I’m new in town, so naturally, for my first assignment, I bellied up to six bars and sampled this year’s Best of C-VILLE nominees for Best Craft Cocktail.
It’s like a latte with alcohol—but better
Tavola | Cool as a Cucumber
Tavola is a chic Italian restaurant with a killer bar. While there, I had—to my recollection—the only cocktail I’ve ever drunk with egg whites in it. Cool as a Cucumber is a smooth and almost-creamy drink with Hendrick’s gin, lemon, simple syrup, rosewater, egg white, and, of course, cucumber. This refreshing cocktail has a sparky finish, and each sip brought the eggy foam to my lips for a soft touch. Trust me, the textural journey that Cool as a Cucumber took me on is one I’ll never forget.
I can’t talk about this cocktail without mentioning the cucumber garnish hanging off the rim of the glass. I absolutely loved it—it’s a cute and lovely touch that brings a little earthy flavor into the mix, if you choose to indulge (I did).
Tavola also treated me to the Summer Leaves cocktail, which was served with a laurel of oregano around the glass like a Roman champion. This drink, made with locally sourced oregano, had a strong citrus flavor that tempted me to compare it to some kind of high-class lemonade.
This is not the drink with the scorpion in it
The Bebedero | Margarita Pura
“You gotta have a margarita, right?!” That’s what the bartender at The Bebedero told me when I asked what a “perfect summer drink” would be. The enthusiasm sold me. I guess I’m easy like that.
The couple beside me cheered on my order of the Margarita Pura, a mix of Lunazul Reposado tequila, fresh lime juice, and agave syrup, with a smack of salt caked on the rim. In true Bebedero fashion, this cold, bright, and tangy cocktail allegedly represents the purest of pure, freshest of fresh margaritas. The great thing about this drink is its perkiness; the tequila is pointed and assertive, but the juice and syrup give it a fun profile.
At The Bebedero, I had the privilege of trying an in-progress cocktail that the bartenders were simply calling the “watermelon drink.” Made with a clear brandy, watermelon juice, vermouth, and other delicious-sounding liquids, this new concoction was more of a sippable drink than the margarita (which I wanted to suck down in seconds, it was that good). The as-yet-named cocktail was more pensive, one you could sample on a porch as you think about how damn hot it is outside.
An out-of-time drink in an out-of-time bar
The Alley Light | The Ugly Stick
The very nature of The Alley Light is all the fuel you need to spark conversation in this place. The bar is fittingly tucked away in an alley off the Downtown Mall, marked only by a lonely lamp above the door. Stepping through that door was a leap of faith. I had some idea where I was going—alley, light, I can put it together—but venturing into strange doors in alleyways isn’t generally what I do on weekends. However, what was inside was extraordinary.
The Alley Light exists in some alternate dimension, a time warp to an era when alcohol was a secret elixir locked behind passwords and passageways. The host showed me to the bar, and I asked for a drink that wasn’t even on the menu. Oops. Turns out, my chosen beverage—The Ugly Stick—is a fall drink that cycled out of the seasonal bar selections some time ago. And it tastes like a fall drink: crisp, smoky, and vain, like I’m at a campfire arguing in the near dark.
The bar manager said this recurring drink would nevertheless disappear once the restaurant ran out of its ingredients. Won’t we all? We’re all just one missing ingredient from losing it, honestly. And that is the true essence of summer—the fleeting nature of romance, warm-weather thrills, and long sunny days. We soak them up because they’re bound to end.
Number one for a reason
Brasserie Saison | Southern Solstice
I got to visit Brasserie Saison a few hours before it opened, which made me feel like I was getting an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek at the magic of cocktail making (and it is magic). My beverage of choice was the Southern Solstice, a drink that has apparently been the most popular at the restaurant for two months running. This pink cocktail brings together Four Roses bourbon, rhubarb, fresh lemon, Cocchi Rosa, and Burlesque bitters to make a buzzy beverage that stings the throat and tickles the belly.
The popularity of the Southern Solstice belies its humble origins; apparently inspiration took hold when the chef told the bartender one day that rhubarb was in season. And I’m glad that interaction went down as it did. With a basil leaf as garnish, the Southern Solstice has a fullness of flavor that I really enjoyed. It fit the cozy, warm energy of the restaurant, something I could sense even when the place was empty. It even reminded me of the kind of spot I might find in Richmond (I hope that’s a compliment).
The cocktail formerly known as Mr. Big
Bang! | Call A Cab
The first time I had a cosmo, it was pink and I was in Rome. It was the most “Sex and the City” moment of my life. The second time was just this week at Bang!, and it was delicious. The Call A Cab cocktail is a white cranberry cosmopolitan with Citron, visited by a little slice of lime on the rim.
Bang! is a restaurant that insists on an exclamation point in its name, something I deeply respect. Its cosmo certainly helps it earn that distinction, with its bright and sharp flavor. And it was pleasant! One of my personal struggles with cocktails is that the alcohol can sometimes be so upfront and explicit that it smacks you in the face instead of schmoozing you like a gentle word of encouragement. And maybe that’s what people want in their cocktails: a drink like a bucket of ice water to the head. But Call A Cab is more my style. It’s like ASMR for the belly. It’s comforting.
A gentle breeze from a rough-and-tumble whiskey joint
The Whiskey Jar | Picking Wild Flowers
This place put flowers in my drink and I’m flattered. The Whiskey Jar’s Picking Wild Flowers mixes Catoctin Creek gin, fresh squeezed grapefruit and lime, lavender simple syrup, and St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur for a bittersweet late afternoon treat with a floral, almost grassy twist.
The Whiskey Jar’s flower-stuffed cocktail is, I’ve been told, a fairly unorthodox offering for the establishment. But I thought the folksy styling of the drink (served in a Mason jar) matched the cool blues personality of the restaurant. Plus, the flowers are edible, and I ate the entire arrangement just so I could say I did. Someone at the bar asked me how the flowers tasted, and I said it was an acquired taste. I’d like to meet the person who’s acquired such a taste.
True to its name, Picking Wild Flowers is a fragrant drink. I appreciated how curious and playful it was, meeting my senses at every turn to give me a different impression of the cocktail. I suppose that’s a lot like picking flowers.
