A Jigger of Blog

I’ve been meaning to blog about this for a while, but have been somewhat lazy, out of town, lazy, etc, but Wonkette reports that The Gibson will be opening their back patio soon. As any visitor to The Gibson may have noticed, the back patio already has a bar built there. It’s been sitting empty, as has most of the patio, through the bar’s wintery existence.The only booze to be found there so far were kegs waiting to be tapped by the crowd at Marvin’s.

While the patio will be a similar set-up as inside the bar — great drinks, not over-crowded, and so on — there will be a few differences. First, there won’t be reservations but seating will be done on a first-come, first-serve basis. This also means there won’t be a time limit to visits for people who arrive early. The back patio will also have a slightly different menu, with a greater emphasis on punches and tiki drinks than the interior bar. I’ll be curious to see how that gets played out.

I’m not sure what the current thinking for when the back patio will be opened. Last month I remember hearing early/mid-May, but I don’t know if that’s operable now. In any event, expect more great things from the bar staff at The Gibson with the expanded space.

Update:

Via Jeff Fulcher in the comments and at his Cocktail Revolution, I see the patio at The Gibson is currently open. Fritz Hahn of the Washington Post has a review of it and the menu changes. I haven’t experienced the new menu yet, so I’ll withold judgment, but it looks like one of the cocktails is an original by Tiffany Short whose creative process I had a bit of input into (naming ideas, rough draft tasting, and suggestions for spirit ratios). Fritz describes it:

The Meridian, which includes gin, both sweet and dry vermouths, crème de violette, rose water and orange bitters, is too floral — the rose and violet flavors seem to be stepping on each other.

I’ll have to try the final, menu version, but I think Tiffany was really onto something with this drink – a light, floral take on a martini. I’ll be curious to see how it all turned out, as it is one of the first times I can recall sampling something prior to its arrival on a menu at The Gibson.