Smart Cocktails: D.C. Craft Bartenders Guild

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URBANA MIXOLOGIST KEVIN ROGERS uses a wooden pestle to smash up fresh ginger at the bottom of a glass. The cocktail he's making — the Dupont "gin" rickey — gets his undivided attention.

That's what the newly formed D.C. Craft Bartenders Guild is all about: Taking your time to make the perfect drink. For the 10 members of the Guild, bartending isn't just a job, it's an art form.

"We're trying to elevate what we do as a profession," says Owen Thomson of Bourbon in Adams Morgan, "so it's not just a bunch of people serving out beer and shots, trying to make their way through college."

It started when Komi sommelier Derek Brown got it into his head that D.C. needed a home for cocktail enthusiasts to share their ideas and experiences. That thought galvanized into a core group of professionals. Brown and his fellow mixologists want Washington to join the ranks of cities like Portland and New York, both of which have established bartenders guilds, says guild spokesman Dan Searing, bartender at the Looking Glass Lounge.

"I just got back from a visit to Portland," said Searing, "and it was really inspiring, the level of complexity and enthusiasm that these guys had for what they were doing. And that really made me proud to be a part of trying to bring a similar organization to life in D.C."

But the new guild isn't just a place for veteran bartenders to perfect their skills. Searing says the group will provide educational opportunities for new talent, including seminars and certification programs.

For its first event, the D.C. Bartenders Guild celebrated the only classic cocktail whose origins can be traced back to the District: the rickey. A simple drink of bourbon or gin, lime juice and soda water, the rickey was invented in the late 1800s by D.C. lobbyist Colonel Joe Rickey at Shoomaker's Bar, a regular spot for pre-Prohibition Era congressional types.

This month, the D.C. Guild saluted the Colonel with a rickey contest — complete with tastings for spectators. Each of the eight competitors crafted a specialty version of the drink using ingredients such as house-made curried cherries, yuzu juice and essence of coriander.

Guild members look forward to holding future events in hopes of introducing Washingtonians to a new way of drinking. "We want to bring a cocktail culture back to D.C.," said Bourbon's Thomson.

» For more information visit dccraftbartendersguild.com.

Story and photos by Express contributor Suemedha Sood.