The Story of the Sidecar

Friday was Robin's last night in Washington, at least for a while. She's on vacation right now, but will soon return to Boston for her last year of school.

When we were at the beach, during Hurricane Charley, there wasn't a lot to do, so we went to a bar. I had the brilliant idea that we should order drinks without knowing what was in them. And they had to be weird drinks, nothing we'd ever had before. I chose a sidecar and Robin chose an old fashioned. The bartender didn't know how to make them, and seemed completely uninterested in learning how. He didn't offer to look them up in his bartending guide (even though we could clearly see one next to the cash register.) He instead volunteered to make us something called a blueberry hill. OK, whatever, neither of us had ever had that, so we said sure. I watched him make it. Turned out to be blueberry schnapps (who even knew that existed), SoCo (that is, Southern Comfort, not South-of-Columbia-Road), and Sprite. It looked like a melted Smurf. All it needed was a Redi-whip hat. It tasted OK, but about halfway through, made both our stomachs hurt. (um, yes, we finished them anyway)

Last Tuesday, once we got back to Washington, we were at Saint-Ex on 14th Street for the New Bar Extravaganza (weekday edition). Even though I was happy with my Chimay, I asked the bartender if he knew how to make a sidecar or an old fashioned. He said no, but made some fairly good guesses as to what was in them. Then he said, "but, girls, it tastes bad. We don't make those here because no one drinks them anymore." (note to self: Saint-Ex: good for Belgian beer, bad for weird drinks.)

Friday was the final New Bar outing of the summer. The true extravaganza, if you will. Robin and I got to Marx Cafe first, and since they were having a happy hour special, didn't even ask about our weird drinks. Once others arrived, about an hour later, we walked down the street to Tonic (my new favorite bar -- ask me to take you there!) Tonic, home to the world's best grilled cheese, did not let us down. Somehow, the orders got switched, and I ended up ordering the old fashioned, and Robin the sidecar. The old fashioned was DISGUSTING. I managed to drink about half of it, until Robin volunteered to take one for the team and trade drinks with me. The sidecar wasn't bad. I mean, not my drink of choice, but if someone offered it to me, I'd take it.

Now I need another weird drink to try. I've never had a Singapore sling. Any other suggestions? I would prefer not disgusting, but whatever, nothing can be worse than an old fashioned.