Brightest Young Things

photos by Dakota Fine
words by Danielle

The H Street Country Club has upgraded their crafted cocktails list, and last Friday Dakota and I got a chance to sip a few and chat with their maker, PS 7's Gina Chersevani. In the span of one magical evening we sampled drinks both sweet and savory, took a tour of the space with co-owner Ricardo Vegara and Dakota even won Gina's muddler after correctly identifying a Motörhead jam. Magical indeed.

H Street Country Club has already received attention for their libations (OnTap magazine crowned their margaritas with Best Flavor and Best Frozen this year) and the pairing with Gina has only made them better. What I like about Gina, besides her cocktail creativity, is that she's genuine. She kept the crowd entertained with anecdotes and stories while simultaneously handing them delicious drinks, which instantly made her my favorite person that evening. From her I learned that the Dubliner makes good Manhattans. I also learned that strawberries in a Pimm's Cup will blow your mind (well, it blew mine anyways). Gina's inventive take on slinging cocktails from Rasika to PS 7 has been documented in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post and in 2008 she graced the cover of The Beverage Journal’s "10 Mixologists to Watch".

The Pebble Beach, below, is Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur with cava and grapefruit bitters, topped off with a sugar cube. The ginger is subtle and the drink is sugary sweet. While this doesn't perfectly pair with the tex-mex it would make a great victory beverage after viciously crushing your opponents in shuffle board.

In The Rough features the flavors of cherry, pineapple, and cherry bitters which is refreshing with a strong cherry finish - think cherry sno-cone. I didn't try In The Hole (thanks, coconut allergy) but was told that it tasted like a strong cream soda. I Wanna Jana is strong and pungent thanks to the sage, and is definitely worth a try for the sheer creativity of it. My two favorites were the Mr. Hendricks and the Pimm's Cup.

The Mr. Hendricks is savory, dry, and everything I'd want in a classy post-mini golf cocktail. I love the use of fresh herbs in cocktails and the cucumber water made it so refreshing. The Pimm's Cup was a shocker to me - I fully admit that when I saw it on the menu I thought "well, it'll probably be good but nothing spectacular. Better order something else." Jesus, I was wrong. A usual Pimm's is slightly spicy, savory, and honestly can sometimes smell/taste like cucumber scented lotion from Bath and Body Works (yeah, I said it). Muddle some strawberries in there like Gina has done and it becomes honeyed, slightly floral and sweet.

The last one I tried was El Luchador and it was not my favorite. I will most certainly give it another shot; by the time I tried it I'd had...well, let's not talk about how much I had to drink when I finally sipped El Luchador. The cilantro and jalapeño, while inventive, was just so overpowering that I couldn't taste anything else but a cold glass of taco toppings. I fully intend to drink again under less inebriated circumstances.  Don't let my opinions stop you from ordering. Check out the full drink menu here.