It's been quite some time since my last update, so I feel I owe an explanation: I arrived back home in the USA after a 7 month deployment just a month ago. I moved across the country, made new friends, and started working hard getting ready to be on a ship for 7 straight months, so I couldn't find the time to write since my most recent work. I also missed out on a ton of football, but luckily I was able to watch MOST of my basketball Wildcats' domination of their season until that heartbreaking loss to Wisconsin. But more sports later. |
Where I hang my hat presently is Norfolk, VA, and it's been great getting to know a new town and see what it has to offer. (Technically I've lived here over a year but I still feel new since, you know, 7 months were spent on a ship across the world). Even though I'm pretty comfortable with my immediate vicinity I still don't know the names of bars or restaurants when I go downtown, and this past weekend I stumbled upon a local speakeasy: a 20's themed bar "so called because of the practice of speaking quietly about such a place in public, or when inside it, so as not to alert the police or neighbors." - (a 1889 newspaper, via Wikipedia). This particular themed bar is called Gershwin's and it also has a piano.
"Yea yea yea, piano bars are cool and all but what the heck is that up at the top of this post!?" Great question. That, my friends, is smoke-infused bourbon. You see, somebody apparently thought that the natural smokiness of good bourbon (that comes from the charred oak, duh) wasn't, uh, smoky enough. So let's see what this is all about.
The pictures basically tell the story, but this $10 cocktail is far more than just another drink you will order sitting on a stool. It's an immersive visual experience with the smell of a campfire. And then at the end you get to drink it. Even though I've been craving another one all week, they have more than just one signature drink, and they offer all styles of spirits. The fun thing about speakeasy's is that they don't just have American light beers and shots of Fireball; your bartenders are the kind of bartenders from whom Bond would order a Martini. These aren't overly-sweet mixes of one liquor and a colored syrup, they are true cocktails and frankly more bars should be like this.