Jim Hewes
Washington, D.C.
Round Robin Bar @ the Willard InterContinental Hotel
1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
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Signature drinks: mint julep (fresh mint, sugar, bourbon, crushed ice) and the Anapolitan (Ketel One vodka, Cointreau and bitters)
Gore Vidal likes to pop into the Round Robin Bar and talk politics with bartender Jim Hewes. So do ambassadors, senators and presidents - basically anyone who's anyone has tried one of Hewes's world-famous mint juleps inside the regal Willard Hotel. He's had a lot of time to practice over the last 20 years, making some 8,000 juleps per annum. And he's very keen about getting the ingredients right: Hewes uses long, red-stem mint for decoration. ("You want to clip the end of the sprig so the juices in the veins of the stem flow into the drink," he explains. "Let it sit for a minute. It's a sipping drink. It gets better as it sits.") But don't think he's just churning out the same drink every day. Hewes has crafted a cocktail in honor of every president, and the ingredients are all based on what was popular at the time. Hewes's favorite drink: beer.
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Photo: courtesy of Jim Hewes
