People have remarked over the past few years that D.C., and the country as a whole, have experienced a cocktail renaissance. While you can still find flair bartenders, neon-colored concoctions with umbrellas, cosmos and [fill-in-the-fruit]-tinis, there are a number of bartenders who are interested in devoting time to elevating the appreciation and creation of a cocktail in a similar way to a food-based culinary experience. By integrating variations on technique, the sourcing of unique spirits, and the making of homemade elixirs and infusions, many bartenders are attempting to get in to the mindset of a chef.

A few weeks ago, Derek Brown of The Columbia Room gave a talk at TEDx Penn Quarter about cocktails. During the talk, Brown discussed his idea of reinventing the cocktail — but not through culinary trends like molecular gastronomy. Rather, his idea of reinvention is an interactive one-on-one experience that one might receive at a chef’s table at a restaurant or being invited in to someone’s home.

Brown related the experience of making his first cocktail for a friend’s 21st birthday. Called Alien Secretion, it was a potent mix of canned pineapple juice and melon liqueur that was bright green. Even though it was, in retrospect, a terrible cocktail, it was the “adventure, bonding and ritual” that ended up sparking his interest in bartending. And it is those elements that drive the experience at The Columbia Room, which is Brown’s self-anointed “spa for alcoholics.”