By Carrie Meslar
Bar seats around Charlottesville are filling up again, which means area bartenders are finally able to put pouches and to-go cups behind them and offer patrons in-person crafted cocktails. While making use of the abundance of locally produced spirits and ingredients is not new to our bartending scene, the opportunity to delight customers with creative libations has certainly taken on a whole new meaning in this summer of reopening. Growing season is in full swing—and the number of liquor producers and distillers calling Virginia home keeps growing, too. Local bartenders are happy to create cocktails to share this summer. Here’s a sampling of the best local hard stuff in town.
Espresso Martiki
The Bar: Vitae Spirits Tasting Room
The Bartender: D
The espresso martini has become a modern classic, picking you up and calming you down with each sip. Vitae Spirits’ take on the drink uses the distillery’s own coffee liqueur, a local collaboration with Mudhouse Coffee Roasters. The liqueur gets a vacation vibe with an infusion of coconut, then it’s amped up with Mudhouse cold brew, housemade orgeat, and Typhoon Bitters from D.C.’s Modern Bar Cart. It’s a powerhouse matchup that is equal parts tropical and Charlottesville.
Violet B
The Bar: Tonic
The Bartender: Cris Morales
Morales starts each Violent B by using local blueberries to create nuanced and tart flavored vodka. The brilliantly purple spirit is then shaken up with Vitae gin, lemon and demerara syrup. The end result is a cocktail with a classic sour tang and a little extra backbone thanks to the split base of vodka and gin. When asked about the source of the blueberries, the staff jokes that there couldn’t be a more local purveyor for that batch: They came from a team member’s garden.
.38 Special
The Bar: The Local
The Bartender: Alec Spidalieri
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This stalwart of The Local’s cocktail menu is one of the first cocktails Spidalieri created when he arrived at the Belmont restaurant, and there are no plans to bid the drink farewell any time soon. A variation on the old fashioned, this particular iteration uses Bowman Brothers Virginia straight bourbon, Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur, Peychaud’s bitters, and local honey. It meets the needs of many a thirsty patron, while incorporating both a bourbon and honey brand that call Virginia home.
The Original WJ Moonshine Punch
The Bar: The Whiskey Jar
The Bartender: The Stuff of Legend
Another long-standing bar item, this deceptively powerful mixture’s popularity keeps it a menu staple. Moonshine has played a significant role in the history of drinking in America—until fairly recently it was an illegal product, only shared among friends in Mason jars with dubious labels. At the Whiskey Jar, Richmond-based Belle Isle Moonshine gets dressed up with a mix of seasonal fruit and citrus, with some dashes of orange and angostura bitters thrown in for good measure. While its staff has changed since the drink’s creation, The Jar shows no sign of slowing down, with Kayla Cohron now at the helm of the bar program.
The Bar: The Alley Light
The Bartender: Micah Lemon
The Drink: The Spruce Goose
This drink was definitely a team effort to produce. When bartender Clay Tolbert (newly departed to join the prestigious Inn At Little Washington) happened to have access to a Christmas tree farm this spring, he was joined by head bartender Micah Lemon to harvest spruce tips. The tips were then used to infuse Bomaby gin and whip up a gimlet-esq cocktail with depth and complexity. The spruced-up gin is combined with Genepy, lime, lavender syrup, wormwood tincture, and a pinch of peppermint. Those who’ve scrolled through The Alley Light’s Instagram know Lemon’s garden is the source for numerous ingredients throughout the year, and the Spruce Goose is no exception, as the lavender, wormwood, and peppermint are all products of his green thumb.
