On The Road - Washington State

We just got a fair bit of snow here in Chicago and for some reason, the snowfall sparked a memory of this bar and more importantly two cocktails I had in Washington, the state not the city. Thanks to the geotagging in Iphone photos, I flipped to my phone late last night after a few Green Egg Pizzas and some fantastic Vino to be blown away by the 40+ photos I rediscovered living in my phone from a quick trip to Washington and some fantastic cocktails with friends. But before we get there, let me catch you up on how we go there. 

So given my phone tagging, this was circa 2019 in January and I had to get out there for a quick work trip, one of those quick 48-hour, multiple locations type trips. So we started off in Seatle for literally a land, check-in to the hotel, and leave in the AM type stays. So I went for a run that night and the next morning one of my better-planning teammates was like, you want to go check out the first-ever Starbucks and the Market. The answer was of course I do! Going to the first-ever Starbucks reminds me of a whole lot of Halo Pub in Princeton, there was worn-out food, a strong smell of coffee, felt nothing like the Starbucks of today, which beyond the reserve stores feel like fast food quantity over quality establishments. Ironically, I think I grabbed just a grande coffee vs. mixing it up, but hey, you like what you like. 

So armed with piping hot coffee, 50+ emails waiting for me, thanks to the West Coast time zone, we said, we are only here for a few minutes, let’s walk through the market, and yes it is as cool as The Real World Seattle made it look years ago. But off on the road, we headed, up into the countryside of Washington. We were driving for a fair bit and had to jump on a conference call and found this great little dinner that had more hot coffee, all these pies to try, swag for days, and above all, solid Wifi. After this part of the story, the trip went into a sprint of crazy intense work stuff so let’s just fast forward to the good part, it is why you came here. 

So we wrapped up our work obligations and went on the hunt for a drink and some food. We ended up in the cool little barn/warehouse-type food court that had its own brewery, bars, little food spots, and we kicked off the night by having a beer and just breathing after a long couple of days. After wrapping up beer and some quick bites, we started asking around where one could get a solid cocktail. Which lead us to head about a mile and half down the road to a little spot called the Sidecar Lounge. Now, if my memory serves me right, there was a large establishment and this was literally a sid bar that was carved out and might have been an old bank, and while my memory might be bad, just know, the bar was small, cool, had solid music, and strong cocktails.  While my description of the Sidecar is not perfect, a quick google search and I was able to validate the following: 

The Sidecar is was a mid-century-inspired lounge serving craft cocktails, inspired by seasonal and fresh ingredients, ranging from the turn of the century to today's latest styles in cocktailing. The Sidecar Lounge embraces the classic art of fine craft cocktail creations, invented in the United States in 1856, using bitters, juices, syrups, and infusions, prepared in-house with ingredients from local markets and growers. Our menu is a seasonally changing assortment that runs from the classics to the avant-garde. The affection for house-made ingredients is taken to another level here. Each day commences with crafting our own infusions, tinctures, and flavored syrups. You don't bring a knife to a gunfight and we promise we won't make your cocktail with juice from a can or concentrate. All our cocktails are made with hand-squeezed juices and fresh ingredients. We use only the finest spirits and a superior caliber of ice!

All right, back to the story. So we were sitting there talking to the bartender, and we asked them for a few recommendations, and here is what we landed on. Both drinks were fantastic and while I couldn’t find the exact menu from that night, I did find some other menus that showcased their cocktail program from past seasons. 

Berried at Sea

• Navy strength gin; I recommend Plymouth (Link)

• Lillet (Link)

• Raspberry and blueberry syrup (Just make it, watch here)

• Salt

• Absinthe (Link)

Blood & Snow

• Reposado tequila (I recommend Nosotros (Link)

• Grandeza orange liqueur (Link)

• blood orange syrup (Just make it, watch here)

• pomegranate juice

• lime juice

So hopefully you enjoyed hearing a bit more about this journey. Sadly this bar closed, but I always enjoyed the experience, have a fun time with two friends with whom I was on the work trip, and am on a hunt for my next Sidecar style bar. If you end up trying to make some of these cocktails, don’t forget to hit us on the hashtag #DaileyBlend. 

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