Cocktail recipe: The GoGo Swing

The GoGo Swing

Chrissy Sheffey, is the General Manager at Doyle Bar at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington D.C. She is renowned as a very thoughtful cocktail creator, not just imaginatively but with an eye to minimizing waste. “I like to tell compelling stories through seasonally driven cocktails,” she says. My kind of stories!

She’s also the Founder of a non-profit organization, Fairhill Dreams, that supports local urban farmers, incorporating charity pop ups cocktail fundraisers like The Spirited Sole Garden.

Here she educates us about the GoGo Swing…

The Drink

The GoGo Swing

The GoGo Swing was designed to feel distinctly rooted in Washington, D.C. 

We wanted the cocktail to reflect both the city’s iconic Go-Go music culture and its strong sense of place. An homage to Chuck Brown, the “Godfather of Go-Go,” the creative process began with the feeling and story behind the drink before moving into the ingredients themselves. That led to inspiration from D.C.’s famous mumbo sauce, which informed the cocktail’s cayenne-spiced Lillet Rouge reduction. Using those ingredients and techniques created a syrup with subtle sweet heat reminiscent of mumbo sauce, while still feeling refined and balanced within the cocktail. 

The chocolate garnish serves two purposes: it coats the palate and allows the flavors of the drink to meld together, while also nodding to Washington’s historic nickname, “Chocolate City.”

Ingredients

2oz Makers Mark Bourbon

0.75oz Crème de Cacao 

0.75oz Cayenne Lillet Rouge reduction 

0.50oz lemon juice

Prosecco

Preparation

All ingredients added to shaker, and shaken 

Poured into a Collins glass over ice

Topped with Prosecco

Garnished with a mini piece of chocolate

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