River and Rail Restaurant is a favorite dining destination with a Southern bistro-style menu featuring the finest locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients that Virginia has to offer. My family and friends often visit for a delightful lunch or dinner, Sunday brunch or special event such as Shane’s Cocktail Class.
Bitter, sweet, sour, floral and spice…there’s a lot going on in your cocktail glass. Shane Lumpp, River and Rail Restaurant Bar Manager Extraordinaire understands the mystery of mixing cocktails and happily shares his knowledge during his cocktail classes. Our Gin and Vodka Cocktail Class took place recently in the intimate setting of the restaurant bar where we enjoyed watching the preparation of and then sipping our first cocktail of the evening, Fords Gin Martini with a Lemon Twist. One part gin, one part vermouth and a dash of orange bitters. All of the syrups, bitters and tinctures are made in house, from scratch with local and seasonal ingredients.
In the cocktail world, I refer to myself as “Ginophobic” because I don’t normally like the taste of gin. Shane helped me through this dilemma by introducing me to a gin that has all of the herbal notes but less of the juniper flavor. Juniper has a piney flavor (it is an evergreen shrub that is a member of the pine family) and is the main ingredient in gin. The gin Shane introduced to me is Plymouth Gin Original. It is extremely smooth and creamy with a slight sweetness. It contains a sweet orange peel and cardamom along with the usual ingredients of orris root, juniper, angelica rot, coriander and lemon peel.
While on the subject of gin, Shane also shared with us the importance of a good quality tonic water in a gin and tonic. The commercial tonic water we purchase in plastic bottles is made of synthetic cinchona bark. Other brands such as Fever Tree (sold in small glass bottles) are made from natural cinchona bark. River and Rail makes their own tonic water and believe me, you will taste the difference between the natural and synthetic. Once you taste the natural you won’t ever go back to the stuff in the plastic bottles.
Shane also advised us to always chill cocktail glasses (for cocktails that are meant to be served chilled). He keeps his cocktail glasses in the refrigerator. He cautioned, “Hot glasses mean hot cocktails!” When we asked how he makes the perfectly clear ice cubes in his cocktails he explained that they make big blocks of ice in a cooler and then cuts them with a chainsaw. Something tells me I won’t be doing that at home!
We sipped our next cocktails, a delicate pink Cosmopolitan and a refreshing Tom Collins. It is obvious that the details count in River and Rail cocktails, the chilled glass, clear ice cubes, the perfect citrus peel…
Enjoy Shane’s cocktail recipes…
Tom Collins
Love this cocktail! Tastes like gin and sparkling lemonade! Perfect for summer sippin’!
- ¾ ounce simple syrup
- 1 ½ ounce gin
- ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 or 3 ounces soda water
- Lemon or orange peel twist for garnish
- Fill a Collins glass with ice, set aside in the freezer. Combine gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Add 1 cup ice, cover and shake until chilled. Strain into the chilled Collins glass.
- Top with club soda and garnish with a twist of lemon or orange peel.
Note: It’s easy to make simple syrup:
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
In a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to boil; simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely. The syrup can be made ahead and refrigerated in a glass jar for up to 1 month.
Cosmopolitan
Vodka is the #1 spirit in the USA thanks to cocktails like this one…
- ¾ ounce cranberry juice
- ¾ ounce Cointreau
- 1 ½ ounce vodka
- ½ ounce lime juice
- Lime or Lemon peel twist for garnish
- Combine vodka, lime juice, triple sec, and cranberry juice in a cocktail shaker. Add ice, cover and shake until chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
- Garnish with a lemon or lime peel twist.
Shane mixes up the River and Rail cocktail menu seasonally, so stop by soon to see what’s shaken! Sign up for River and Rail’s newsletter on their website: riverandrailrestaurant.com to find out dates for future cocktail classes.
