Ragtime!

Before I even moved up to the northern Virginia area, I knew Ragtime – it was the bar we always seemed to end up at in Courthouse around 1 AM, just before last call, with a “surprise” tray of shots and a hangover the next day. Indeed, that reputation stuck with me for a while after moving to NoVA, mostly courteous of one friend who was always giving his number to the servers.

When I moved into Courthouse, though, I discovered that it’s actually a fantastic bar – not just because it’s a WVU Mountaineers bar (which made my parents happy when we went there just after my move) but because of a great staff and a constantly improving beer selection. I’ve been there hundreds of times (according to Foursquare, nearly 400 times) and probably had just about everything on the menu.

The one thing I never really drank, though, were the mixed drinks, with just two exceptions. One was when they did a martini night, and I could get a nice big glass of cold gin with extra vermouth for cheap. The other was the infamous (to us) pomegranate martini, which despite being called a martini was based off tequila. We (we being the guys) would go to Ragtime claiming girlfriends/wives wanted the pomegranate martini, but really we’d end up drinking lots of them. They were kind of addictive.

The latest restaurant by the same owners had a more focused cocktail program and Ragtime went through a time of doing flavored liquors, but still I was surprised recently when they announced their new cocktail program, focusing on classic drinks and fresh ingredients, including squeezed to order juices and housemade syrups such as orgeat. I, of course, needed to check this out as soon as I could, on a night when I wasn’t doing something stupid like drinking two or three pitchers of Blue Point Toasted Lager.

Death in the Afternoon

Fortunately, I got my chance last night finally when I was meeting a friend there (like I’m going to drink all nine cocktails in one night!).

The first thing that really surprised me was the cost of the drinks. The most expensive drink on the menu was $10, and most were $7-$8. In this town that’s a steal! But still, I’d have to try them first. Just to note: I wasn’t sitting at the actual bar, but at a high top near it. I could see the bartenders making my drinks, but I did not notice brands being used.

Death in the Afternoon – $8 – absinthe, lemon, simple syrup, champagne. I’ve had these before and never been a huge fan, but this one hit me just right – the absinthe taste was prominent, and I’m not a fan of absinthe for the most part, but the combination worked out really well. It was served in a traditional champagne coupe (see right) and was exactly the drink I needed to start off the night.

Vieux Carre

Vieux Carre – $10 (only $10 drink on the menu) – rye, cognac, Dolin Rouge, green Chartreuse, Angostura, Peychauds, lemon. First off, I was glad to see Dolin listed! That’s my favorite vermouth. As you can see in the picture, it’s served over one large ice cube and felt like a substantial drink (I did not measure, so that’s why I said “felt like”). I sipped off the top first and wasn’t impressed but liked it more as I drank out of the straw. For me, personally, it could’ve used a bit more bitters in it, but I also know the environment they’re working in – a super-bitter drink probably ain’t gonna work in a sports bar. (Really, the fact that they’re doing this menu at all is amazing and exciting to me, and makes me even more excited about football season!)

Unfortunately, they were out of mint, so the?mint julep and the?Queen’s Park Swizzle weren’t available (the latter being my next choice). So let’s stick with Hemingway!

Hemingway Daiquiri and Pimm’s Cup No. 1

Hemingway Daiquiri – $8 – white rum, maraschino, grapefruit, lime, simple syrup. This came out well-balanced as well, with a solid taste of maraschino in the back end that I thought brought the whole thing together nicely. My companion didn’t agree, as she felt it tasted more alcohol-y, but I’ve grown an appreciation for the taste of maraschino recently. It’s very easy for maraschino to overwhelm a drink so someone newer to those flavors might be hesitant at the flavor but I think after a drink or two they would really enjoy it.

My friend got a Pimm’s Cup.

Pimm’s Cup No. 1 – $7 – Pimms, rosemary syrup, lemon, ginger beer, garden garnish. Yes, technically the “Pimm’s Cup No. 1″ is the name of the liqueur in the drink, as Pimm’s makes a few varieties (which you really can’t get any but #1 in the US). I’ve never had one with rosemary syrup in it and at first was hesitant, but I grew to like it – it gave it a dry herbaciousness (is that a word?) which I think would make it more easily drinkable in quantity on a hot summer day than a sweeter version may be, though it still had a sweetness to it.

…and with that, I switched back to Toasted Lager, because I didn’t really need more liquor.

Tomorrow (Friday, May 30th) at 7 PM in the back bar they’ll be releasing some barrel-aged cocktails: Basil Hayden Manhattans and Makers 46 Sazeracs. I’m going to try to swing by because I’d like to see how they come out, so say hi if you see me!

– ?SeanMike

Well, that’s a whole lotta sodas!

I don’t remember when I stopped mixing with sodas for the most part, but by the time we started this here site I didn’t really do it a lot. That doesn’t mean others don’t – my brother, for instance, and my dad are big fans of it. I’ve also tried to cut back on most of my sodas with the whole “diabetes” thing I’ve gotta deal with.

The other night one of my friends I play Borderlands 2 with online asked about what to mix with his bottles of Bulleit and Eagle Rare. “Don’t mix the Bulleit!” I cried, but he pointed out that he wanted something he could drink for a while. I thought about it a bit and said, hey, this could make a post.

Let’s break them down a bit by types of soda, really.

Ginger Beer – man, I do love me some good ginger beer. Bourbon and ginger beer is a great combo, in my opinion. Obviously, the traditional however is rum and ginger beer (plus a bit of lime, and you’ve got yourself a stew a Dark and Stormy). With vodka, that’s a Moscow Mule, and if you’re a type of drinker who doesn’t dig on the taste of alcohol that might be the way to go – or use a lighter ginger beer/ale, like Q.

Cola – There are so many colas out there that this can be problematic. The Fentiman’s CherryTree cola is dying for some rye, in my opinion, but I don’t know if I’d mix their Curiousity Cola (I do like to give it to non-drinkers, as it’s quite delicious). Obviously, the “…and Coke” combo is a common one, and unless you’re still in college, I don’t want to hear about vodka and Pepsi. I would consider white whiskey and RC cola, but only if you eat a Moon Pie with it too (which I have done). Fernet and Coke is a popular South American combo.

Root Beer and Cream Soda – Spiced Rum. Or most kinds of rum.

Various specialty sodas – Now here’s where it gets fun. Vanilla bean soda? I’d do bourbon, or dark rum. Victorian lemonade? Bourbon for a riff off the “Lynchburg Lemonade”. Cola made with coffee? Spiced rum or maybe tequila or Mezcal.

Sprite or other lemon-lime sodas – Well, you can make SpriTequilas, but you better be good at your mixology game. Also try gin, Pimm’s and gin, or Calvados.

Soda water – Don’t make me punch you in the throat. Really. Asking me a question like that. Just add bitters to it, I GUESS.

What combos do you like? Comment to me on Facebook or on Twitter!

Ahem.

As you know, we don’t take advertisements here. We talk about what we want to talk about when we want to talk about it. Most press releases I get are deleted unread. (After all, most of them don’t even read our blog before sending them. Those who do and work with us we love.)

But Catoctin Creek is not only one of our local distilleries, but they make great products and they’re just goshdarn great folks – they helped sponsor our five year bash, for one. So when I heard Andrew Shapiro from Green Pig Bistro was going to be doing some cocktails there, I decided to trek out to Purcellville to visit.

Catoctin’s Stills

First off, if you haven’t been out there yet, I highly recommend going. It’s a gorgeous facility and downtown Purcellville is a charming area. I’d planned on getting lunch there, but I was running later than I would have liked for my afternoon “fun” (helping Marshall pack his liquor).

I chatted with Emily and Chad, two of their brand reps, when I came in as well as Andrew. He was making three drinks in a small flight for $10: a Rye Daisy, a Catoctin Stormy, and a Bubblelicious.

Bubblelicious, Rye Daisy, Catoctin Stormy

I drank them in order – thanks to VA ABC regulations, there’s no chance of having too much to drink at a tasting.

Bubblelicious
2 oz Mosby’s Spirit
1 oz falernum liqueur
3/4 oz hibiscus-grapefruit syrup

Shake ingredients in a shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled glass with ice.
Hibiscus-Grapefruit syrup:?Simmer 2 cups sugar, 2 cups water, 3/4 cup dried hibiscus flowers, and zest from 1/4 a grapefruit for 10 minutes. Strain. Keep refrigerated.

I was a big fan of that drink. It went down nice and easy. I’m also quite lazy, so I don’t know if I’d make the syrup, but I should try.

Behind their counter

Rye Daisy
2 oz Roundstone Rye
1 oz pine needle honey syrup
1/2 oz lemon juice
2 dashes Bitterman’s Boston Bittahs
Lemon slice

Shake ingredients in a shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled glass with ice. Garnish with the lemon slice.
Pine Needle Honey Syrup:?Simmer 1 cup water, 1 cup water, and 4-5 pine needles for 10 minutes. Keep refrigerated.

This one?was also tasty – a little different taste than I’m usually up for with the pine needle, but on a snowy day it seemed appropriate. Do I still have any Zirbenz, I wonder?

Dog treats!

Catoctin Stormy
2 oz Watershed Gin
Good quality ginger beer
3-4 dashes vanilla bitters
Lime wedge

Stir together in a glass with ice. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Emily had made the bitters and Andrew the ginger beer. Man, it was good. I really need to make my own ginger beer.

After hanging out a bit more it was time to head back to the ARL. Since I have basically all of their stuff already, I picked up a bag of dog treats made from spent rye for my brother’s dog and a cigar from the humidor.

Passenger’s bottling of Roundstone Rye

The next day the folks from the Passenger went out there to bottle their barrel of Roundstone Rye. I happened to be at the Passenger when they came back (I KNOW AMAZING) and so I got a chance to try their specific bottling.

I’m telling you what folks – it’s damn good. I’m jealous. It has a buttery taste to it that just makes it so quaffable. AND YES THAT’S A WORD FELLOW BAR PATRONS.

Catoctin Creek is having their 5 year anniversary party and unveiling this bottling on Saturday, February 15th, at the Passenger. There will be giveaways and such starting at 8, though things will start going when the doors open at 5. You can be assured I will be there, as unlike some people named Marshall, I do not have to move.

Also in relation to both the Passenger and CCDC, Alex Bookless will be doing their next bartending gig on March 8th out at the tasting room from 12-4. I’m going to the Brewer’s Ball that night, but should have time to swing by beforehand…

The GF gave me a twist & sparkle for my birthday. (Oh, I can’t believe I just typed that! Perverts!) Now I have an iSi sofa siphon that I use to make soda water and I really enjoy it. The T&S allows me to carbonate other delicious drinks. I think you know where I’m going with this.

Last weekend while hanging out at a friend’s house who has a T&S, we carbonated several batches of pisco punch. Other than the carbonation, the flavor of the punch was slightly altered. Basically, the flavor was a bit muted. We added a little extra lime juice to punch (get it?) up the tartness and the second batch came out great.

Another great benefit is making homemade sodas. And the first think I had to make was ginger beer! I used Morgenblogger’s recipe. It’s a very simple recipe and tasty to boot.

As I investigate more fun uses I’ll report back.

Cheers!

Every Thursday night (officially) beginning at 7pm EST, cocktail enthusiasts, bloggers, writers, bartenders and other sundry forms of riff-raff gather at the online Mixoloseum Bar.? We usually have a particular theme and everyone throws out recipes utilizing that particular themed ingredient.? Some drinks work, others get tossed down the sink never to be thought of again.? The fun is trying new things and occasionally hitting upon an undiscovered gem.

I’ve been lucky to co-create two drinks that have turned out to be favorites.? The first was way back in December when Rick of Kaiser Penguin and I collaborated and came up with the . . .

Cilician Voyage
1oz Citadelle Reserve Gin
1oz Strega
1oz Lime Juice
.50oz Grapefruit Juice
.50oz Cinnamon Syrup
1 dash Fee’s Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters
1 dash Fee’s Grapefruit Bitters
Ginger Beer to top

Build everything except ginger beer in a rocks glass filled with crushed ice.? Give it a good stir and top with ginger beer.? Garnish with a cinnamon stick and a lime twist.? Rick likes to throw a few strands of saffron on the top to gild the lilly.

Thanks to Rick contacting the good folks at Citadelle Gin, they tried it and loved it.? In fact, they liked it enough to send Rick and I a bottle of Citadelle Reserve for our efforts.? Keep your eye on the Den for a write-up on Citadelle Reserve.? It is a fantastic gin!

This past Thursday, TDN was sponsored by Mata Hari Absinthe and we were lucky enough to have a live outpost at the Tabard Inn here in DC.? Gathered at the Tabard’s bar were Sean and I, Rick of Kaiser Penguin, Nathan, a cocktail enthusiast from Pittsburgh, PA, Sam of Brand Action Team and Owen our videographer for the evening.? You can find Sam’s post on TDN here.? Chantal Tseng, head bartender at Tabard Inn was graciously making our drinks as we wrote down the recipes that came across the computer screen.

For my drink, I gave Chantal a list of five specific ingredients and asked her to find a good ratio.? The ingredient list consisted of brandy, amaro nonino, Mata Hari Absinthe, sherry and bitters.? The drink that was invented was . . .

The Bitter Industry
1.5oz Brandy
.50oz Amaro Nonino
.50oz Amontillado Sherry
1 dash Mata Hari Absinthe
2 dashes orange bitters

Stir in a quadrangular motion with cracked ice and strain with the flick of the wrist into a chilled cocktail glass.

And what do you know, The Bitter Industry won for best cocktail of the night!? A platitude I am more than honored to share with Chantal.? If you are interested in reading the full write up of this past TDN, you can find it here on the Mixoloseum blog.? For the brave of heart, there is also a link to the full transcript of the nights festivities at the end of the write up.

Give both of these drinks a try and let me know what you think!? While you’re at it, stop by the Mixoloseum Bar and chat for a while.? And please join us Thursday nights for a great night of recipe collaboration.

Cheers!

Well, Stevi Deter over at Two At The Most picked this month’s topic and it’s “Guilty Pleasures”.

What’s a guilty pleasure?? Well, according to Stevi, it’s basically the cocktail equivalent of comfort food.? What do you end up with when you’re not drinking a “good drink”?

Good question, Stevi, and it’s one I’ve been wrestling with for a while.? It’s a hard decision to make.? I mean, seriously?

I answered my own question yesterday with my latest purchase.

On the right, you see my usual guilty pleasure.? As of today, our kegerator has a keg of Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute IPA.? When I’m feeling lazy, or just wanting to relax, I’m a big fan of beer.? After all, it’s tasty and it’s good.

On the left, however…

I’d just heard of this stuff this week.? It’s called Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka and it comes from South Carolina.? It’s vodka infused with what they say is the only tea grown in the United States, grown less than five miles from the distllery (I’m reading from the back of the bottle).

It’s 70 proof, but really, it tastes exactly like sweet tea except that it has a bit of an alcohol burn on the end of it.? I can drink it just straight, though they suggest on the bottle that you drink it cut with water.

A local restaurant called BreadSoda had an idea for a “hard Arnold Palmer” type drink – basically half Firefly and half lemonade.? That mix kicks butt, and I also tried mixing it with ginger beer and found that worked very well, too.

Another concoction I’m thinking of trying with it, and please keep in mind that this is only in theory so far, is…

…ahhh, you know what?? I’m not going to tell you.?? Not yet.? Come by Thursday Drink Night, maybe I’ll have it ready by then, if I’ve survived the perils of this upcoming week by then.

And just when you turn around, it’s another Mixology Monday.  This time around our host is Anna over at Morsels & Musings.  Thanks Anna!

For this months MxMo, Anna has selected “Fruit Liqueurs” which is kind of funny since Sean and I just finished an orange liqueur tasting not long ago and so I had to think of something different flavor-wise to use.  Unfortunately my homemade tangerine ratafia is still aging and it won’t be ready until June 1st.  But it is spring and the weather is beginning to turn sunny and warm again (at least here in Northern Virginia) that a fruit liqueur theme should not be to difficult.

Well, those are famous last words.  I began by looking through the bar at what I had – various orange liqueurs already mentioned, creme de mure (blackberry), limoncello, creme de casis, frambois, creme de peche, cherry heering, calvados, applejack, maraschino and apricot eau-de-vie all begging to be used.  But thoughts turned to one of my favorite fruits – the humble delicious peach.  My first thought was to work on a riff of peach tea.  I have some newly made swedish punsch with it’s lemony, rum and black tea flavors that would play very well with the creme de peche.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite come up with a drink that made me completely satisfied.  I’m sure there is a drink in there somewhere, and I aim to find it, but that shall be a project for another day.

The next day, I was pouring over some books, trying to find some recipes that I can tinker with when I decided that I needed something nice to sip on.  It was this past Friday night and it was a very warm day but around 10pm a quick and strong thunderstorm came through.  At that point I decided a Dark & Stormy would be the perfect fit for the evening.  The sweet dark Goslings and the biting fizzy ginger beer certainly hit the spot.  Then a light went off in my head.  I was holding the basis for my MxMo drink at that very moment.

I quickly ran to the bar and begin playing.  The following drink was the results:

A Georgia Thunderstorm
2 oz Goslings Black Seal
1 oz Messenez Creme de Peche
.25 oz St. Elizabeth’s Allspice (Pimento) Dram
2 dashes Angostura bitters
4 oz Ginger Beer (I used Regatta and then Bundaberg – both with excellent results)

Build everything in a chimney glass filled with lots of ice.
Garnish with mint sprigs and a straw.
Sip slowly until the dark sky passes.

The drink is spicy, peachy and fairly sweet.  It may even be too sweet for some folks, but if you’ve ever had really good authentic southern sweet tea, you’ll get this drink.  It is meant to be sipped slowly letting the fragrance of the mint hit you before the ice cold liquid caresses your lips like the fuzz of a ripe peach.   On a hot summer evening when the clouds break and the rain showers everything around you, this will be a fantastic beverage.

Of course, this wouldn’t be the Scofflaw’s Den if I didn’t give you at least one more recipe.  The following recipe is an original creation that I submitted to a local cocktail competition.  I won’t know how I did until the end of the month, but I thought I would share it with y’all anyway.  I really enjoy this drink and certain ingredients are adaptable to whatever you may have in your home bar (or for a bar that may not have certain name brand spirits for that matter . . . it pays to know your audience I guess!)  And unfortunately there are no pictures of this drink.  When I created it, I wasn’t thinking of putting it in this post and when I did decide to do so, I didn’t have the main ingredient.  Oh Well.  Without further adeu . . .

De Lente Smash
4 medium ripe strawberries
5-6 medium basil leaves (or 3-4 very large leaves)
2 oz Genever style gin (Boomsma, Zuidam Holland or Damrak) OR 1.5 oz London Dry Gin (Plymouth)
.75 oz Rich Simple Syrup
2 dashes Peach Bitters

In a mixing glass, muddle the strawberries, basil leaves and simple syrup.
Add gin and bitters and pour all into an iced shaking tin.
Shake until the tin frosts.
Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  (I used the hawthorne strainer in the tin and a fine mesh strainer over the glass.)
Take one small basil leaf and smack it with your hand.  Float the bruised leaf on top of the drink and garnish with a sliced strawberry.

Well, there you go.  Thanks again to Anna and I hope everyone has a great MxMo. 

Cheers!