Enjoyed: Sunday, April 3, 2022

Listed on the menu: No, but the bartenders were happy to oblige me. 

Ingredients:  Michter’s US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Demerara sugar, Angostura Bitters, orange peel.

The occasion: Husband and I had just said goodbye to our family members (sniffle! it’s always hard to part from my “baby boy”), and I needed to drown my sorrows…and, downtown Louisville has several distilleries, so we would be remiss to not visit at least one. We had to make a reservation for a spot at the bar, but it was worth the 30 minute wait. The bar prides itself on its imported-from-the-UK glassware and on its state-of-art ice machines. (Yes, my drink contained one of the largest and clearest ice cubes I have ever seen. I was impressed.) Husband opted for a bourbon flight, to start. Oh, and the staff provided us free snacks to nibble on as we sipped, so we settled in and ordered a second round of cocktails from their creative menu.

My rating: ***** out of 5. I told the bartenders that the cocktail I had the previous night was a disappointment. One of them replied, “Let me fix that for you!” She did! This Old Fashioned was superior: well-balanced in flavors, with the earthy yet sweet notes of the bourbon shining through. The more I sipped, the better it smelled and tasted, which is what I want from my bourbon.

Final thoughts: I would happily visit here again. Since reservations were required, the number of guests were limited, which allowed the staff to be attentive to our questions and to have time to carefully craft each and every cocktail. I felt like more of a guest than a customer, which is becoming a rarity, isn’t it?

Enjoyed: Saturday, April 2, 2022

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

Ingredients: Old Forester Bourbon, Simple Syrup, Angostura Bitters and Orange Bitters

The occasion: Louisville was the first stop on our spring break driving tour, and we booked two nights at the iconic Brown Hotel, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and noted for its Southern charm and Georgian-Revival elegance. However, the best part was the mini-family reunion that fell into place: Sister-in-law drove down from Indianapolis; Oldest Son and Sweet Jenn drove up from Nashville; and Jenn’s parents even flew in, just to finally meet us in person! We celebrated with a few rounds of cocktails at the Lobby Bar and during supper in the hotel’s dining room.

My rating: *** out of 5. The bartender was very busy with a very large crowd, so perhaps there wasn’t time for a special touch of magic. The drink was solid, but not memorable. I believe the bourbon-snob in me would have preferred a finer, more complex bourbon than the basic Old Forester. And the handful of ice cubes in the glass diluted the drink much too quickly.

Final thoughts: I had high expectations for my first-ever Old Fashioned in Louisville, and at the city’s most famous hotel, no less. Yet the drink didn’t captivate me nearly as much as the lush environment–and the good company–did. My warm fuzzy at the end of the weekend wasn’t from the alcohol, but from the amazing people who went out of their way to spend time with lil’ old me.

Friday, February 18, 2022

1. Young women drinking canned cocktails. The brewery had an extensive list of locally-crafted beers and ciders, too. Why not choose something that is the establishment’s specialty?

2. The fact that canned cocktails even exist. Seriously. Who came up with this? The very premise of “cocktail,” to me, means that the libation is lovingly mixed and served up almost immediately, and not created in a factory and placed in an aluminum cylinder and consumed weeks later. Shudder.

3. The busload of 20-somethings that arrived just as Husband and I finished our meal and first round of beers. I applaud the utilization of a Designated Driver, and I am pleased this group chose to patronize a small business, but I am quite sure most of these young people were not using their “inside voices” to chat each other up. The noise level made it exceedingly difficult for Husband and me to read trivia questions to each other. Humph. It’s days like today that make the divide between Boomers and Millennials all the wider.

Enjoyed: Saturday, February 5, 2022

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

Ingredients: Hennessy VSOP, Simple Syrup, Muddled Orange and Cherry, Dashes Bitters

The occasion: Dry January/Holiday Recovery is over, and cases of Covid-19 are again going down in our area, so the time was right for a day trip to visit Youngest Son. We selected Monza for a very late lunch, since it was a short walk away from his apartment. We hadn’t seen him since Christmas, so we toasted to a healthy and prosperous 2022.

My rating: ** out of 5. I was initially intrigued by this spin on a classic Old Fashioned, which is usually made with whiskey of some sorts. I do enjoy a snifter of cognac–and VSOP Hennessy is lovely, and cognac is aged in oak barrels just like bourbon–but how would this work in an Old Fashioned? The answer: on this particular afternoon, it didn’t work. The drink was served in a tumbler which was too large and contained too much ice. A large orange slice and two whole maraschino cherries were muddled inside. And the simple syrup was simply over-abundant. Yes, cognac does have wonderful fruity flavor notes of its own, but this cognac  was totally overshadowed by all the additional items in the glass. 

Final thoughts: Husband and Son had no complaints about their cocktail choices or about the Monza racetrack posters decorating the walls. Perhaps, in this Italian restaurant,  I should have selected a glass of Chianti to go with my delicious spaghetti carbonara. 

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.

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.

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!

1. Her name.
2. She is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University.  “Go, Rams!”
3. She is currently the Tasting Room Manager at Blue Bee Cider in Richmond.
4. She, just like the governor, enjoys restaurants in the Scott’s Addition neighborhood.
5. She was born and raised in Charlottesville.
6. The people responsible for her passion for Virginia-made spirits are her parents, who dragged her along on their many trips to local wineries, ostensibly because they wanted her to log hours toward her Behind The Wheel training but it was really because they needed a Designated Driver.

Enjoyed: Friday, October 29 , 2021

Listed on the menu: Yes, as “Elijah’s Ascension”

Ingredients: Fat washed Elijah Craig bourbon, cigar syrup, aromatic bitters.

The occasion: I had a day off, so I took out my new car (had 110 miles on the odometer when I started this trip!) and drove to Richmond in the rain. Daughter and I shared a cup of tea and some profound conversation about life and its opportunities. She suggested we eat lunch at the newly-opened Jewfro in Shockoe Bottom, just a short drive from her place. As the name suggests, the restaurant serves dishes that fuse Jewish and African cuisines. How intriguing! How delicious! We sampled the pumpkin pierogi in brown butter, a sandwich of Za’atar crusted steak with chrain-horseradish aioli, and Bissli-crusted schnitzel with lemon-harissa aioli.

My rating: **** out of 5. Our waiter explained that the oils were squeezed out of the tobacco in the cigar but no nicotine would transfer to the syrup. I didn’t ask about the fat wash, and I didn’t detect a bacon-like flavor. The best, most impressive part was the presentation of the drink. Our waiter placed the drink in front of me, then dipped a small blow-torch-like device into a thick syrup, then ignited the torch, which created a bubble. He then delicately placed the bubble into my glass, and it popped, releasing smoke. The smoke lingered, pleasantly filling my nostrils as I took my first few sips. The smoky flavor didn’t linger for too long, however, and I would have liked to have popped the bubble myself! The drink was fun, but didn’t quite meet my flavor expectations.

Final thoughts: I did some research on Jewfro afterwards. In a recent interview, the owners said they created the concept in response to BLM protests. The restaurant is a “show of unity through food” since both Jewish and African cuisines share many similar ingredients. Indeed. I endorse this celebration of similarities and of unity.