Month: December 2021

My Old Fashioned Tour of America, Stop #32: Open City, Washington, District of Columbia

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Enjoyed: Sunday, December 5, 2021

Listed on the menu: Yes, as “Coffee Old Fashioned” 

Ingredients: Bourbon, Simple Syrup,  and Peychaud’s Bitters with a Double Shot of Espresso

The occasion: This was day three of our December Get-Away. Our dear friends recommended the coffee and breakfast items at this cafe, near our hotel in the Woodley Park neighborhood. The “locals” were there for brunch, obviously, and we were delighted to join them.

My rating: **** out of 5. I have had an Old Fashioned made with coffee liqueur, but never with freshly-made espresso, so I was eager to try this alongside my lemon-blueberry-cream cheese French toast. I love strong black coffee and I love bourbon, and happily, the rich flavors of each worked well together. This is definitely a “brunch” cocktail, however, and I would not choose it as a pre-dinner drink.

Final thoughts: So if the espresso is a stimulant and the bourbon a depressant, do these ingredients cancel each other out? Should I have a buzz of any sort? After a weekend away, I can say that I was indeed feeling fine.

My Old Fashioned Tour of America, Stop #31: China Chilcano, Washington, District of Columbia

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Enjoyed: Saturday, December 4, 2021

Listed on the menu: Yes, as “5-Spice Old Fashioned” 

Ingredients: Deadwood Rye, Chinese five spice, Angostura bitters 

The occasion: This was day two of our December Get-Away weekend in Washington. We spent the morning and early afternoon on the National Mall, and had tickets for the evening to see the Capitals play hockey. But what to do about pre-game dinner? The Caps’ arena is in Chinatown, next to Penn Quarter, so restaurant choices are plentiful. I decided on China Chilcano, since their Peruvian/Asian fusion menu sounded so intriguing and since Youngest Son claims that their Chilcano cocktail (with pisco and spicy Peruvian pepper) is one of the best cocktails he has ever had. (Yes, I tried it!) We selected the Chef’s tasting menu and ended up trying eleven delectable dishes.

My rating: **** out of 5. I was curious to try the Deadwood Rye, made in Indiana. And I wondered how the 5-spice (star anise, fennel, szechuan peppercorns, cinnamon, and cloves) would taste when combined with the rye. My palate picked up the cinnamon as the dominant flavor, but not by much. The 5-spice was obviously selected to enhance the sweet, bitter, salty, sour, and umami flavors on the food menu. It worked! Husband ended up happily  drinking two of these cocktails with his meal.

Final thoughts: China Chicano is one of several restaurants in DC owned by José Andrés, the philanthropist/chef behind World Central Kitchen. We love his recipes and his generosity.

My Old Fashioned Tour of America, Stop #30: Robert’s Restaurant, Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, District of Columbia

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Enjoyed: Friday, December 3, 2021

Listed on the menu: Yes, as “Shoreham Old Fashioned” 

Ingredients: Bulleit bourbon, simple syrup, cherry bitters, Angostura bitters, club soda, orange peel

The occasion: Every December, Husband and I get out of town for a weekend as an early holiday gift to ourselves. (We skipped 2020, obviously.) In 2019, we went to Washington and stayed at the historic and iconic Omni Shoreham. (My favorite facts about the hotel? 1. The Beatles stayed here in February 1964 right after appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show. Their DC performance would be their first concert in the USA before a paying audience.  AND, 2. Bill Clinton played his saxophone here during one of his inaugural balls in January 1993.) Since we had not been to DC for two solid years, we decided to return to the Shoreham. As always, the elegant lodgings and attentive staff did not disappoint.

My rating: **** out of 5. After the trio of tipsy conference-goers finally stepped aside, I ordered my drink and watched the bartender carefully.  He started with incredibly generous dashes of cherry bitters and then angostura bitters, then an overflowing double jigger of bourbon, and a splash of simple syrup. He poured this from shaker to shaker several times to mix it up– I must admit that I have never seen that technique used–then poured it into a glass, added a splash of club soda, then ice and an orange peel. Later, a hotel staffer told me that the evening’s bartender had a reputation for making a fine Old Fashioned. The cherry flavor was more evident than usual, but not unwelcome.

Final thoughts: While I enjoyed this nightcap, Husband sipped on Lagavulin scotch. We sat in soft velveteen chairs between the restaurant and vast lobby, and we simply enjoyed the opulence and the Christmas decorations. Ah, in moments like this, life is indeed good.

My Old Fashioned Tour of America, Stop #29: Hotel Tango Distillery, Indianapolis, Indiana

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Enjoyed: Friday, November 26 , 2021

Listed on the menu: Yes, as “Tango Old Fashioned”

Ingredients :  bourbon,  turbinado, angostura, orange bitters, and orange peel.  Our server suggested that I upgrade the bourbon to the Reserve (aged 6 years), and I did.

The occasion: The family that drinks together, stays together, right? After a lovely Thanksgiving meal the previous day– with sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and his family–we were eager for more intimate family chats. Oldest Son drove up from Nashville for the day, too! As an added bonus, later in the afternoon, two friends from Indy also joined us for a long-overdue catch-up session. Between the six of us, we sampled several cocktails–the ones featuring Chili Liqueur were a popular choice.

My rating: ***** out of 5. The cocktail was velvety in my mouth, with notes of vanilla and burnt sugar. I am glad I chose the Reserve Bourbon–the quality was evident.

Final thoughts: Instead of Black Friday shopping, we supported a small, local business. And the seasonal cocktails with pop-culture-based names (we tried the “Rudolph’s Revenge”, “For The Rest of Us”, “Yippee Ki Yay, Mother F*cker”, and “Oogie Boogie’s Revenge”) also put us in a festive and frolicsome mood!