Kingbird is serving up the My Shot. Don’t throw it away! (Photo courtesy of Kingbird)
By DCist contributor Lenore T. Adkins
Are you still entering the near-daily Hamilton lottery, crossing your fingers in hopes of scoring coveted $10 tickets, only to come up empty-handed? The next-best thing to seeing the show, running through September 16 at the Kennedy Center, might just be the specialty cocktails that Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical has inspired. Following suit behind District museums getting in on Hamilton fever, some restaurants and bars have made drinkable homages to the characters and songs, while others have tucked historical trivia about the real Alexander Hamilton into their recipes.
You don’t need tickets to enjoy the custom cocktails the Kennedy Center has whipped up for the show’s run. The Roof Terrace Restaurant is serving five cocktails for $10 each.
The restaurant’s Glass of Freedom beer cocktail is a play on a Colonial-era beverage. It is inspired by Hamilton’s Caribbean roots, making the Kennedy Center one of a few spots using his upbringing as an excuse to serve tropical drinks. The Glass of Freedom is made with Port City porter, Captain Morgan spiced rum, lime, and brown sugar syrup. (Unlike the Ale Flip Hamilton might have enjoyed, this one is served without a raw egg.)
The Kennedy Center isn’t playing favorites with the lead characters. It also named a drink after Aaron Burr, Hamilton’s rival and (we’d offer a spoiler alert here, but we know you don’t need one) “the damn fool” who shot Hamilton in a duel. The Burr-Bon Old Fashioned features Bulleit bourbon, Peychaud’s bitters, and a sugar cube. The cocktail, like its namesake, sticks to tradition without too much creative flair.
Nearby, Kingbird at the Watergate Hotel, is also serving up libations that claim to embody several Hamilton characters.
First, there’s the classic Hamilton: bourbon, Amaro Averna, and bitters. His sweet, strong wife, Eliza, gets a drink made with vodka, lime, pineapple, and casis granita. The Angelica—like the character it’s based on—is fiery, made with spicy tequila, lime, cane sugar, and pomegranate juice. The confident Lafayette is immortalized with brandy, bourbon, lavender, and bitters. Kingbird’s version of the My Shot—made with vodka, punch schnapps, lemon-lime soda, cherry vodka, and grenadine—rounds out the beverages, which are all $16.
Patrons prefer Angelica over the other characters, if their drink choices are any indication. Bartender Kal Lemma says the tequila-based cocktail named for Hamilton’s sister-in-law is the most popular on the themed menu.
The Ting with a Sting is a nod to Hamilton’s Caribbean roots. (Photo courtesy of Bourbon Steak)
Bars far-flung from the room where it happens are also taking inspiration from the show.
For $17, The Lounge at Bourbon Steak in the Four Seasons Hotel serves up A Ting with a Sting. The drink marries Papa’s Pilar rum with the restaurant’s version of Ting, a grapefruit soda that’s ubiquitous in the Caribbean. Bourbon Steak serves the beverage in a mini beachwood barrel mug, a nod to Hamilton’s island roots.
“This smells like the islands,” said John Gilbert, the restaurant’s general manager. “It sells like crazy because everybody sees the vessel that its in.” You can enjoy the cocktail solo or as part of a $90 pre-theater, three-course menu that’s available on Saturday evenings.
At French-Belgian restaurant Marcel’s by Robert Wiedmaier, the pre-theater dinner menu ($68) takes inspiration from Hamilton’s own life.
It features the First Secretary cocktail, made with blended Scotch whisky, fresh lemon juice, honey-ginger syrup, and Ardberg single-malt scotch. The $14 cocktail is served on the rocks and garnished with candied ginger.
The pre-theater dinner (served from 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. daily) hides pieces of Hamilton history. Dishes include pan-seared scallops, a nod to Hamilton’s birthplace on the island of Nevis; beef short ribs because Hamilton was said to have enjoyed the beef dish served at Thomas Jefferson’s home; and the Marjolaine of Hazelnut Dacquoise, a chocolate and gelato dessert playing on Hamilton’s French roots. (His mother, Rachel Faucette, was half French.)
And should you score those Hamilton seats, Marcel’s offers a complimentary car service to and from the Kennedy Center.
“Knowing the price point of the ticket to Hamilton, we decided to make it the best bargain for people who come to the restaurant,” said Moez Ben Achour, Marcel’s general manager and sommelier.
Naturally, the Hamilton Hotel’s 14K Restaurant is getting in on the action by serving the My Shot, made with Malibu rum, Captain Morgan rum (yes, both of them), cream of coconut, and fresh pineapple juice. Appropriately, the tropical drink, available at the hotel’s bar, will cost you one Hamilton.
