Liquid Assets

The Drink: Lavender Margarita

The Location: Poste Moderne Brasserie, 555 8th St. NW, (202) 783-6060

The Price: $10

The Buzz: On a Sunday afternoon I stopped by Poste in the Hotel Monaco for brunch on my way to see Hamlet at the Shakespeare Theater. Along with delicious dishes, they offer a list of cocktails, some a bit uncommon for the brunch hour. Since I was fighting a cold, I stuck with a mimosa, figuring I needed the vitamin C. My boyfriend was more daring, however, and ordered the lavender margarita. It arrived in a pint glass, looking much paler than your average margarita. The only difference, though, is the lavender: It’s tequila, Cointreau, lavender, lime juice, with a lavender salt rim. But that little lavender makes a big difference. As I went in for a sip it smelled like I was sticking my face in a bowl full of potpourri. The rim of the glass had a thick layer of fine salt and lavender, which looked like tiny twigs and buds sticking to the glass. I was expecting a mouthful of foliage, but it all seemed to just evaporate, leaving a wonderfully floral, mildly salty taste. While a normal salted rim usually gives me a bit of a shudder, I could happily lick the lavender salt off by itself. But for my boyfriend’s sake, I refrained. Like the salt, the drink itself is mild. The lavender quiets down the citrus zing of a regular margarita and gives the cocktail an especially light and crisp quality. In fact, it was the better part of my afternoon—much, much better than Hamlet.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 3rd, 2007 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Food & Drink, Liquid Assets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.