And three activities they pair nicely with. by Rich Smith
Last weekend Seattle made its soft turn into late summer. Thankfully, though, there are at least as many long, sun-drunk days ahead as there are boozy concoctions in Seattle bars to pair with them.
Though I would love to recommend one new cocktail a day for the rest of the season, unfortunately neither my bank account nor my liver would allow it. But I can and do recommend three perfect summer cocktails that should pair nicely with three high-summer activities.
A bartender at this Capitol Hill dinner spot told me The Kirby Cocktail was named for Kirby Kallas-Lewis, the founder and distiller of OOLA Distillery, where Marjorie sources the gin for this bright, complex mixture of grapefruit, lemon, and Chartreuse.
That’s just the kind of mildly interesting fact you might want to share over this drink on a date with someone you may want to sleep with next spring! Right away the citrus and the gin hit you with a refreshing blast of fruit, but then the juniper berries, the spices, and the anise from the Chartreuse start kicking in, giving the drink a depth uncommon to many summer cocktails.
The Kirby’s pale peach glow looks just like the late afternoon light as it begins to yield to the magic hour, which is romantic as hell!! One 8 oz jam jar for $14 is enough for two to get tipsy. Email your order.
This might not sound like a compliment for a somewhat fancy cocktail made with Pernod, lime, simple syrup, and cucumber, but I mean this in the best way possible: Cafe Capagne’s brand new “Green Beast” would best be served from an outdoor water-cooler packed with ice and placed at the edge of a picnic table on a hot day. (Given the local prohibition on drinking outside, I do not at all recommend doing this, but you can make a park of your own home if you drink the Beast near an open window.)
One of these refreshing, easy-drinking cocktails could easily become two or three if you’re not careful. It’s anise on the nose, limeade on the tongue, and then anise again on the finish. Simple as a summer day in the park before the pandemic, and just as lovely.
Cafe Campagne serves a concentrate of the cocktail in an 8 oz jam jar. The jar’s label instructs drinkers to muddle the cucumber in a glass, add ice (which they’ll give you for free!), top off with water, and enjoy. $20, serves two. Order here.
pairs nicely with
Honey Bourbon Sweet Tea at Brown Liquor Cocktail Company in Mount Baker (for now).
If in this world you are lucky enough to have a stoop, a porch swing, a wicker chair on a patio, a ratty lazy-boy in an alley, or any other outdoor seating arrangement designed for a nice evening with a book and a cocktail and your own damn self, then you’re going to want to order up the Honey Bourbon Sweet Tea from Damon Bomar’s Brown Liquor Cocktail Company.
Spiked sweet tea isn’t the freshest idea in the world, but this perfectly balanced batch cocktail comes in a big old mason jar, and it’s powerful enough to spread over the course of a couple reading sessions. A long novel never had a better partner. (If you’re looking for new ideas, by the way, try their sweet and refreshing “Big Lit”—a mango lychee rum punch.)
Some of these cocktails may eventually feature on the bar menu at Communion, a collaborative effort between Chef Kristi Brown of That Brown Girl Cooks! and her son, Bomar, which is due open in the Central District sometime this summer. Until then, order online, and see about delivery. Jars are $20, but they’re big, and, I say again, powerful.
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