Tag Archives: Friday Happy Hour

Alexandria, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Friday Happy Hour: Founders’ Dirty Bastard

Photo courtesy of
’50/365′
courtesy of ‘tinney’

Welcome to the Friday Happy Hour, your single drink primer for the weekend.

On icy weekends, such as the one we’re facing, you can’t stand for a cool, fruity, refreshing drink.  It just doesn’t fit.  Instead, you need something warm and robust that will ward off the cold; something that you can sip so that the warmth lingers for as long as possible.  There are a few beverages that accomplish this, but I’m going to recommend Founders’ Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale.  This stuff is powerful, with an 8.5%ABV and a thick texture.  The flavor is complex and malty, with a sweet, smoky overtone.  It’s a perfect example of a scotch ale, just one step lighter than a stout, both in color and character. Beware, though, this Michigan brewed beauty is not for the faint of heart, and definitely not a beginners beer.  Rustico in Alexandria should have it on tap, or you can find bottles in most specialty wine shops.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: Bruno Porro Dolcetto

Photo courtesy of
‘Too much red wine’
courtesy of ‘koalazymonkey’

Welcome to the Friday Happy Hour, your single drink primer for the weekend.

Stormy weather for the weekend. Sigh. With all the gloominess looming, I think I’ll tuck myself away in a corner at Tabard Inn and indulge in some serious wine. Not only do I adore this quirky inn but they also happen to have one of my favorite wines by the glass – Bruno Porro Dolcetto di Dogliani.

Whenever I order this rich dense red, my friends roll their eyes. “You and your funky wine!” they laugh, wrinkling their noses. “It’s not funky, it’s earthy!” I protest back. Semantics. A smattering of plums and cherries? Maybe some coffee, chocolate? A log of mushrooms, damp from the forest floor? See, it’s this last scent that really drives me crazy and keeps me ordering it again and again. It’s like when you used to jump into a pile of leaves as a kid, you didn’t care that it was wet and maybe a little moldy, it was fun! The winery is in Piedmont near Alba, and that’s where my grandfather’s family is from, so maybe my love of earthy wines is in the blood.

Tabard Inn has a very sweet framed letter from Bruno Porro thanking them for importing their dolcetto (look for it in the restroom). I feel like thanking him myself for this red velvet delight. I’ll just wrap myself up in a glass and nap before the fireplace.

Night Life, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: The Gin Gin Mule

Photo courtesy of
‘Gibson’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

Welcome to the Friday Happy Hour, your single drink primer for the weekend.

This week, you get a longer entry for the long weekend.  You also get a summer drink to remind you that, despite what 2010 has indicated thus far, there is warmth in the world and summer is only a few months away.  Plus, it’s supposed to be 55 degrees today.  Relative to the past few weeks, that’s balmy.  This weekend, have yourself a gin gin mule.

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Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour

Photo courtesy of
‘Elmer T Lee Bottles’
courtesy of ‘SauceSupreme’

Hello, and welcome to another edition of Friday Happy Hour, your single drink  primer for the weekend.

Couple being gone for the holidays with a busy week at work and I feel like I haven’t been home in ages.  Add in the cold and I’ve got a great incentive to stay at my house for most of the weekend.  Accompanying me will be my favorite bourbon, Elmer T. Lee.  This little known distillation from from small, Kentucky establishment has won accolades from many connoisseurs who’ve sampled it.  It’s a sweeter, mellower bourbon, with a distinct, candied overtone.  Some call it toffee, some call it caramel, some call it honey.  It bears an understated complexity that reveals a new flavor with every sip.  It’s an extremely pleasant and drinkable bourbon.  Have it neat.  You can buy Elmer T. Lee at Schneider’s of Capitol Hill.

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Friday Happy Hour

"My Old New England Home" cocktail

" 'My Old New England Home' cocktail" by Jenn Larsen on Flickr

Did you think we wouldn’t have a Friday Happy Hour on Christmas Day? Surely you jest. At this moment I’m sure there are many MANY people in DC starting to feel the need (and if you’re reading this, you definitely need happy hour, stat!). So I’ll take advantage of the spirit to get a little nostalgic.

I can’t go “home” for Christmas. My parents sold the family home in Connecticut ages ago, and my urban family is in Washington. So when I saw a drink called “My Old New England Home” on Poste’s menu, I got a little teary. Yes, jaded Jenn got teary and ordered a cocktail based on nostalgia for her long-lost childhood. Or at least, the one I stole from watching The Ice Storm (joke, Mom and Dad, joke!!).

Apple cider mulled with cinnamon and star anise and kissed with rum, this is a pretty delectable warm drink. It’s usually served with a cranberry foam – as I had it the day after the Snowpocalypse they were short, but that hardly mattered. There’s something so comforting about a warm cocktail, your hands cupping the glass, the scent of spice tickling your nose. The best part about winter is mulled cider, anyway! So cosy up in one of the striped banquettes, stare out into the snowy patio, and indulge in luscious nostalgia.

(Ah… just not tonight. Poste’s closed Christmas Day. Just like my old New England home. Sniff, sniff. So quit feeling sorry for yourself and mull your own damn cider!)

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed
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Friday Happy Hour

Photo courtesy of
‘spruce goose’
courtesy of ‘rabid_c’

Welcome to the first ever Friday Happy Hour, your weekly, single-drink primer.

In the Christmas spirit, I’m going to recommend a beer the bears the taste of the season.  Well, it bears the taste of your Christmas tree, anyways.  Spruce Goose, by Steamworks Brewing Co., is a strong ale brewed with spruce tips.  As you can imagine, the beer has a distinct pine flavor, which evokes the vestiges of the Christmas season like none other.  The ale is balanced and fruity, with subtle yet distinct overhang of spruce.  The pine is prevailing flavor, but it’s not over powering such that you get a full, complex range of flavors as you sip the beer.

It can be had from Rick’s Wine and Gourmet in Alexandria, as well as at other specialty shops in the area (readers: be so kind as to report sightings).