August 1, 2008
The Weekly Feed: Lime in the Coconut Edition
Drink of the Week: Gin rickey
The gin rickey may be the closest thing D.C. has to a city drink. Named after famed lobbyist Col. Joe Rickey, and originally served at Shoomaker's, the drink is similar to a gin and tonic, but with more lime and lacking the bitterness of quinine. The traditional recipe is 1.5 oz. gin, 1/2 lime, 1/4 oz. simple syrup and finished with soda water.
The recently formed D.C. Bartenders Guild had declared July as Rickey Month. With this, Guild members created their own variations on the rickey, culminating with a free tasting event on August 4 at 6 p.m. at Bourbon in Adams Morgan. There is both a voting competition as well as a judged competition that includes Eric Felten of the Wall Street Journal, Charlotte Voisey of Hendricks Gin (mmm... rose petals and cucumber), Todd Thrasher of Restaurant Eve and PX, and John Wabeck of Inox.
In the meantime, you can check out the competitors and their recipes, and send votes for your favorites to rickeymonth (at) gmail.com.
Haymaker Rickey
Kat Bangs, Tabard Inn
Old Overholt Rye, Brown Sugar Balsamic Simple Syrup, Ginger Ale, Soda Water, Limes
"Bathtub Gin" Souchu Rickey
Adam Bernbach, Bar Pilar
Botanical-infused Souchu, Yuzu Juice, Soda Water
Georgie's Rickey
Gina Chersevani, EatBar
Woodford Reserve, Lime Juice, Raw Dark-Brown Sugar, Curry Cherries, Soda Water, Microbasil
Black Pepper Gin Rickey
Justin Guthrie, Michel Richard Central
House-made Lime and Black Pepper Soda, Zuidam Gin, Limes
Dupont "Gin" Rickey
Kevin Rogers, Urbana
Berry Lime Rickey
Dan Searing, Looking Glass Lounge
Gin, Berry Compote (blackberries and raspberries), Soda Water, Lemons and Limes
Key Lime Rickey
Owen Thomson, Bourbon
Wild Turkey 101, Key Lime Juice, Coriander Tincture, Peychaud's, Carbonated Coconut Water
Rive Gauche Rickey
Chantal Tseng, Tabard Inn
Aviation Gin, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, Lucid Absinthe, Limes, Charles de Fere Blanc de Blanc Sparkling Wine, Lavender
Photo by Samer Farha
Small Bites
Red meatapocalypse
Is it possible to have too many steakhouses in one city? The Post reports that San Francisco-based chef Michael Mina will be opening Bourbon Steak in the Georgetown Four Seasons Hotel. The Georgetown location will be the fourth restaurant in Mina's Bourbon Steak chain. Other locations include Detroit, Miami, and Scottsdale. In a market already saturated with red meat, Mina hopes his special technique of poaching his steaks in butter and herbs before grilling them on a wood fire will set him apart. The restaurant will also feature a large selection of bourbon. It is scheduled to open in December.
Whose salsa will reign supreme?
Do you make a mean homemade salsa? If so, get yourself to the H Street FreshFarm market this Saturday for their annual salsa contest. The top three salsas will receive prizes, not to mention glory and bragging rights. Your salsa should draw primarily on ingredients sold at the market, located at 624 H Street NE. The contest will be running from 9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. To enter, email info@freshfarmmarkets.org.
Glover Park to get beach shack
Surfside, a casual beach shack-style cafe, will be opening in Glover Park in mid-August. The restaurant will serve up grilled fish, shrimp, chicken, and steak paired with simple side dishes and cold beer. The food will be fast and relatively affordable, with entrees priced at $9 - $15. Patrons can carry out or dine al fresco on Surfside's roof deck. [via Zagat]
Designer chocolate sale
Artisan Confections, a gourmet chocolate shop in Arlington, is having a 10 percent off sale this month on purchases of $15 or more. Artisan Confections feature truffles designed by local artists and come in unusual flavors like honey pine nut, pineapple passion fruit, or apricot and Earl Grey tea.
Commonwealth to open on August 6
According to Tom Sietsema's weekly chat, the much-anticipated gastropub will be opening Wednesday, August 6. You can swing by 14th and Irving and press your nose against the glass for a look at the menu and beer selection.
The best part of waking up
Local coffee roaster Joel Finkelstein is holding a coffee cupping next Thursday at 5 p.m. Domku, 821 Upshur St., NW. RSVP if you would like to attend. This week's roasts include a peaberry from El Salvador, a fair-trade organic coffee from Mexico, Zimbabwe Leopard Forest, Brazil Daterra Espresso and Decaffeinated Mexico.
Busy, busy Gillian Clark
Although we were still reeling from the recent closing of Colorado Kitchen, we knew Chef Gillian Clark wouldn't be down for very long. News has been trickling in on two new projects for Clark: the nicknamed "G-spot" in Forest Glen, and Avenue Oven in Takoma Park. According to Clark, Avenue Oven will be 3000 sq. ft. (twice Colorado Kitchen's space), include carryout and be open for a full 12 hours/day. Although we will miss Colorado's homespun Panamanian dishes, Clark's new spot will feature American fare "with an Eastern European lean." Expect it to open late this year or early 2009.
Small Bites contributed by Alicia Mazzara
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the location of ms. clark's "g-spot" is pretty cool. that's a neat old building there on the railroad tracks.
of course, i just said "the location of ms. clark's g-spot"....you should take away my keyboard just for saying that...
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Nice to see that sliding into August you're featuring gin drinks. I might even leave the tonic in the 'fridge and try one of these.
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dude! ...does this say free gin, cuz it looks to me like it says free gin. no catch, no friggin sign in? Cuz, I'm gonna roll on down der and get my sip on...
And I pre-vote for Adam's Bath-tub gin. Althought the Rive Gauche is a strong contender asswell
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Ya know something? I don't think The Colonel would've had much use for any drinks involving brown sugar balsamic simple syrup, botanical-infused souchu, yuzu juice, lime and black pepper soda, coriander tincture, carbonated coconut water, curried cherries, lavender, or berry compote.
I mean, I've got nothing against flights of fancy when it comes to cocktails, but, really, that list reads more like the menu for some ghastly late-90s "Asian Fusion" restaurant. I'll stick with the original, thanks.
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Well EdtheRed, at least in some cases, some of these things make some sort of sense. Botanical-infused souchu is practically the same thing as gin. Lavender? Highlights the lavender elements of Aviation. Ever had a Hendrick's G&T with cucumber?
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ed, ghastly late-90s fusion is back to the future these days, at least in bloomingdale: http://dcist.com/2008/04/21/bloomingdale_re.php
maybe. i wonder if its still moving forward and if they've picked a name? it would be a worthy bearer of the junkpunchers brand. or lower-intestinal punchers at the very least.
btw - what are curried cherries anyways?
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The traditional recipe is 1.5 oz. gin, 1/2 lime, 1/4 oz. simple syrup and finished with soda water.
So ... it's gin and Sprite.
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Ed the Red, free gin!
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call me when Todd Thrasher does his take. the man is rewriting the book on tonics and essences.
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@Jamie: like I said, I'm all for flights of fancy...hell, I make my own damn tonic water...and most of those recipes, on paper at least, I have no problem with. But collectively...I mean, jeebus, it's just a bit much. Look at the original: Gin, lime juice, simple syrup, soda water...simple, classic ingredients, which make a classic cocktail (basically just a gin Daiquiri).
Most classics have a base (e.g., gin), a secondary player (e.g., vermouth, lime juice, etc.), and an accent (usually bitters of some sort), and then water in some form, either melted during the stirring/shaking process, or spritzed on top. The Rive Gauche, on the other hand has 7 ingredients (not including water). Maybe it tastes great, but that's an awful, awful lot going on.
@Stu: Point taken. Free gin is free gin. :-D
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Sprite has both lime and lemon, and corn syrup doesn't taste the same as sugar. You're referring to a "ghetto rickey", and lots 'o places wont serve them. In fact, in some places you'll get a dirty look if you even buy the ingredients separately.
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@downtown rez: whenever they give me dirty looks, I just write a nasty note on my dollar before I use it to tip the bartender. It in no way escalates things.
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If I recover, ever, from the rugby team party I hosted this past Sunday, I might try one of these recipes.
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I had the one at Looking Glass Lounge the other day, it was pretty tasty.
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@Ed the Red, funny. Nice Junkpunchers referrence.
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EdTheRed - I don't think number of ingredients is a very useful metric, since "one" ingredient may actually be made up of many ingredients (gin botanicals, bitters, etc.) If one listed all the ingredients in bitters in a drink description, then you might also say "maybe it tastes great, but that's an awful lot going on".
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I couldn't go! Did anyone sample these tastie gins?