2025-02-06 08:52:48
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FOOD & DRINK GUIDE
ORIGINAL COCKTAILS , DECONSTRUCTED
This classy garden taco hut in downtown Middleburg has four margaritas on the menu. The Fresca, made with Luna Azul tequila has a vibrant citrus profile from a house made soft cooley mix topped with fresh limes. Ask for it with a salt rim.
This restaurant in Purcellville has a long list of house-made concoctions, among them this mouthwatering combo of bourbon, peach schnapps, mint and muddled fresh peaches. Ask for lots of ice and sip outside.
This citrusy refresher contains your own choice of vodka, hard apple cider from Virginia cidery Bold Rock, a splash of fresh ginger and a tart jolt of lime. Enjoy it on the open-plan upper deck watching the One Loudoun crowds go by.
CATCH THE SPIRIT
Catoctin Creek Distillery, Loudoun’s first distillery since Prohibition when it opened in Purcellville in 2009, produces hand-crafted brandy, gin and award-winning organic rye sold in bars from Malibu to Manhattan. Enjoy flights and specialty cocktails in the tasting room, and take home bottles of the flagship Roundstone Rye.
Mt. Defiance Cidery & Distillery in Middleburg is on a quest to bring back “lost spirits,” liquors that fell out of fashion post-Prohibition. Distiller Peter Ahlf, a former NASA scientist, makes a superb 140% proof verte (green) Absinthe Supérieure based on a 19th century French recipe, and an 80% proof twice-distilled apple brandy aged in whiskey barrels. You’ll also find a Virginia bourbon, white rum, amaretto liqueur and cassis.
Flying Ace Distillery & Brewery, on a farm near Lovettsville, makes a cask-strength Blended Bourbon with hints of honey and spice. Its versatile Silver Rum is great in cocktails, and its White Dog whiskey is made with heirloom corn farmed on-site.
THE CRAFT CIDER SCENE
Hard on the heels of Loudoun’s craft beer revolution comes a raft of craft cideries turning sweet Loudoun apples into liquid gold. Cool-fermented with heritage fruit, Loudoun ciders are dry and crisp with an effervescent, never-sweet finish.
What to try? Henway Hard Cider Company in Bluemont blends plums, cherries, raspberries and strawberries into the apple foundation of some of its drinks. Corcoran Vineyards & Cidery in Waterford makes only gluten-free cider, including a popular Popo Peach blending Virginia apples and peaches. Wild Hare Cider in Leesburg dry ages its cider for a year.
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