Thinking of Drinking: Rickey

Photo by Emily Clack

From the beginning of Capital Cooking, we've been trying to figure out exactly what makes up DC native cuisine.  While we still don't completely know the answer, we now know that DC does have a native cocktail.  The nation’s capital is the birthplace of the rickey, a classic cocktail made with gin or whiskey, fresh lime juice and club soda.

Gin Rickey

1 shot gin

1/2 lime

Club Soda

Garnish:  Lime wedge

Fill a highball glass with ice.  Add juice of 1/2 lime, gin and fill with soda water.  Garnish with the lime wedge. 

The rickey is Washington’s native cocktail and July is rickey month in the district.

The rickey was invented in 1883 at Shoomaker’s, a bar once frequented by politicians and journalists. The J.W. Marriott hotel now sits on the Shoomaker’s site, across the street from the John A. Wilson Building, D.C.’s city hall.  

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