What: Redenbacher Old Fashioned with popcorn-infused Lyon white rum, brown sugar, and Angostura bitters.
Where: Provision No. 14, 2100 14th St. NW
Price: $13
What You Should Be Drinking
Remember trying to pass the popcorn Jelly Belly off to friends as pineapple or lemon? Provision No. 14’s Redenbacher Old Fashioned—starring popcorn-infused white rum—tastes just like America’s most misunderstood jelly bean. But it’s time to give this flavor a second chance. Bartenders Glendon Hartley and Chad Spangler put a lot of elbow grease into the “fat-washed” infusion. The team pops two bags of Redenbacher popcorn per bottle of Lyon Distilling Co. white rum. “We wanted that same flavor and profile that you get at home rather than what you get at restaurants with popcorn makers,” Spangler says. The popcorn is vacuum-sealed in a bag with the rum and cooked sous vide for six hours before it’s frozen, defrosted, and strained. The technique leaves behind butter flavor, not fat. Only demerara sugar syrup and Angostura bitters join the buttery rum in the finished drink.
Why You Should be Drinking It
Provision No. 14’s take on an old fashioned enables those not on the brown liquor bandwagon to experience the trending cocktail. “A lot of people don’t know that old fashioned doesn’t necessarily mean whiskey,” Hartley says. “When someone asks me for one, I ask if they want brandy or rum because those are two things I love making them with.” While it’s a smooth, savory sip, imbibers remain a little cagey about ordering the cocktail. Fortunately, the restaurant has found an audience for the popcorn-infused rum : “One of the things people ask for are buttery nipple shots, but we don’t carry Buttershots liqueur, so I’ll put the popcorn rum with Bailey’s,” Spangler says. “People seem to enjoy it.”
Photo by Laura Hayes