Happy Hour: The Classic...

From Green Hat Gin:

Ingredients

·         Green Hat Gin 2 1/2 oz

·         Dry Vermouth 1/4 oz

·         green olive/a twist of lemon peel

·         ice cubes 6

Directions
Into a mixing glass, toss a handful of ice cubes, then pour in the Gin and the Vermouth. Stir well. Strain and pour into a martini glass. To finish, either drop a green olive into the bottom of the martini glass OR arrange a twist of lemon peel on the edge of the martini glass.

Sometimes people ask me why I blog and honestly I really don’t know what to tell them. Tonight was one of those nights that answered that. Blogging makes you pay attention to how absurd life really is. Seriously pay attention to the things you do and would probably never take notice of and easily forget but honestly should be remembered if for no other reason than to laugh at yourself.

At some point in life I became a rule follower or a direction taker. This wasn’t always the case. Growing up I was quite rebellious and the only thing I can assume is that I got it all out of my system. Or the fact that I’m a “tax accountant” might have also contributed to my need to follow all instructions to a specific detail. So when I make my happy hour drinks I print out the ingredients and instructions and get to mixing. Tonight I diligently counted out my six ice cubes…cause you know five would be too little and seven obviously too many. Once I got to the sixth one I did think to myself…why six, who decided six would be the correct number. And if six is so important why not describe them, are they ice tray cubes, refrigerator ice dispenser size, should they be weighted? I’ve seen a lot of variation in ice cubes. Then I grew further confused/annoyed because the directions say “toss a handful of ice cubes” well doesn’t that change the number of ice cubes? My hand is smaller than let’s say Shaquille O’Neal so is it six or a handful?

I have way too much time on my hands…Happy Friday!!!!

Happy Hour: The Fresh Gimlet…

From Green Hat Gin

·         Green Hat Gin 2 oz

·         fresh lime juice 1/2 oz

·         simple syrup 1/4 oz

Directions
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. May also be served on the rocks, if preferred. Garnish with a lime twist.

I’m not going to lie to you but because this is basically gin with a little bit of sugar and lime it’s boozy. Typically when I make a drink I double it, this drink I did not and honestly it was probably wise. For someone who doesn’t like gin I liked this drink A LOT. I drank it while soaking in the tub reading a new book. I’m writing this post on a Wednesday because I had a long weekend and wanted a little drink to take the edge off. Last night I got back from visiting my best friend and god kids in Kansas City, MO. My best friend has three kids; Lucia is 22 months, Gianna is 7 years old, and Emilio turns 16 in April. Typically when I visit my friend works and I do stuff around the house and watch the kids. It’s her way of helping me love my reality. I’m currently at that age where everyone likes to tell me about how my biological clock is ticking and by 30 how I’d used like 90% of my eggs. I romanticize parenthood, in my version it’s a lot of dropping them off at my mom’s house while Jedd and I take weekend get aways. Tara (the bestie) likes to help me with the daily ins and outs that I seem to forget. What I do when visiting is pretend to be her; this time being her consisted of washing 20 loads of laundry, doing dishes, dealing with the baby and inquiring of Emilio after dropping him at a party if he was chewing gum. Why was this important you ask, because he has his permit and when we asked him after the party if he wanted to drive (he needs hours) he said no. We’d decided before hand if he said no there was definitely drinking at the party. It couldn’t be proven, his breath had the sweet smell of someone who had chewed gum to cover the booze smell and then spit it out knowing full well I thought gum meant you’d been drinking. Gianna conned me into taking her to the American Girl store and Justice. For those of you who don’t know both stores are over priced versions of hell. One outfit for an American Girl doll is minimum $28.00; oh and all appear on the doll with accessories typically costing $12.00. That doll is better dressed then me. Then at Justice I got her two outfits, total $80.00. The baby killed me, she’s small like in the 3 percentile which I have no idea what that means but essentially she’s the size of a one year old but she talks and has attitude. Her attitude typically ranges from “I do not want to do anything you want me to do” to “I need a nap and every suggestion you make is going to cause me to either cry or tell you no”. Oh and she is a pincher. Needless to say my kid free reality is looking a lot more romantic than her kid infested reality. I’m glad to be home…Happy Friday!!!!

Gin Lives Here...

What could possibly get me up, bathed and dressed (by dressed I mean with something other than sweats on) and out of the house before 10:45 am? Finding out they are making gin seven minutes (or 1.4 miles) from our house. So I’m in the middle of working and the printer runs out of paper which automatically means I need to goof off. I flip over the Washingtonian’s online page and see that they have run an article on NE gin distillery, New Columbia Distillers. Excuse me…someone is making booze in my hood and this is the first I’m hearing about it. This generates a 30 minute manic Google search to find out everything I needed to know. Deciding to follow them on twitter produced the best freaking surprise ever… today is Repeal Day which means for every bottle of gin you buy you get a free tour. My eyes literally almost popped out of my head. This is better than work I said, running up stairs, taking a shower, grabbing every freakin’ camera I own, I set out to figure out who was making the gin and where.

Now there are a lot of articles and other bloggers who have covered this, so if you’re looking for all the facts go here:

1. The Brookland Bridge

2. DCist

3. Thrillist

I arrived at the Distillery not really knowing what to expect. I’ve been to both the Breweries but neither was right in the mix. I liked that the Distillery is in NE really close to the bars that should be carrying the gin (need to support our local NE businesses). Easiest way to describe the location is off New York Ave. (think where club Love used to be). The owners John Uselton and Michael Lowe were beyond friendly, especially for two people working 12 hour days six days a week. Turns out I was the only one to show up for a tour at 10:45 am on a Wednesday so it was one on one. Things I found out:

1. Grain is bought locally

2. Process of making Gin takes days, literally DAYS!!!

3. If Heaven doesn’t smell like coffee then it’s got to smell like New Columbia Distillery

4. John Uselton is a cool guy and lives in the District (I believe in NE but I thought it would be kind of stalkerish to be all “now where exactly in the area is your house”). Michael Lowe is probably cool too, he didn’t give me the tour, but he did come over to introduce himself which was nice

5. You can do tastings on Saturday from 1 to 4 pm (I did my tasting today at home at 12 pm; must admit Gin at noon is the way to go).

6. You can help bottle and label on Saturday’s but you have to register. Currently they are booked two months in advance; you might want to get on that list.

7. They do now take credit cards.

So about the gin…. Let’s start with a description of who I am as a drinker I do not like two things red wine and gin. I know right. Well I guess I like one kind of gin Green Hat, because the first thing I noticed is the pine needle smell I associate with gin was not over bearing here. I mean it smelled like gin, but a cleaner version maybe. I tried it straight and it was smooth, didn’t leave me with that this is going to burn going down feeling that most gin I’ve tried leaves me with. Now maybe this is because of their process OR maybe it’s because it’s not cheap gin. Either way I can’t wait to go back for a Saturday tasting and to do a few Happy Hour drinks with Green Hat. Follow these guys on twitter for upcoming events and buy local whenever possible.