Archive for the ‘Cocktail Events’ Category
Taco, Beer, Tequila Festival is Back – 2nd Year with More Tacos, Tequila, Margaritas & Beer
Taco ‘Bout Fun – Taco, Beer, Tequila Festival is Back for our 2nd Year!
We’re Back – Taco, Beer, Tequila Festival is back for our 2nd year at the Yards Park, 136 N St., SE, Washington, D.C. on May 12th, 2018!
We’re Super Excited to have more Great Taco Vendors – many are returning from last year, but we’re also adding some interesting new taco makers who want to showcase that the taco is more than just a Tuesday thing! You can purchase your tickets at Taco, Beer, Tequila Festival Tickets – this is a 2 Session Event on Saturday. $45/person is General Admission which includes 3 hour access to the Festival, 4 Taco Tickets (good for all tacos), 1 Margarita and 8 – 5 oz. beer samples. Tequila Ticket is also 3 hour access, 5 Taco Tickets, 1 Margarita and 10 – 5 oz. beer samples and also includes 10 – 1 oz. Tequila/Mezcal samples within the Tequila Pavilion. VIP is 4 hour access (1 hour early), 5 Taco Tickets, 1 Margarita and 10 – 5 oz. beer samples, 10 – 1 oz. Tequila/Mezcal samples within the Tequila Pavilion, Private tent with private bathrooms and a special rare Tequila Tasting.
Get Your Tickets before this is Sold Out – last year we have over 4,500 people and this year we have a much better date in May. As Always…
Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler
Beer, Bacon, Booze..Festivals That Is!
We’ve hit the big Foodie Festival Season in Washington, D.C. now that it’s the first week in May..more Bacon Festivals, more Beer Festivals, more Booze Festivals..ohh, and a few wine festivals, food crawls, Big Charity high-ticket dinners..ohhand of course DC Lamb Jam .. here it goes, a fun rollick through the Washington, D.C. Foodie Festival Season..
Saturday, May 9th, 2015 – DC Craft Beer and Cider Festival – Hey, they added Ciders and more Speciality craft beers impossibly hard to find.. Did I mention that Mess Hall (the Food Incubator) is Catering the event?
VinoFest, May 9th, 2015 – More Music than Foodie, but with over 20 wines included and some awesome food, I can see getting my boogie on and sipping away at this one
Beer, Bacon & Music Festival , May 16th, 2015, Frederick Fairgrounds – C’mon you got all the good stuff – plenty of craft beers, bacon both in 2 Tons to eat right away, and a bevy of food trucks and Bacon purveyors..and frankly a bit away from the city..
DC Lamb Jam , May 17th, 2015 – This is a Serious Chefstravaganza – 17 chefs, tons of food, wine, craft beer and Foodie Heaven – Chefs competing to win your tastebuds over .. and only $60.. c’mon, I’ve spent more than that at a Food Truck Festivals (well, I promote them!)
St. Michael’s BrewFest, May 30th, 2015 – hey sometimes you gotta get away and visit the Eastern Shore..I mean this could be a whole weekend, especially if you visit Lyon Distillery and other distilleries and breweries around the corner..I mean, that’s travelling for food and drink!
DCIST List Here – Hey, check out this short list from DCist..there are actually more Bacon Festivals coming, more beer, wine, cocktail festivals..and well..this just forces me to drink on the Job – Cheers!
Eater DC Added some events like Edible DC’s Cocktail Derby ..
And of course Fritz Hahn’s Going Out Guide Washington Post Article for 2015 Beer Festivals
Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler
Getting’ Piggy – Cochon 555 DC 2015
Cochon 555 Is the Pigging Party That Never Stops Giving!
Making Old Fashioneds
Whistlepig Cocktail
Mr. Piggy Says “Hello”
Mike Isabella Being Piggie!
Mandu – the Piggie Winners!
Yona Piggie!
Piggie Pieces (Heritage!)
Piggy Heart (Actually, Beef Heart – but REALLY Good!)
Piggy Jowl with Spike Mendelsohn of Bearnaise
Ummmm…Bacon!








Capital Food Fight Always Knocks Me Out – Round 2
Foodie Celebrity Alert..
Yes, I went to my 2nd round at Capital Food Fight in Washington, D.C. at the Ron Reagan Building on Monday, November 11th, 2013. Getting to taste 60+ chefs, hobnobbing with Celebrity Chefs like Carla Hall, and Jose Andres and just soaking in the restaurant/hospitality way of life is such a treat!
This annual extraganza raises $100,000s of dollars for DC Central Kitchen and also has the added benefit of raising the profile of Washington, D.C. as a True Foodie City – we always appreciate the added push! What really fascinates me about these mega-restaurant promotional events is there really isn’t one kind of crowd that attends – there are the diverse interests of DC from Lobbiests with clients, to Foodies/Restaurant people who either produce/make the dishes or are somehow connected with the industry. It’s definitely a schmoozerama, but it’s also a chance to meet some of the Big Name out of town chefs/celebrities like Tom Colicchio from Top Chef, Rick Bayless, Todd English, Art Smith and Battling Chefs Erik Bruner-Yang, Bertrand Chemel, Spike Gjerde and Anthony Lombardo.
Dishes I Loved:
-Smoked Oyster Dish with Lamb Bacon by Beuchert’s Saloon – 3 reasons: smoke, oysters and bacon (in this case from the lamb neck!) – gets points for originality, interesting blend of sea/land and of course tastyness!
-Pulpo’s creative Shrimp Ceviche – I actually thought it was lobster and it had Aquavit in it – so booze and seafood combined!
-Farmer’s Fishers Crab Bisque – I’m not sure if that’s the name of the dish, but it had tons of crab in it – sweet!
-Slider from PJ Clarke’s – so lowbrow – Love It!
And many more..
Kudo’s to the Bloomery Plantation folks who allowed me (Illegally – Press was denigrated to the regular $250 Riff-Raff fold..) into the Chairman’s Double-Secret VIP area upstairs where I had their great cocktails, a wonderful 25 year old XO Cognac and got to hang with Carla Hall and Jose Andres before I decided that I actually wanted to taste the dishes downstairs!
And the Winner of the Battling Chef Competition: Spike Gjerde, Woodberry Kitchen!
Ohh, and purely for SEO, here’s the list of Restaurants that participated: 1789
2941
Al Tiramisu
Ambar
Airlie Center
Art & Soul
BLT Steak
Bar Charley
Barmini
Bastille
Béarnaise
Belga Café / Btoo
Beuchert’s Saloon
Blue Duck Tavern
Boqueria
Carmine’s
Cava/Sugo Osteria
Charlie Palmer Steak
Chipotle
Cuba Libre
Del Campo
Delia’s
Dolci Gelati
Dolcezza Gelato
Eat the Rich
Entyse
Equinox / Salamander Resort
Farmers Fishers
Founding Farmers
Fujimar
Good Stuff Eatery
Gordon Biersch
Granville Moore
Gristmill
Hank’s Oyster Bar
Hill Country BBQ
Ici Urban Bistro
Indique
J&G Steakhouse
Jackson 20 / The Grille at Morrison House
Jaleo
Kapnos
Kaz Sushi Bistro
Lebanese Taverna
Le Diplomate
Lia’s
Lincoln
MXDC Restaurant
Mandu
Maketto
Matchbox
Mint Gastropub by Malcolm Mitchell
Nick’s River Side Grill
Osteria Elisir
Oyamel
PJ Clarke’s
Ping Pong Dim Sum
Pizzeria Orso
Policy
Pulpo
Rappahannock River Oysters
Ris
Santa Lucia Coffee
Sonoma
Sticky Fingers
Taberna del Alabardero Restaurant
Taco Bamba
Table
Teddy and the Bully Bar
The Majestic
The Source
Toki Underground
Tony and Joe’s Seafood Place
Trummer’s on Main
Vermilion
Vidalia
Vinoteca
Westend Bistro
Willow
Woodberry Kitchen
Zengo
Meet the Distillers Crafts a Great Evening
Craft Distilling is more than just the current buzz in the food and drinks industry..
I attended a great craft experience – Meet the Distillers at Ris Restaurant in our Nation’s Capital on Wednesday, September 11th, 2013 – a chance to meet and identify with 4 of America’s most innovative craft distillers.
Here are the Distillers: Barry Young who, together with his partner C. Prentiss Orr at Boyd & Blair, distills what is arguably the world’s greatest potato vodka in Glenshaw, PA, John Little, co-founder of Smooth Ambler Spirits in rural Greenbrier Valley, WV and Clay Smith, distillery manager at Corsair Distillery in Bowling Green, KY.
I had a chance to taste 9 spirits and various cocktails produced by Dan Searing who is actually the Rep for American Still Life Spirits who promotes the most diverse American portfolio of craft distilled spirits.
Each speaker had time to open up and discuss their respective perspective and products.
Boyd & Blair (Pennsylvania):
I had met Barry Young from Boyd & Blair a few years ago at a crafts spirits tasting in NYC when the whole movement was early, but building steam. His specialty is producing potato distilled vodka using exclusively Pennsylvania potatoes. Pennsylvania farmers were only receiving about 8 cents per pound for their potatoes which didn’t make much sense as an agricultural incentive. Boyd & Blair took this low-priced resource and turned it into a vodka that has won many rewards. We also tried the Vodka 151 Proof but it was in a cocktail made by Dan Searing. Interesting note: Boyd & Blair only throws out the heads and tails of distillation and only uses the “sweet spot” heart of distillation in their products..
Smooth Ambler (West Virginia):
The next up was John Little of Smooth Ambler – he was quite a character and spoke a mile a minute with his exuberance and excitement! First up we tried the Greenbrier Gin which had a nice citrusy refreshing taste that enlivened my palate! Smooth Ambler is relatively new to the distillation process, so brown spirits have to be purchased. John took us through the process of choosing the right barrels of pre-aged Bourbons and how he chose their specific products (which in a roundabout way came from the US, was orderd and planned to be sold in Australia, but due to market conditions there, remained in U.S. stocks). Being a Rye fan, I really loved their Old Scout Rye (7-year old) and also enjoyed their Old Scout Bourbon (10-year old). John brought up the point or concept about whiskey and aging: does whiskey get better with age? He joked that some people are born “beautiful Adonis”, but most people feel we get better with age! He also brought up that Smooth Ambler doesn’t cold filter their products – fatty acids, which some people might consider gross, actually add interesting flavor and aromatics, and cold-filtering takes this away – Cheers to that!
Corsair (Kentucky):
Clay Smith of Corsair Whiskey was the 3rd Presenter and showcased 4 spirits: Corsair Barrel-Aged Gin, Spiced Rum, Old Punk Whiskey and Corsair Triple Smoke Whiskey. The most unique product was their Triple Smoke: their malted barley is smoked with Cherrywood, Beechwood and Peat giving it some Scotch/peat overtones but also some American wood smoke aromatics. This kind of creativity is what makes American craft spirits so much fun – Cheers!
Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler
P.S. – Below is some cut and paste from the Arrowine email – if you’re truly interested in learning more, read on!
What are craft spirits and why we love them…
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Craft distillers focus on quality rather than quantity (often producing less in a year than multi-national brand distilleries bottle in one hour) and strive to educate consumers rather than supply them with cheap alcohol. Unlike the large spirits conglomerates that use continuous distillation to produce large volumes of the same product over and over, craft distillers employ pot stills that they often design themselves and distill in small batches using their senses to make cuts to achieve the desired results.
Most use locally sourced grains and fruits and trace their recipes, especially for whiskey, back to the days long before prohibition when America was a land of small distillers. Much like the craft beer movement that started in the late 1990s, micro-distilleries are making excellent products that pay homage to the authenticity and cultural heritage of their communities. |
What we will be tasting…
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We will taste a selection of Vodka, Gin and Whiskey (Bourbon & Rye), first in their pure spirit form, and then in a cocktail application that will showcase the wide range of flavors that these spirits can be expressed in. |
About Barry Young and Boyd & Blair…
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Barry Young and partner C. Prentiss Orr didn’t set out to make the world’s best vodka. They set out to make a really great vodka distilled only from local produce. They started with the best Pennsylvania potatoes and a hand hammered copper pot still and added passion for perfecting a recipe that includes only the ‘hearts’ of the spirit, not the extraneous stuff you’ll find in mass-produced, continuous-still vodka. They named their vodka after two family patriarchs, James Boyd Rafferty and Dr. William Blair.
The vodka is triple distilled by batch in the 1,200 liter pot still without the use of any automated controls, and the heads, hearts and tails are cut by taste alone. The result is an exceptionally smooth tasting potato vodka with a slight natural sweetness and viscosity that is unmatched by any other vodka. Every bottle is filled, corked and dipped in wax by hand, and personally signed by Still Master Barry Young.
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About John Little and Smooth Ambler Spirits…
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In 2009, John Little and TAG Galyean founded Smooth Ambler to produce fine artisan spirits by combining patient Appalachian know-how with the finest of American ingredients. Located in the rural Greenbrier Valley of West Virginia, Smooth Ambler uses state-of-the-art distillery equipment in conjunction with natural resources of the region: high-valley mountain air, natural waters, ideal temperature variations and friendly folks. These elements combined with a hands-on, grain-to-glass distilling, cutting and filtering process create a truly remarkable drink best enjoyed one slow sip at a time. It is a fact that Smooth Ambler Spirits are now produced at the highest and purest level possible anywhere in the world.
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About Clay Smith and Corsair…
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Corsair operates out of two distilleries, one in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the other in Nashville, Tennessee. Our guest presenter Clay Smith is master distiller and distillery manager at the Bowling Green facility, where he oversees the production of Corsair’s various whiskeys and gins as well as the extensive renovation of the distillery’s new space. |
About the tasting location…
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![]() Restaurant RIS is located in Washington DC, at 2275 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20037, right around the corner from Arrowine & Spirits, our new shop in DC. Restaurant RIS is open late each night. We expect the event to conclude by 9pm and should you wish to stay at Ris and have a late dinner, they would be happy to serve you. For more about this excellent restaurant, please see their website.
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Arrowine
Arlington, VA and our new DC location
A Dramtastic Experience with The Glenlivet
The Glenlivet Dram + Discover came to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, June 11th with a fascinating mix: a cooking class experience at Culinaerie with recipes and Scotch pairing!
Part presentation, part tasting and part cooking class, this event showcased 2 really great Scotches produced by The Glenlivet: their 18 year old and the Nadurra Cask Strength. The question is: Does Scotch pair well with food?
Our chef for the event was Wendi James – I had met her at a prior cooking class at the Hill Center a few months before teaching a pasta class – she’s a very good cooking teacher with really great presentation skills (in other words, she uses plain English!) so it was easy to understand her directions. The recipes were for:
- Smoked Chicken in Bacon Cream Sauce
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Vanilla Vinaigrette
- Butterscotch Bread Pudding
Little pointers along the way made it educational – for example, to make “lardons” (in essence crispy bacon pieces), Wendi said it’s best to start with a pan on low heat vs high heat. See, I always start with a hot pan – it’s just my way of getting food started quickly..but that’s actually a bad idea if you’re trying to render fat – so it makes more sense to put the bacon pieces in a low heat pan to let the fat melt and create “oil” and slowly crisp the exterior. Hmmm, good lesson!
Of course, my friend Emily is Kosher – and two immediate problems came to mind: 1)bacon! and 2)meat and dairy at the same meal..Emily was a real trooper (I swore to her – I had no idea what the dishes would be!) and she simply ate the chicken prepared without the bacon (I highly doubt the meal was even close to Kosher – Such is Life!)
So how did the Scotch and food pairing go? Well, of course, I had to raise my hand and ask Craig, Glenlivet’s Brand Ambassador how he suggested that Scotch and food be paired. His answer was also pretty insightful: the 18 Year Old Glenlivet is a rounder/mellower style of Scotch than the Nadurra which is full “Cask” strength and uses only Bourbon barrels (the 18 Year gets both Sherry and Bourbon barrel aging). Also one other quick point: Glenlivet uses minimal if any peat-smoked grains, so the smokyness of the Scotch is really not a factor. The 18 year went well with the bacon/cream sauce and the smoky chicken, but even better with the mashed Sweet Potatoes because they had orange zest in the ingredients – that really made it pair beautifully! Since the Nadurra is a more aggressive style, you need something to either cut the intensity or match it – so cheese being a fat often is paired with it, but also desserts – he mentioned chocolate is a great pairing, but I noticed the butterscotch sauce in the Bread Pudding sort of tamed the flames of the Scotch. When I looked at the recipes, I noticed: smoke, vanilla and butterscotch – these are noteworthy components of the Whisky aging process, so it just makes sense that using these in cooking will pair well..
Conclusion: Glenlivet, Culinaerie and everyone staffing the event did a bang up job of presenting Scotch as a wonderful addition to a meal – not just a drink to be enjoyed by itself. I suggest you look for these type of events in your city..and of course if you live in Washington, D.C., check out the TasteDC site for cooking classes and these type of events – Cheers!
Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler
DC’s 3rd Brewery Gets Artsy
3 Stars Inaugural Artists & Artisans Holiday Extravaganza – This Shindig Got Me Drinkin!
Saturday, December 15th, 2012 marked 3 Stars Brewery’s launch into the world of Art and Beer with their new Mural at their 6400 Chillum Place Brewery and a Who’s Who of DC Food and Drink Artisans.
This was a DC Foodie Scene:
-I finally tried (and met the owners of DC’s First Distillery) Green Hat Gin – I really like their blend of spices with alot of Indian spice like cardamom and interestingly it reminded me alot of Pisco. Michael Lowe and John Uselton were both there and I could feel their enthusiasm for DC’s first Distillery in many years. Currently, they offer the chance to work their bottling line at the Distillery, but we talked about a more in-depth class like a Distilling 101, more news soon..
-Qualia Coffee’s Joel Finkelstein was sampling his off-premise brand “Fresh Off the Roast” and talking about his recent tasting with some DC Local Press – Here’s the article from Tim Carman over at WaPo about Joel’s indignation over the lack of quality crafted coffee in DC Restaurants
-I sampled some of Righteous Cheese ‘s well, cheeses, and chatted with the Founder Carolyn Stromberg about the need for more cheese classes in DC. Her schedule is so busy and a retail cheese shop is so demanding of her time, that she felt she could only do a limited number, but expect to see more in 2013.
–3 Stars was pouring Pandemic Porter, Southern Belle, Peppercorn Saison, Sea Change Pale Ale, Winter Madness, Global Pandemic (Bulleit barrel-aged Pandemic Porter (aged six months from the first brew in the brewery) blended with fresh Pandemic Porter) and all were delicious – I definitely remember the oak, vanilla and smoke of the last beer which would be perfect with some BBQ pork ribs! Dave Coleman was having a great time with the release of the new mural made by local artist Kendra Kuliga – I also noticed that the warehouse space had room for expansion..sort of a hint?
–Teddy Folkman of Granville Moore’s was slicing up some salty and delicious brisket as well as some briney Edwards Virginia Hams (which remind me alot of Spain’s Serrano Ham).
-Sampled some charcuterie with Three Little Pigs co-owner Carolina Gomez – she told me the store would be closed much of January because she’ll be getting married.
–Gordy’s Pickles Sheila Fain spoke with me about the phenomenal growth of her spears and how Whole Foods was carrying them in all of their DC markets. I had to bring up the curious local connection of Rob Duncan of Dolcezza creating a special Thai basil jalapeño sorbetto, featuring Thai basil jalapeños from Gordy’s Pickle Jar
Rappahanock Oysters was tasting some of their wonderful salty Virginia oysters. I’m hoping they do more tasting events and dinners in Washington, D.C. – Although we have one major oyster fest (Oyster Riot at Old Ebbitt Grille), there is definitely enough demand for more events around oysters and easily we could pair them with other local artisan products..speaking of which..
There were also Cocktails by Nick Nazdin of El Chucho & Carlo Bruno of Sidebar, but by this point I was so looped, that I had no palate to speak of!
A fun time had by all and a very good idea for future new concept events – maybe we could do a DC Brew and Oyster Fest, or a DC Cocktail Expo, or even a Chesapeake Wine and Oyster Fest..there are a myriad of possibilities and definitely the demand is there for these type of Foodie Experiences – Cheers!
Charlie “I Drink on the Job” Adler
Tequila’s in the Details – My 5-Course Tequila Espolon Dinner at Bandolero
The Tequila Journey Begins..
I hadn’t been to Top Chef Mike Isabella’s newest restaurant – Bandolero at 3241 M St., NW in Georgetown, so I decided to try it out at a special 5-Course Espolon Tequila Dinner offered by CityEatsDC “Exclusive Eats”. The Thursday, November 8th, 2012 pairing dinner was a chance for me to attend my 2nd Tequila Dinner ever – the first one had been in Aspen, CO many years ago as part of the Aspen Food and Wine Festival. This time, all I had to do was make the Reservation and walk about 5 blocks from my townhouse which is also in Georgetown!
Actually, this event was more of a Cocktail Pairing Dinner because all of the Tequila was served in 5 separate cocktails that were paired with the meal. Tasting events like these are no longer unique and unusual – in fact, I guesstimate that DC has at least 20 dinners every week with pairings of craft beer, wine, whisky or other spirits. What they all tend to do is have a quality speaker – and Phil Piper of Skyy Spirits/Gruppo Campari which owns the Tequilas (Espolon and Cabo Wabo) spoke and also introduced the Master Distiller of Espolon, Cirilo Hernandez who spoke about the differences of Espolon’s Silver, Reposado and Anejo. Cirilo was a really charming guy and very authentic – his English was pretty good, but his spirit and passion (over-used, but true this time!) really set the tone for the event – it felt very much like this Master Distiller enjoys making his product and taking pride in ownership. I hope the Campari people bring him to more tasting events – he really had an energy to him that just plain seemed “Real”..
As sort of a side note to this event – I sat next to Tom Brown who with his brother Derek Brown own The Passenger/Columbia Room in Washington, D.C. which is a haven for serious Cocktail aficionado’s. Tom told me that they are planning to open a Tiki Lounge concept nearby – still a bit hush,hush, but he confirmed that the lease had been signed..more details soon. Derek wasn’t at the event because he as in China doing some kind of drink promotion – which tells you how much the cocktail culture has become part of the international scene – food and drinks are hot – I guess everyone has to eat and drink!
The 5-Course Tequila Dinner Menu:
First Course:
Big Eye Tuna Ceviche w/Roasted Pumpkin, Pepita Brittle and Orange
El Bandolero – Blanco Tequila, Citronage, Blood Orange, Grand Marnier Float
Second Course:
Tamal Classico: Grilled Foie Gras w/Charred Pineapple Salsa & Corn Tamales
Luna & Sol – Cabo Wabo Anejo Tequila, Orange Combier, Lime, and Ginger Beer
Third Course:
Seared Scallops w/Pomegranite and Chestnut Mole
Hecho in G-Town – Reposado Tequila, Aperol, Luxardo and Lime
Fourth Course:
Fried Cow: Crispy Skirt Steak, Blackened Tomatillo Salsa and Rice
Pero Viejo – 2.0 Blanco Tequila, Tomato Juice and Coronita Beer
Dessert Course:
Spicy Churros with Guava Sauce
Southern Exposure – Reposado Tequila, Averna and Cinnamon