The Cocktail Artist

An average summer in Washington, DC is hot, humid, and generally oppressive, but right now we are in the middle of a nasty heat wave. The only thing to be done is to mix a cool drink and stare at a painting of an idyllic beach scene.  Instead of working up a sweat re-inventing the wheel, summer can be a good time to fall back on a classic cocktail. The heat hasn’t managed to kill all of the mint growing in our garden. So we decided that we would put it to good use by making a mojito. The mojito is a cousin to that other classic Cuban cocktail, the  daiquiri . Both of these drinks have launched many variations – not all of them good. A classic daiquiri contains only fresh lime juice, simple syrup, and white rum. Nothing more than a chilled cocktail glass is required to make it an excellent drink. The mojito adds mint and some club soda to the daiquiri to create a highball with a lower ABV (alcohol by volume) – giving you more to sip on when it’s a hot day. We ventured out

On a remarkably nice (warm but not oppressively hot and humid) Washington, DC evening, I met my daughter for dinner at the lovely French Bistro, Chez Billy Sud , in Georgetown. Naturally, we had to start with a cocktail, and we were both intrigued by the “Rosé Window” – a combination of St. Germain, local Capitoline Rosé Vermouth , lemon, and sparkling wine. We enjoyed it so much that we ordered a second round with dinner. It was bright and bubbly, not overly sweet - the perfect summer cocktail.  We neglected to ask the bartender for the recipe, but it wasn’t too hard to recreate it at home. Shockingly, it didn’t even require a trip to the liquor store since we had all of the ingredients on hand! We used a dry prosecco, since the floral St. Germain adds plenty of sweetness. The Capitoline Rosé Vermouth has a base of California Sangiovese Rosé with notes of orange and clove and just the right amount of herbal bitterness to work with the other ingredients in this cocktail. Dolin