Since I started writing about cocktails, I’ve learned a lot about spirits and the pseudoscience of mixology. Though I’ve devoted a lot of time and thought to my hobby, I never claim that I can recommend the one drink at one bar that will be perfect for everyone.
Yet, inevitably, the first thing a new acquaintance will ask me is: “What’s the best cocktail in D.C.?” I don’t know how to answer that question. Everyone’s tastes are different; the cocktails I enjoy most aren’t indicative of broader drinking trends. While I can’t speak for everyone, I can steer most drinkers toward something they will like. Chances are, it’s the bestseller at any given establishment. So for this edition I’ve asked bartenders to make me drinks that their guests love and ask for over and over again.
Bar menus work in much the same way as the presidential primaries. They’re a popularity contest. Drinkers vote with their dollars, and there’s little that can persuade members of the hardcore gin and bourbon camps that will get them to change their minds. But eventually one or two drinks will rise to the top and become house favorites.
When you look at the cocktail menu at Proof (775 G Street NW), it’s not surprising to see sour gin and sweet bourbon drinks at the top of their list. Beverage manager Adam Bernbach’s signature creations swerve toward the extreme poles of gustatory perception. The Pegu Club, for example, is a dry, sour, and bitter Bombay gin cocktail with lime juice, Cointreau, and Angostura bitters. It is their best selling before-dinner drink. More tart than a Daiquiri, but with complex herbal notes that stimulate the appetite, it’s the obvious winner for the dry gin camp. At the other end of the spectrum, sweet and salty flavors describe the Broadway Boogie Down. Four Roses bourbon, apricot eau de vie, honey syrup, and rich walnut liquor give this cocktail the sought after profile for after dinner sipping. I heartily recommend pairing it with one of Proof’s cheese plates.
Gin and bourbon cocktails also top the menu at The Riggsby’s (1731 New Hampshire Avenue NW) happy hour, where you can get a hefty Nick and Nora glass of Old Granddad Manhattan and Beefeater Martini for just six dollars. The Last Frontier, a spicy bourbon, lemon juice, amaretto, and cinnamon cocktail is the heavy hitter on their signature cocktail list. Strong, with hints of marzipan and oak, it’s a sumptuous, full-bodied cocktail for the Old Fashioned fans. Aged rum, however, is the main ingredient in their most popular Ticket To Cuba. This outsider candidate is a cross between a Mojito and an Old Cuban, served up with muddled mint strained out, yuzu juice for citrus bite, and sparkling water for bubbliness.
At the newly opened Quarter + Glory (2017 14th Street NW), Brugal aged rum and Cutty Sark’s Prohibition Era scotch join forces in their namesake cocktail. But this winning peppery and caramel combination also appears in the H.R., a crushed ice swizzle with Cynar, vermouth, and bitters lightened by effervescent Pellegrino Limonata. I want to single out Quarter + Glory’s Burn This for the distinction of my favorite cocktail, even if it isn’t their most popular tipple. It certainly is the best drink I’ve had in six months, which, for me, is saying a lot. It has a smoky nose of Laphroaig’s peat and the sweet whiskey body of Hochstadter’s rye. There’s cinchona bitterness from Bonal and Cocci di Torino vermouth, and then the sweet herbal notes of Benedictine and round, raisin richness from Pedro Ximenez sherry emerge at the drink’s heart. It’s my kind of cocktail, and I hope it stays on the menu.
Bitter cocktails are all the rage, and it seems that the Negroni is the go-to drink for people who appreciate that mouth-puckering flavor. For these drinkers I offer the Rosita, a bigger and bolder Negroni made with silver tequila instead of gin.
• 2 oz. silver tequila
• 1 oz. Campari
• ½ oz. sweet vermouth
• ½ oz. dry vermouth
• lemon twist
Combine all ingredients except the lemon twist in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until chilled and pour into an Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with twist.
