15 drinks for a delicious and eye-opening experience in the DC area

Dirty Habit’s Cutie Pi and Cheesy Grin cocktails
Chinatown, D.C.

Dirty Habit Beverage Director JR Rena told WTOP that he wanted the Cutie Pi cocktail to be a play on words, referencing the number, pi, along with the customer, the cutie pie, whose face is laser-printed on the beverage.

The drink starts with a Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac base alongside fermented persimmon, Lapsang souchong tea and calamansi, which is a citrusy fruit native to the Philippines. It’s a tart, slightly smoky, citrusy cocktail that is sure to put a smile on one’s face.

Speaking of smiles, the Cheesy Grin is more floral and fruity with rakija brandy, or double-distilled fruit brandy from Serbia, with Pedro Ximénez, quince marmalade and a garnish of toast and cheese foam.

Rena said, “I would grin too” at the thought of cheese foam on a cocktail, “but once you start drinking it, it’s actually a quite balanced cocktail.”

The Turncoat’s Clawfoot Tub cocktail
Chevy Chase, MD

Located in a side entrance at The Heights food hall, this recently opened speakeasy pays homage to the 1920s with murals of infamous gangsters and a clever, quirky cocktail served in a miniature claw foot tub. The cocktail is a take on the classic gin and tonic with Bluecoat gin, housemade tonic, a fruit purée and pineapple tonic foam. It is also a reference to the Prohibition-era method of producing low-quality alcohol in bathtubs.

“We keep the ingredients very simple, but they are all made in-house, and sometimes there is elegance in simplicity,” said Dan Marlowe, the beverage director at Common Plate Hospitality Group.

The speakeasy is open from 5 p.m. to midnight on Wednesday through Sunday.

Silver Lyan’s Air Bee n Bee and the Emu Queen cocktails
Chinatown, D.C.

Each cocktail at Silver Lyan has a story attached to it with a menu focused on the “positive cultural exchange and movement through migration — in all its forms,” as written on the menu’s inside cover. Each cocktail is served not only as refreshments, but as conversation starters.

Vlad Novikov, head of bars for Riggs D.C., told WTOP that the Air Bee n Bee cocktail is a nod to how bees are used in California to help pollinate almond harvests. With this, one of the drink’s ingredients is hay-smoked bee larvae.

“Although you can’t see any of the bee larvae in the cocktail as it’s served, we do garnish it actually with a mealworm just so that it’s inescapable to someone when they’re looking at the drink that they are going to be consuming bugs,” said Novikov.

Also inside are ingredients like Patrón Blanco, almond blossom, mango vinegar and Mosel Riesling. The Air Bee n Bee is a little sweet, sour, savory and aromatic.

If you’d prefer to veer away from buggy beverages, the Emu Queen is mixed with emu pechuga, or a Cotton & Reed rum distilled with emu necks. Also included is Banhez Mezcal, riberry, arrowroot and mulberry soda. It’s not as meaty a cocktail as you might expect. Instead, it is smoky, dry and crisp.

While emu and bee larvae may not be the most typical cocktail ingredients, Novikov said, “All of our cocktails are delicious and served by in a fun, approachable way.”

Service Bar’s astrology-inspired cocktail series
U Street, D.C.

The oft-rotating menu at Service Bar is looking to the stars for inspiration this season. Basing six cocktails off astrological signs, the latest series features drinks inspired by Aries, Capricorn, Gemini, Aquarius, Pisces and Libra.

Chad Spangler, a partner at Service Bar, developed the Capricorn cocktail: “The Capricorn is represented by the sea goat, which basically is showing that you can traverse anywhere from sea all the way through the mountain … so my cocktail has ingredients from both the sea and the mountain.”

With this, the cocktail combines Reyka vodka, fennel Aquavit cordial, mountain mint, moss, sae grapes and anise.

“Service Bar is and always will be a neighborhood bar first and a cocktail bar second,” said Spangler. “If the Zodiac seems a little too adventurous for your flavor, there’s a lot of other stuff here.”

Tonari’s Sesame Martini
Chinatown, D.C.

Tonari’s menu is all about Wafu, or Italian food in a Japanese style, and this cocktail has been a longtime staple, highlighting both culture’s flavors in one perfect concoction.

A play on the wet gin martini, the Sesame Martini at Tonari involves Malfy, which is an Italian gin, plus a sesame-infused shochu that is infused in-house, dry vermouth and Strega, which is an Italian herbal liqueur, altogether garnished with a couple drops of sesame oil. The drink is a little nutty, herbal and peppery with just a little bit of sweetness.

Harry Pham, a bartender at Tonari, described the drink as a “survivor” on the cocktail list, having been a part of the restaurant’s bar menu for several years now.

“It’s very much like a savory, spirit-forward, fun cocktail,” he said.

Anju’s In Suspence cocktail
Dupont Circle, D.C.

That’s not a misspelling. The In Suspence cocktail at contemporary Korean restaurant Anju is named after the maker of the drink, Spencer Eo.

In an interview with WTOP, the bartender described it as a savory drink that is inspired by mul naengmyeon, a Korean chilled noodle soup. Served in a bowl, the drink involves beef fat-washed vodka and a brine made with cucumbers and Asian pears, topped with mustard oil droplets. It’s a briny, vinegary, grassy and slightly pungent drink that goes well with several dishes on the menu.

“Being Korean myself, a lot of Koreans are probably going to be kind of thrown off to see kind of mul naengmyeon in a cocktail form,” said Eo. “For a lot of guests that haven’t had mul naengmyeon before, it’s a very unique drink, but really addicting flavor … It’s going to be kind of maybe something you haven’t tasted before, but it’s something that so many people that go to Korean barbecues really love.”

Moon Rabbit’s Out Of Dipping Sauce cocktail
Chinatown, D.C.

Moon Rabbit relocated and reopened in Penn Quarter late last year under the same chef, the award-winning Kevin Tien. Still today, his modern Vietnamese restaurant elevates unique and familiar ingredients in both the food and beverage programs, and the Out Of Dipping Sauce cocktail is proof of that.

The drink is a mixture of vodka, passion fruit liqueur, lemon, nước chấm syrup with fish sauce. With fresh herbs garnishing the drink, the cocktail fires on all cylinders with herbal, tart, funky and slightly sweet flavors.

The cocktail was developed by Thi Nguyen, bar director at Moon Rabbit, who was named one of the top bartenders in the nation by the United States Bartenders’ Guild in December 2023.

“I basically stole Chef Kevin’s recipe for the dipping sauce that they use in the kitchen,” Nguyen told WTOP. “In Vietnam, fish sauce is one of our staple ingredients in cooking, and I kind of wanted to use that in the drink … It kind of (gave) me the idea where you have like lettuce wraps or something that’s served with the dipping sauce on the side.”

Lapop at Lapis’ Qabooli Palow Old Fashioned cocktail
Adams Morgan, D.C.

The regularly-occurring series, Experiment Cocktail Night, at Lapop is an excellent way to learn about creative cocktails, especially those inspired by Afghan flavors.

Sulaiman Popal, bar manager at Lapis, told WTOP that this cocktail is inspired by a traditional Afghan dish, called the kabuli pulao, which he said is a rice pilaf cooked with lamb, carrots and raisins.

With this in mind, Popal said the staff have washed an American single malt with beef fat and infused it with raisins and carrots. The cocktail also has a toasted rice syrup, which is cooked with sugar, water, cumin, cinnamon, cloves and a little bit of cardamom as well. Also mixed in is the housemade char masala bitters, which also incorporates cumin, cardamom, cinnamon and clove flavors. Topping all that is a candied carrot garnish.

“This is definitely a savory cocktail,” he said. “It is like an old fashioned, very boozy, spirit-forward. The cumin I think probably comes out the heaviest on this just because it is in both the bitters, the syrup and in the whiskey, itself.”

The drink is also inspired by memories from home as Popal said that char masala is the first spice compound he learned to cook for his mom. “It was an obvious thing to experiment with,” he said.

This drink is only available at Lapop, the cocktail lounge tucked beneath sister restaurant Lapis. Learn about upcoming Experimental Cocktail Nights on Resy.

Maketto’s five spice honey latte
H Street, D.C.

Five spice is a well-known and well-used ingredient, often found in Chinese cuisine. It’s composed of five or more spices, most commonly star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and fennel seeds.

At Maketto, restaurateur Erik Bruner-Yang showcases those warming and complex spices in this latte. It can be served hot or cold and with several options for milk.

In an interview with WTOP, Maketto barista and server Anthony Cheatham said that “it’s a drink that can go with mainly everything on our menu,” especially since several of the dishes utilize the spice blend.

Fiola Mare’s Sexy Fish cocktail
Georgetown, D.C.

Fiola Mare is known for its seafood towers, handmade pastas and signature “Carrello del Pesce,” a seafood cart featuring the best catch of the day. But it’s the restaurant’s menu of seasonal cocktails that many should keep an eye on. Since 2020, the Sexy Fish cocktail has been a mainstay at the restaurant.

With billowing liquid nitrogen smoke emerging forth from beneath the fish-shaped glass serving vessel, the drink offers a theatrical way to start a meal. Inside the drink is Espolon Blanco Tequila, Aperol, elderflower, pomegranate, blood orange and something described on the menu as “sea mist.” Expect tart, citrusy flavors that go well with many of the seafood options served there at the waterfront restaurant.

Genki Izakaya’s Anime Lover cocktail
Fairfax, VA

Nestled in a strip mall in Northern Virginia, this contemporary Japanese restaurant offers a long menu of skewers, sushi, noodles and more. On the cocktail menu, guests can expect bright, vibrant flavors in quirky presentations, like the Kawaii Tiki in a maneki-neko-styled cup, or the Blooming Asagao, which features a smoke bubble on top.

But if you’re in search of a wow-worthy presentation perfect for Instagram, the Anime Lover will be right up your alley. On top of the subtly sweet drink is a printed edible depiction of characters from the Hayao Miyazaki animé, “Spirited Away.”

MITA’s Kay Pacha nonalcoholic cocktail
Shaw, D.C.

Said Al-Banna, the wine, spirits and service director of MITA, described the restaurant’s menu as “vegetable-focused Latin American cuisine.” The chef-owners are from Venezuela, but there is also inspiration from Mexico, Peru, Bolivia and other nations.

“Some of the recipes are based on memories of our families,” said Al-Banna.

For Lou Bernard, bar manager at MITA, he took inspiration from the Incan culture. The Kay Pacha drink is based off a Quechua word from Incan culture meaning “present world,” as he put it.

He said one of the most popular foods for Incans was quinoa, so this nonalcoholic cocktail has a quinoa milk, mixed with Bare zero proof reposado-style tequila, a toasted sesame orgeat, blackberries and lemon juice.

ARTECHOUSE DC’s augmented reality cocktail menu
L’Enfant Plaza, D.C.

Isekai is a Japanese manga genre where a character is transported from their world into a new or unfamiliar one. With this inspiration, ARTECHOUSE’s new exhibition, “ISEKAI: Blooming Parallel Worlds,” is a perfect excuse to explore something new in the city. The immersive digital art space pushes the boundaries of technology-driven art in their galleries as well as their XR Bar.

At the XR Bar, guests are instructed to download ARTECHOUSE’s “extended reality” mobile app, which allows the ability to record and take pictures of augmented reality (AR) animations that burst forth from the cocktails. The drink menu includes several Japanese spirits, plus traditional flavors like matcha or yuzu.

Pictured above is the Hero’s Journey cocktail, which mixes peach soju with prosecco, Italicus Rosolio Bergamotto, plus fresh lime wedges and fresh shiso leaves with a splash of seltzer soda. It’s a floral, sweet beverage that is refreshing and fun when paired with the AR animations.

Quadrant’s Call My Lawyer cocktail
Foggy Bottom, D.C.

Carlos Boada, beverage director for Seven Reasons Group, told WTOP that this cocktail infuses Siete Misterios Doba-Yej mezcal with huitlacoche, otherwise known as the Mexican truffle. This fungus develops on corn ears as they ripen after a rainy season or errant rainstorm. The taste of it is smoky, subtly sweet and deeply earthy.

The drink is also mixed with Luxardo maraschino cherries, cherry morello, egg whites, lemon bitters, cinnamon and epazote — an aromatic herb native to Central America.

Expect this cocktail to be a little smoky and spice-forward with a foamy, light mouthfeel because of the egg whites.

Surreal’s Time-Traveler’s Tipple cocktail
Crystal City, VA

Boada told WTOP that it’s an inspiration of the Old Fashioned cocktail, symbolizing “what I’ve been going through in a sense of life, like the passion and the love that I have for an ingredient, particularly when I was a kid, and the passion that I have for whiskey nowadays.”

This cocktail has flavors that Boada particularly cared for when growing up: cornflakes, granola and dates, infused in Legent Bourbon. He said some people refer to it as a “breakfast Old Fashioned” because of these flavors.

The Saga’s New Fashioned cocktail
Foggy Bottom, D.C.

For a new take on the Old Fashioned, head to The Saga. This drink serves as a collaboration between the bar and the kitchen by using the oxtail fat to fat-wash the drink. The beverage includes Michter’s Bourbon, Ratafia, Hennessy VS, orange bitters and Angostura bitters.