Autumn reminds us that everything comes back around again. The old can be made new and vice versa, especially when it comes to cocktails. This fall, two of Washington’s most iconic hotels are toasting the future with cocktails that take cues from the early days of mixology.

The Occidental Grill & Seafood (1475 Pennsylvania Avenue NW) is celebrating its 110th anniversary with a rotating throwback cocktail and dish to represent the restaurant’s grand past; and The Watergate Hotel (Virginia & New Hampshire Ave NW) opens its rooftop bar for drinkers looking for newfangled cocktails and an extraordinary view of the city.

Built in 1906, The Occidental has the stayed and historic look of a turn-of-the-century Pennsylvania Avenue establishment. The dark wood paneled walls of the interior dining room are covered with photographs of illustrious athletes and musicians, aviators and politicians that have visited over the last 110 years. Bar manager Aubery Walkins says she likes to ask guests if they can spot all the presidents. She dashes Fee Brothers peach bitters on a sugar cube at the bottom of a champagne glass—the first step in making a classic Champagne Cocktail.

In celebration Occidental’s 110th anniversary, Walkins is reviving a VSOP cognac fortified Champagne Cocktail recipe that the famous bartender, Jerry Thomas, recorded in 1898. Versions of this cocktail, such as the French 75, have been popular in recent years, but Walkins is using this recipe as a stepping-stone to something more modern. “We wanted to make our throwback’s very accessible for guests to share our history,” she says.

She makes the further addition of Tempus Fugit’s Kina l’Aero d’Or (quinquina of the Golden Airplane) from a bottle of bitter wine aperitif sporting a vintage, World’s Fair poster-like label. Despite the liquor’s antique appearance, it is a new product designed to hearken back to the golden age of spirits, and a fitting ingredient in Occidental’s throwback cocktail.

Walkins tops the flute off with Bianca Vigna prosecco and garnishes it with an orange twist; the sugar cube unleashes a steady stream of bubbles. This Champagne Cocktail is more robust and boozier than the original. It has a crafted, wholly new flavor, but it looks like something from a distant era. “I wanted the cocktail to reference the idea of fall,” says Walkins, naming flavors like “stone fruits from the peach bitters, bitter earthiness from the cinchona (quinquina) and the roundness of cognac.” The $13 dollar cocktail is a fair price for the chance to taste history.

If classic cocktails come only in shades of sepia, than Top Of The Gate’s drink menu of modern classics is bold and fluorescent. The rooftop bar of The Watergate Hotel opens this month with manager Gabrielle Clark’s modern cocktail menu.

Gabrielle’s revised Champagne Cocktail, Blow Me Away, has St. Germain elderflower liqueur, citrus juice and a whole lychee fruit bobbing with ice in a large wine goblet of prosecco. The New Fashioned is bright orange update of the original “oldie” that blends bourbon, carrot gastrique and cinnamon into a potent fall sipper.

And the Vertigo is a smoky Margarita that references the rooftop’s dizzying heights, with reposado tequila, Cointreau and a Robato-grilled peach garnish. Toast your health with the violent green Detox To Retox. It combines the fashionable Ciroc vodka with Veev, an acai-berry iliqueur, and fresh pressed kale, cucumber and apple juices. Finally, the Summer Freeze is a cherry Vodka Lemonade with Patron Citronage orange tequila liqueur and a Togarashi pepper and sugar-coated rim.

All Top Of The Gate drinks are $16 dollars each, but well worth it for the chance to take in one of the best sunset views in town.

Chicago

It’s unclear exactly why this DIY cocktail is called the Chicago, but with a sugar crusted rim, fine cognac and bubbles, it has an art deco-like architecture reminiscent of the city’s grand skyline.

• 2 oz. VSOP Cognac
• several dashes of triple sec
• several dashes angostura bitters
• sugar
• lemon slice
• champagne or sparkling wine

Combine brandy, triple sec and bitters in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a coup glass or wine goblet with a sugar coated rim. Top with champagne and garnish with lemon slice.