Artini is a monthlong competition among 12 of the area’s top mixologists to create the most artistic martini. This year, the source of inspiration for the cocktails is the Corcoran’s current exhibit “A Love of Europe: Highlights From the William A. Clark Collection.” Every Tuesday through Thursday through March 31, one competing cocktail will be featured for tasting at different venues from 6:30 to 8:30. Here at After Hours, we’ll showcase some of the cocktails. For more information about Artini, the featured nights, or to vote for your favorite bartender, go to washingtonian.com/artini.
“There’s nothing better than a drink that sneaks up on you,” says Tiffany Short of her cocktail, Forbidden Kiss. The drink is based on French sculpture Auguste Rodin’s rendering of Eve, and is quite deceptive—going down as smoothly as apple juice but packing as much alcohol as a martini. The cocktail’s layers of taste are meant to emulate the nature of Rodin’s “Eve,” which Short characterizes as being “innocent and a little mischievous at the same time.”
The Forbidden Kiss, as its name suggests, derives its name from the forbidden fruit, apples, which Short integrated into the drink in the form of a shrub—a drink concentrate made with fruit, vinegars, and sugar. Also in the drink: gin, an egg white, and a touch of Champagne to, says Short, add that note of naughtiness. Watch a demonstration of how to make the cocktail in the video above, and remember—the Forbidden Kiss ($12) will be served Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Gibson as part of Artini’s weekly feature nights.
Forbidden Kiss
Tiffany Short, the Gibson
2 ounces Plymouth gin
1 ounce golden apple shrub (recipe below)
1 egg white
Piper-Heidsieck Brut Champagne
Cinnamon sticks
Pour gin and golden-apple shrub into shaker. Add egg white. Dry shake to emulsify the egg. Add ice and shake. Strain into high ball glass. Top off with Champagne. Garnish with cinnamon-stick shavings.
For the golden apple shrub:
1 part golden apple juice (double strained)
2 parts apple-cider vinegar
2 parts sugar
For more Buzzed cocktail demonstrations, click here.
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