The Drink: Deliverance
Where to Get It: Ten 01, 1001 H St. NE; (202) 733-2405; ten01h.com
Price: $12
What It Is: A liquid snack with half-smoke-infused Old Forester Bourbon, demerara syrup, chili bitters, and muddled grilled oranges. To get maximum half-smoke flavor, the bar team at Ten 01 grills the sausages before letting them bathe in bourbon for four and a half hours. Next, the mixture goes into a refrigerator for 12 to 14 hours so that the fat can coagulate and be strained and skimmed off the top, leaving only flavor behind. The bourbon is then used to make an old fashioned variation they’ve dubbed “Deliverance.”
What It Tastes Like: The morning after a night out—the kind that starts classy at Vinoteca, then gradually devolves into rooftop shenanigans at Brixton, beers at Solly’s, and finally make-out dancing in the sweaty Codmother basement before someone declares “Let’s get Ben’s!” In one gulp, Deliverance delivers a savory mix of spicy, smoky, sour, and salty. While Ten 01 gets major points in the novelty department, finishing one of these is as tricky as beating a hangover.
The Story: Ten 01 comes from the owners of Ben’s Chili Bowl. In fact, the new bar and restaurant is located on floors two and three above the H Street NE location of the D.C. institution. Ten 01’s bar area, with its hip chandeliers and attractive wood tables, looks completely different from the casual ketchup-and-mustard explosion of colors of Ben’s Chili Bowl below. “We wanted to somehow pay homage to downstairs, so we’re doing it with this drink and with the half-smoke and shrimp corn dogs,” says co-owner Sonya Ali. Half-smokes, however, are better to eat than drink.
Photo by Laura Hayes