’s also chic, and they’ve got good food, a couple good beers. I like going to The Big Hunt, Dave’s a good friend of mine, I love the bottles that he carries. I like going to Estadio as well, the food’s really, really good. I don’t really get out that much.

The night’s getting late, and we wrap up our conversation. If there’s one thing that’s evidenced from all of this though, it’s the groundswell of craft beer interest and venues in the DC area, including the opening of DC Brau tomorrow night. Nahem agrees:

“All these different places, even Matchbox stepped up their stuff a little bit, you’ve got all of these brasseries like Brasserie Beck and even Meridian Pint just opening up. But it’s funny ’cause it’s a healthy competition and at the end of the day, we’re all friends. Let’s all get on the fucking same page, not try to one up one another, just offer cool different things.

The bar has emptied out a bit now, as the city prepares for another Monday. Nahem returns behind the counter to tend to the remaining die-hard barflys, and run his “Zamboni” up and down the bar. The kegs that emptied over the weekend will be swapped out, the lines cleaned, and the draft menus updated for the following day.

When I arrived in DC three years ago, I had been repeatedly told of the Brickskeller as the beer destination in the District. And yet in this short time, the Brickskeller faded out, and a crop of new beer venues have been born in its likeness, learning from its mistakes, and expanding upon its success. In conjunction with mainstays like The Big Hunt and RFD, DC is firmly planting itself as a notable and reputable location for craft beer. And with bartenders like Nahem at the helm of this new wave, you can be assured your time exploring craft beer will be an experience worth having.

All photos by the author.

It’s no secret that cocktails and art fuel my life. To have both combined together in one heady mix makes for glamour overload. Last Saturday night saw me at such an event, the annual ARTINI gala at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, hosted by the 1869 Society. I’ve said it before, and I’m not ashamed to repeat that being asked to serve on the judging panel of the first Critic’s Choice was a great honor and one of the high points so far of my We Love DC life.

With an estimated attendance of 750 guests mingling under classical columns in the long red gallery, dressed in the first finery of spring, it was a gorgeous scene. After my judging duties were over I stood on the marble steps just watching the crowd, marveling at how much DC has changed in the two decades I’ve been here. There was a vibrant energy, combined with a fashion sense ranging from quirkily vintage to elegantly artsy. My guest, no slouch herself when it comes to fashion and art, described it as “an eye candy madhouse.”

But this isn’t a social column! ARTINI is first and foremost an event designed to showcase the glory of the Corcoran’s collection as it inspires 12 local mixologists to be daring and creative. We already know the winner of both the Critic’s Choice and the Washingtonian Fan Favorite was Ronald Flores of Art and Soul’s Coleman’s Juice. The Critic’s Choice was a tight race with Joe Ambrose of POV’s Joan’s Palate coming in at second by only 0.1, rounded out by Brent Davis from AGAINN’s The Fall of Grace. In the Fan Favorite, Brent took second and Cafe Atlantico’s Owen Thompson’s Daisy If You Do… took third.

How did all the drinks fare? As judges we had to consider three elements – taste, presentation, and connection to the inspiration art. Trying to hit all three buttons isn’t easy.

‘Guests at ARTINI 2011′
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

Throughout the month of March, the We Love DC drinks team has been sampling these entries at the weekly feature nights. Clear favorites emerged. I was intrigued by their descriptions but didn’t sample any cocktail until that evening. As we six judges went from station to station, spending a few minutes with each bartender to learn more about their entry and the artwork that inspired them, it was apparent that a great amount of time, talent and research goes into crafting an ARTINI.

I asked Diana Kaw, member programs officer at the Corcoran, about what goes into the event itself. The 1869 Society Steering Committee starts planning ARTINI in November of the previous year. They review the previous years rosters and consider who was “especially enthusiastic” about being involved. They also strongly consider geographical location of venues, to make sure that entries are spread out throughout the city. “We want to highlight hot spots in the District!” Diana said, “The interest in craft cocktails in this city has grown and I read up on who was doing exciting things.”

‘Coleman’s Juice cocktail’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

What was most striking as we moved through the stations was how varied the inspiration art was – from painting, sculpture and photography, from historic to contemporary work. Contestants are presented with a curated selection from which to choose their inspiration piece. It’s a group pulled from across the collection, narrowed down based on what will be on view at the time of the event and what the reproduction rights are for a particular piece. After they select the inspiration work, how much research they do or how they come up with their cocktail is all up to the bartender.

Peeking into my scribbled notes on the recipe book, it’s clear that the deciding factor for me was always how well they evoked the artwork. Not all the drinks were to my personal taste, and a few went too sweet in the taste and too subtle in the presentation. But there was something in the style, creativity or enthusiasm to admire in almost every one.

Going through and detailing each cocktail would make for an exhaustive article! So instead of an oil painting, I’ll give you a quick sketch of what’s stayed in my mind out of the 12…

‘Whipped garnish, ARTINI 2011′
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

The clear coolness of B Cup (Josh Berner of Church & State), cheekily evoking Kiki Smith’s 1990 blown glass sculpture Breast Jar with its  spherical ice cube and bisecting blade of bison grass. A taste “like skin,” as was murmured next to me.

The sheer audacity of Bonfire Shelter (Jonathan Harris of The Gibson) in attempting to bring you into the frame of Albert Bierstadt’s 1888 painting The Last of the Buffalo, its Prairie Essence perfume dabbed onto the hand to inhale the deep clary sage of the range before bombarding you with whiskey intensity.

The risky floral bomb of Ratchet (The Wilder Brothers of Potenza), nailing the look of James Hyde’s oil paint, glass and silicone 1995 work Ratchet with a crazy ice cube of flower essence and petals and an over-the-top presentation.

The American classic of Sea Legs Daiquiri (Chantal Tseng of Tabard Inn), its sea salt and creme de violette making me nostalgic for my New England childhood, and reminding me how much I love Edward Hopper’s 1939 painting Ground Swell.

‘Joan’s Palate cocktail’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

How perfectly the intense yellow of Joan’s Palate (Joe Ambrose at POV), with its quirky quarter rim of black lava salt, matched not just the color scheme of Joan Mitchell’s 1979 oil painting Salut Tom, but the feeling of the large-scale swirling canvas and perhaps the artist’s personality as well.

How the smoky intensity of the mezcal in Coleman’s Juice (Ronald Flores at Art and Soul) and the visual joke of the housemade Slim Jim brought me into the 1982 sculpture Coleman’s Cafe by William Christenberry.

How Brent Davis of AGAINN noticed a flaw in the 1923 sculpture The Sons of God Saw The Daughters of Man That They Were Fair by Daniel Chester French, and mimicked that flaw by clipping his rose petal garnish for The Fall of Grace.

How Owen Thompson of Cafe Atlantico toasted rye berries to infuse St. Germain and safely sourced vegetable-dyed leather to infuse tequila for his Daisy If You Do… to give a poolside highball style drink the necessary edge to represent Frederic Remington’s 1903 bronze Off the Range (Coming through the Rye).

An incredible amount of energy, time, thought and craft went into ARTINI 2011. Next time you order a cocktail, note how history and artistry are beautifully combined in your glass. And for bringing that art into your life, thank the talented person who made it.

Thanks to Diana Kaw at the Corcoran Gallery of Art for taking the time to answer my background questions. And a very special thanks to the other members of the Critic’s Choice panel – Sophie Gilbert, Beatrice Gralton, Justin Guthrie, Mike Isabella and Todd Thrasher – I learned a great deal that evening about cocktails, food and art from them all.

A lot has happened since my first visit to the Columbia Room in June of last year. Owner Derek Brown’s martini has been rightly lauded as the best in the country by GQ, for instance. I keep returning to this oasis, whether for classes or for service, because it truly is one of the most special places you can go to enjoy a perfectly crafted drink. There’s a meticulous attention to beauty, history and taste here that we are lucky to experience in DC. After reading Fedward’s round with Katie Nelson in February, I knew I had to get back even more. So last week found me at a much-anticipated girls’ night out at the cocktail spa. We weren’t disappointed.

I asked Derek Brown after my last visit if he feels much has changed since opening. “Nothing has changed dramatically from our opening. We’ve just gotten better at what we do and more popular along with it. We’re especially grateful for all the accolades -from the Washingtonian to GQ – as it’s very gratifying when you work as hard as we do to see people enjoying the fruits of your labor.”

And what exquisite fruits… that night the girls and I sat down at the bar tended by the talented Katie Nelson, with three Season Tickets garnished with mint and cucumber to start. Spring may have failed us outside in the chill, but inside was a garden of delights. 

‘Season Ticket, Columbia Room’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

The Season Ticket is a classic cocktail from a book by William Terrington, Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks, published in 1869 when the style of drinks known as “cups” was all the rage (favorite quote from the preface? “the author has given special attention to the subject of Refrigeration – almost a new art among us” – imagine those days when proper ice really was immensely important to your drink!). It’s composed of palo cortado sherry, lemon juice, minted simple syrup, and topped with sparkling cider (Katie used Michel Jodoin from Quebec). That garnish of cucumber slice and mint sprig was secured with a metal pin we all instantly coveted, and served appropriately in a rather dainty cup. As a crystal collector I’m always ooh-ing and aah-ing the glasses they use at the Columbia Room, as they align form and function so well (also, they are just damn pretty). We all felt the taste of the drink itself was like an elusive memory of some forgotten spice, the sherry and the cider in harmony to create an instant connection to the days of ladies sipping cups and dropping calling cards.

‘Shakers, Columbia Room’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

Next up was the Perigee Moon cocktail, appropriate considering our visit was just a few days after the “super moon” or “super perigee full moon” made its ghostly gigantic appearance. As is standard at the Columbia Room, the second drink is paired with a small plate, which here was a square of fried tofu over purple cauliflower – which I’d never had and am now obsessed with finding at the farmer’s market. The small plates are always inventive and intended to awaken the palate to more. They aren’t intended to fill you up, so keep that in mind when planning your visit.

Also keep in mind that due to its increasing popularity, the days the bar is open have expanded while its seats have been reduced. There’s a good reason for that, Derek explained. “At the same time, we’re open five days a week now because of it, Tuesday through Saturday. More interest means more requests for reservations. However, we’ve reduced those seatings to ten people at a time to make sure it remains an intimate setting with the best possible service we can offer.”

This is certainly one of the most impressive things about my return visits to the Columbia Room – the consistency of the overall experience. It’s still as relaxing, with the same dedicated service and quality of product, as it was at the beginning.

‘Perigee Moons in the Making’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

The deep color of the Perigee Moon was striking as Katie mixed it up, due to the addition of Aperol and blood orange juice. The drink also included Siete Leguas silver tequila, Aperol, agave nectar, a dash of celery bitters, and was topped with sparkling wine (she used Fizz by Thibaut-Janisson winery in VA).  The garnish was truly gorgeous, a full fuchsia blossom adding to the intense color with a green celery curl adding contrast. The first note was the celery from both the garnish and the bitters. The whole mixture of vegetal, floral and fruit flavors reminded me of that first day working in the garden after the rain. It was truly beautiful. We even nibbled a bit at the fuchsia garnish. Perhaps we were a wee tipsy at this point.

‘Fuchsia Blossom’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

The third round at the Columbia Room is tailored to your taste, and my girls laughed at how well Katie called it for me. “That’s you all right, funky and bitter,” one chortled as the bottles of ingredients for the Appetizer a l’Italienne were lined up on the bar. Carpano Antica Formula vermouth? Oh yes please. Fernet Branca? Sigh.

‘Appetizer a l’Italienne, Columbia Room’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

I have a serious admiration for Italian amari – bitter liqueurs like Aperol, Averna and Campari. But until this point I hadn’t tasted Fernet Branca, which Imbibe magazine rightly describes as “bombastically bitter.” I can’t think of a better adjective. One whiff and I was in love. Again, it’s those deeply intense nature flavors that get me. Not to mention, how could I not love a cocktail with a perfect cube of ice as its centerpiece? Appetizer a l’Italienne also has a dash of absinthe and a dash of simple syrup (made with cane sugar), with a large lemon peel garnish. There is a lot going on here – Carpano Antica is a glorious red vermouth with a very complex botanical flavor, matched with the radical bitterness of the Fernet Branca, both are tempered by the absinthe (I never thought I would ever say absinthe tempers anything, but here it is in a supporting role). Sipping it down, I went to cocktail nirvana.

That’s what I expect from a night at the Columbia Room, and it never disappoints. I’ll leave the last word to Derek Brown, who says it best:

“People come to the Columbia Room not just because we have great cocktails but because they know we actually care. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true. How often do you go to a bar, place your order and are then shoved aside and left to fend for yourself? Not at the Columbia Room. It’s like having your own private cocktail lounge.”

The Columbia Room is located at The Passenger at 1021 7th Street Northwest, Washington D.C., DC 20001. Closest Metro stop: Convention Center (Yellow/Green lines). Reservations required online.

Last week, Birch & Barley hosted their first-ever beer and whiskey tasting. At the helm was the inimitable Greg Engert to guide the evening’s attendees through three different beers and three different whiskies, one of each presented on its own, and then two of each paired together.

While I’ve had several meals at Birch & Barley and have spent too much time upstairs at ChurchKey, I had not yet attended one of Birch & Barley’s tastings or beer dinners so I wasn’t sure what to expect—in its format, presentation, guidance, sociability—but based on my past experiences with the brother-sister venues and the heavy promotion the tasting received, I figured it would be worthwhile. By the conclusion of the event, it had certainly met expectations—I left better educated, with a few new acquaintances, and with a pleasant buzz.

The event was communal in its setup, and for those participating equally convivial. Greg took the stage in the center of the packed restaurant, microphone in hand, to talk through the flavors and nuances to note about each pairing. Every place-setting was accompanied by a menu of the event’s offerings, a golf pencil, and a custom tasting note card containing a grid with spaces to jot down your thoughts on each item’s appearance, aroma, taste, palate, and overall impression—a very nice touch.

Greg started everyone with the 2008 Millennium Oak Aged with Brettanomyces from Delaware’s Coastal Brewing Company which was sweet, malty, slightly spicy, and lightly bitter. To accompany the 10.5% barleywine, a platter of cashel blue cheese with port-glazed figs atop multigrain toast was served. The cheese was sweet and creamy, paired for its funk, and finished well, but felt a bit more powerful and funkier than the beer and thus overwhelmed it.

The next solo offering was High West’s Rendezvous Rye, a 46% rye whiskey that was astringent and dry in its aroma, but had a spicy, intense, slightly earthy taste. It finished light and spicy and our table seemed in agreement this was a very pleasurable pour, especially in conjunction with the braised lamb belly served beside toasted bulgur wheat with plumped golden raisins. The lamb belly melted in your mouth and the bulgur wheat complimented the earth tones of the whiskey quite well.

The third portion of tasting was a pairing of Founders’ very rare 2008 Kentucky Breakfast Stout and Kentucky Bourbon Distiller’s Willett Pot Still Reserve 94 proof which were both fantastic. The 11.2% KBS was dark and oily in the glass, but filled with notes of coffee, malt, oats, and even marshmallow and finished sweet and light, and the 47% bourbon was spicy and subtly intense. The kitchen prepared one of the season’s last runs of its butternut squash arancini which were the usual mix of crispy and gooey, but seemed comparatively pale to the alcoholic offerings.

The final pairing of the evening was BrewDog’s whisky cask-aged imperial stout, Paradox Isle of Arran, and Isle of Jura’s single-malt whiskey Superstition. While I’d had this variant of BrewDog’s Paradox series before and was yet again underwhelmed by it, as were many of my tablemates, the Superstition wowed even the most discerning attendees. While the Isle of Arran seemed lacking in flavor and complexity and really didn’t live up to its expectations, the Superstition was the complete opposite; it surprised with with its salty, briney, peaty flavors, and demonstrated a lovely complexity—I’ve never tasted a whiskey like it before. In conjunction with the Paradox, it felt like the night’s Trojan horse. Paired with a round of beechwood-smoked malt sausage and roasted cipollini onions, and the evening ended on a rather pleasant note.

While this was Birch & Barley’s first run at a beer-whiskey tasting event, they did a wonderful job, which isn’t a huge surprise considering their accolades and experience with food and drink pairings. There were a few missteps though it felt, in the selections and pairings, but in consideration of the whole experience—the usual wealth of knowledge provided by Greg, excellent service, great setting, and lively attendees—you should look forward to the next iteration of the event. I certainly will be, and judging by the slightly stumbling exits of happy guests, many more will be as well.

All photos by the author.

We Love Drinks continues our series where we look behind the bar, profiling the many people – from mixologists to bartenders, sommeliers to publicans – who make your drinks experience happen.

“You could just write a short little paragraph: ‘Jeff hates vodka.’ That would sum it up perfectly.”

On a recent afternoon I sat down with Jeff Faile, until next Thursday the bar manager at Palena, and soon to be the bar manager (part of an excellent team) at Fabio Trabocchi’s return to DC, Fiola.

An army brat born in Rhode Island, he has a history degree from Clemson. Previously a manager at Tower Records in Philadelphia who moonlighted as a bartender, he moved to DC about five years ago and began bartending full-time. In November he got married, became bar manager at Palena, and was invited to join the DC Craft Bartenders Guild. And he owes at least part of his success to Twitter, of all things.

I first came to know Jeff through his Twitter account. The Social Chair tweeted something drink related (I think it was Whiskey Old Fashioned Day or something along those lines) and found herself with a new follower. She said something to me (“He’s a bartender at Palena. We should probably get to know him.”) and I started following him too.

Jeff:
When I first went into it, I didn’t expect too much of the response that I had. It was to be an information feed on different brands of booze and what some of the big guys were doing around the country. I would throw out something random about a drink I had made, good or bad, and people gravitated towards it. A couple people who have come in [to Palena] asked if I was on Twitter, and they started following me, and it led to Saturday Night Sips, which completely blew my mind. From one guy mentioning it on Twitter, and next thing I’m standing next to Alice Waters and José Andrés.

Fedward:
Did they like the drinks?

Jeff:
As far as I know Alice didn’t have anything. She popped up for half a second and asked me what I was making, and I was just kind of stunned. ‘Wow! You’re Alice Waters!’ She moved on, she just did a quick down-the-line.

Jose had one of Owen’s drinks given their connection, but he was super nice as well. Very outgoing for sure.

Fedward:
Who else was working the bar, just Owen?

Jeff:
Owen [Thomson, that is], Dan [Searing, of Room 11], and Gina [Chersevani, of PS7's]. So it was just four of us. I think last year it was just those three. I was the fourth wheel. I was the new kid.

Fedward:
How do you like DC?

Jeff:
I love DC. I think it’s great. I know Philly seems to be the hip spot to be, but I’m really happy to be in DC compared to Philly. Once Tower went under I started bartending full time and really had no desire to stay in Philly. I’d been trying to get out of Philly for a while.

Fedward:
Where do you go on your night off?

Jeff:
If it’s exclusively for a drink, Passenger is it. I love going down there. Food wise, Corduroy is a great spot. Estadio of course, Proof. The usual suspects.

Fedward:
How did you get into the Craft Bartenders Guild? Do you approach them? Do they approach you?

Jeff:
I’m still scratching my head over how that all happened. Derek [Brown] and I have a couple mutual friends. I guess they were under the impression that I was in [the Guild], and they kept asking Derek about it, and my boss here [at Palena] emailed Derek about it.

Derek came in one night and sat at the bar and said, “whatever you’re working on.” He and Angie [Salame] came in. I took a step back and figured I was having an informal tryout. That was right after the Bitter End, right after I’d started making that here. So I gave it to him, and gave him the reasoning behind it. He really enjoyed it, and Angie sipped on her Coke. He had dinner here, and asked me to make him something else. I went classic on him and made him a Bijou, ’cause that’s still my favorite cocktail of all time. He was impressed with that.

And then when he got up to leave, he said, “oh, about the Guild, we’ll have a social event. Just come, you’ll have to fill out an application but I think it won’t be too much trouble.”

They had a social event at PS7’s, the day after my wedding. I got the invite the night before my wedding. I didn’t know how to broach the subject with my wife. We’re sitting there after the ceremony, having dinner, at the head of the table. Side by side. So I just looked over, and I said, “so, Chantal sent me an email. The social event’s tomorrow. Tomorrow night. What do you think?” And she says, “well yeah! Sure! Go for it!”

So I showed up the day after the wedding. Derek was there before I was and looked over and said, “you’re here! Jeff’s here, and he just got married last night!”

Fedward:
Do you get the people who say, “oh, I don’t like gin,” or “oh, I don’t like bourbon, I don’t like Scotch?”

Jeff:
Oh, all the time. I have people that are a little more adventurous at times. A lot of people give me leeway to do something, and my question is, “what’s your least favorite?” And that’s what I make it with. Just to show them that there is potential out there.

Fedward:
I know you’ve been working on creating a lot of new cocktails, do you have a favorite cocktail to make right now, either adapted or original?

Jeff:
The most recent one is the Wayfaring Stranger. You had an early version of it, and it’s changed up a bit. It was rye and Bassano amaro, Campari, Cointreau, and orange bitters. I’ve switched it up to Ransom Old Tom gin instead of the rye. The Ransom lightens it up a bit and opened it up. It really is a beautiful drink, if I do say so myself.

Fedward:
It is.

I’m glad to be able to call Jeff a friend, and I look forward both to catching his last week at Palena and in his new digs at Fiola.

I come from a line of whiskey drinkers. Well, that’s really only about half true. The other line drinks whisky. But perhaps I should explain. Irish whiskey gets the ‘e’ (as does most American whiskey), while Scotch whisky goes without (and shares that spelling with Canadian whisky). Even the paper of record updated its style on the subject. By surname, my father’s family is more Irish than anything else. On the other hand, my mother’s family can be traced to Scotland. Both family histories, for what it’s worth, pass through Kentucky, itself no slouch when it comes to distilling. To the best of my knowledge there weren’t actually any distillers (or moonshiners) in the family, but I digress.

I do enjoy a wee dram now and again, but I like to do so on the merits of the spirit, not just for the benefit of getting blind. As such I tend to avoid bars on the major drinking holidays. Since I believe that one should respect the spirit, and I also believe that Irish whiskey deserves that respect, here’s a primer on some of the Irish whiskey you can find in the DC area in advance of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. If I’ve left out your favorite, please feel free to set me straight in the comments. It’s been too long since I’ve had Clontarf for me to have an opinion on its merits.

‘Ireland Dublin – Old Jameson Distillery’
courtesy of ‘jadis1958′

Irish whiskey comes with its own nomenclature. There isn’t really an Irish equivalent to the legal naming of single malt Scotch whisky, for instance, but “pure pot still” now carries some meaning, if not the force of law. Irish whiskey also has a tradition of using unmalted barley in addition to the malted grains, resulting in whiskey that is lighter in both color and body than its Scotch counterpart. I started drinking Bushmills in college because I couldn’t afford to drink single malt Scotch all the time, and I couldn’t bring myself to buy blended Scotch when I already had a taste for single malt. Irish whiskey was different enough from Scotch whisky that blends didn’t hurt my sensibilities (and I agree, this argument makes no sense, but we all make mistakes while we’re in college).

If you came of age when I did, Irish whiskey meant Bushmills or Jameson’s. While Bushmills and Jameson’s are often cast as Protestant and Catholic (respectively), potentially resulting in fisticuffs if you order the “wrong” one in an Irish bar, this notion seems to be a strictly Irish-American invention, and a clumsy, inaccurate one at that (John Jameson, a Scotsman, was likely Protestant, despite living in Catholic Cork), and both brands were under the same ownership until Diageo bought Bushmills. Just about any bar in DC will have one of the two, and most of them will stock both (Science Club, friend to WLDC, only stocks Jameson’s, owned and distributed by Pernod-Ricard). Between the two I think your preference will come down to which one you had first. Bushmills is still my choice (stand near me when I have Bushmills neat and you’ll probably hear me sigh and mutter that it tastes like college), but Jameson’s is also a fine whiskey.

‘Bushmills’
courtesy of ‘west.m’

Beyond those two and their variant offerings there now exists a broad range of Irish whiskey. And you don’t even have to go to a bar named Ireland’s Four Fill-in-the-blanks and put up with the din of amateur night and have someone get sick on your shoes just in order to get these newer, more interesting options.

The first you might find is Powers, a blended whiskey produced by the same distillers as Jameson’s (and thus available nearly everywhere Jameson’s is). It’s got a little more complexity than Jameson’s, coupled with increased sweetness. If you’re new to Irish whiskey this might be a great one to have first, since it has a lot in common with Bourbon.

You might also find Paddy, produced in the same distillery, which has a higher malt content than other Irish whiskey (and thus a flavor profile that more closely resembles Scotch — but to be honest, I’ve never bothered, since if I want Scotch I’ll just get Scotch).

Next, available at least in better stores in DC and Virginia (the importer is a DC businessman), you might find John L. Sullivan Irish Whiskey, which I first learned about thanks to the Post’s Jason Wilson. It’s also somewhat ironically named, because the real John L. Sullivan, Irish-American heavyweight boxer (pictured on the bottle), became a teetotaler and temperance icon in his retirement (noted in Daniel Okrent’s excellent history of Prohibition, Last Call). It’s aged in single-use Bourbon barrels and carries more of that wood character than, say, Jameson’s. There’s a slight citrus note to it, and maybe a hint of banana.

But my favorite Irish whiskey is yet another product of Pernod-Ricard’s Irish Distillers, the Redbreast 12-year. The name itself comes from old practices at the Jameson distillery, where the bonded whiskey was labeled Redbreast to distinguish it from other products. The name had fallen into disuse and was resurrected for this aged whiskey, which is a fine, fine bottling. Its aging results in a strong vanilla overtone, with notes of dried cherries and woody complexity. Pernod-Ricard have just announced US distribution of a 15-year-old bottling as well, so be on the lookout for that.

But with any of these, drink responsibly and with respect for the spirit. If you’re going to order whiskey in a bar, it helps to know the terminology: “straight up” is meaningless, because “up” means “shaken and strained.” If you want whiskey in a glass, by itself (the way I order it), order it “neat.” If the bartender doesn’t know what “neat” means, find a better bar. Good whiskey should be served at room temperature or only slightly chilled, and not doctored up with other flavorings. Some people like their whiskey with ice or a drop or two of spring water, but I take mine neat, with a water back.

And remember not to drink and drive.