New at Duffy's

Monday nights, I'm usually at Duffy's Irish Pub playing games with a group of friends. It's a nice, laid back place that serves beer, so it works out well for us. Not too mention, it's really close to my house. Well, they aren't open Mondays during August, so we bummed around a bit, but just went back for the first time this week. They've always had pretty good happy hour specials, and their food has gotten a lot better lately, but now, they're offering $6 boilermakers. It's Natty Boh and Evan Williams, and it's a great deal. I believe they offer it all the time, not just at happy hour, so go check them out!

Whiskey Sour

The Whiskey Sour is a drink I didn't try for a long time. Not for any good reason, but because I thought it was a girly drink. (Says something about the girls I typically drink with). But I picked up some egg whites, and to me, the whiskey sour is a good drink to add them to. So I tried it, and it tasted pretty good! The lemon transforms the whiskey into a much more refreshing drink, great for summertime. It's not something I drink a lot, but I've experimented with it a bit since then, and found that I really like using Meyer lemons instead of normal lemons for a little extra sweetness. If you only have normal lemons, just add a bit more simple syrup. Without the syrup, it's quite sour. The egg whites give it a smoother mouthfeel, which is a nice counter-balance to the tartness of the lemon, but they aren't actually essential to the flavor. Recipe after the jump.

Smoke and Barrel: Whiskey Story Hour II

The other night we went to Smoke and Barrel for their second "Whiskey Story Hour". At these events they serve whiskey and small plates. They have a whiskey expert, Mike Goss, talk about the whiskeys and give some of the history behind them. This event was focused on Irish whiskeys, with Irish food accompanying them. We both like Smoke and Barrel, and we love whiskey, so we were really looking forward to this event.

The food was all really good. They first served PEI mussels with bacon and pepperoncinis. The peppers were fairly spicy and stood out, but the rest blended together quite well. The second dish was a Gorgonzola boxty with fried cabbage and chipotle aioli. There wasn't much gorgonzola, but the potatoes were nice and fluffy. The final dish was the corned beef brisket. Since this was five whiskeys in, I don't remember the details, but it was very tender and tasty, which is a nice combination to have.

They served eight different whiskeys at the event, seven that were included and an eighth as a bonus add-on at the end of the night. I enjoyed all of them. I'm not going to talk about all of them, but one of the highlights was the Jameson Gold. Aged in bourbon, sherry, and virgin oak, it was complex and sweet with hints of stonefruit. The Redbreast 15 was incredible, all toffee and caramel, and the Connemara had a hint of peat, but was far smoother than any Islay I've had. The Middleton Very Rare was fabulous, as was the Green Spot.

We had a really great time at this event. The other people at the table were great, and Mike Goss was very helpful. However, it was a bit disorganized. Most of the whiskey was out before the first food dish was; it would have been nice to have had food a bit earlier to soak up the whiskey. And Mike didn't say very much after the Jameson came out. But we'll definitely be back for Whiskey Story Hour III!

"Vodka is Boring:" New distillery to open up in DC

Via DCist, the New Columbia Distillery is planning on opening this summer:

With a weeklong distillery internship from Dry Fly Distillery in Spokane, Washington under their belts, an empty 3,500-square-foot warehouse sandwiched between West Virginia Avenue and New York Avenue in the Northeast neighborhood of Ivy City and a new 450-liter still, Uselton and Lowe have started laying the foundation for what they hope a production of 2,000 cases a year of gin and, once properly aged, whiskey. But why gin?

"Vodka is boring! The vodka market is very saturated right now. Additionally, vodka doesn't allow for much if any creativity so it doesn't really appeal to us. We both really enjoy gin and whiskey. And since there is much more wiggle room in the creation of these products, we are able to experiment and make the products unique," said Uselton.

Moreover, Uselton and Lowe add, gin can be made relatively quickly, and they'd like to be producing by the time the warm weather hits and residents start thirsting for gin-and-tonics. (Or Gin Rickeys, of course.) The production of gin will help tide them over as they age their whiskey, which won't likely see the market for another three or four years.

I think this is great news! I'm loosely committed to trying to consume local products, so the more the merrier, especially if they're producing the two spirits I love. The space will be located between West Virginia Ave and New York Ave in the Northeast, and is slated to open this summer.

Irish Whiskey

The restaurant, not the drink.

I'm looking forward to trying this place out; I thought Porter's was one of the better bars in the area -- not that that's hard -- but their food was a bit lacking. Looking at these pictures, it looks like Irish Whiskey's offerings might be quite a lot better! Check out the slide show on the Best Bites Blog.

An Early Look at Irish Whiskey (Pictures) - Best Bites Blog (washingtonian.com)