The Boozehound Diaries: Dueling Mojitos

What with the return of the glowing orb in the sky, we've been craving one of our favorite late afternoon drinks, the mojito. This is a drink of Cuban extraction, featuring light rum, mint, and limes, and frequently, a cranky bartender. (The fresh mint leaves have to be muddled by hand, and so the drink preparation takes time.)

Over the weekend we dropped in at 15th Avenue's newest watering hole, Liberty, and asked for a mojito (not on the menu). The bartender muttered, but he muddled too, and soon enough we were savoring the limey mint (or the minty lime) refreshment of the mojito. We sank into the leather couch and contemplated the blue sky over the Walgreen's sign.

The next time we stopped by Liberty, it was 5:30pm, the front door was open, but work was being done on the windows, and the staff glanced at us standing in the doorway and turned away. "Are you open?" we asked, but they ignored us. So we took our after-work drinks to the patio at 22 Doors.

(In fairness, when 22 Doors first opened, we stopped in at 4:55pm, the door being open. "We're not open until 5pm," the waitress told us. "Can you wait outside?" Maybe on 15th Avenue early drinking just isn't done. Another time, a 22 Doors bartender informed us there were no Happy Hour specials because they didn't want to draw "that kind of crowd.")

Out of curiosity, we ordered a mojito (again, not on the menu, that's how we roll). This one was way too lime-filled, and citrus overwhelmed the mint completely. It tasted like the Country Time Limeade of mojitos. But we didn't sulk; we switched it up with a mint julep. This was more successful, even though we're not huge bourbon fans. We didn't order the fries drizzled with truffle oil this time, but we really wanted to. Stupid all-alcohol diet.

To sum up our drunken stagger between blocks, the winner hands-down is Liberty -- if they'll serve you. We notice they've painted the lower part of the front windows white now. They used to be painted black, but they discovered (we surmise) that black paint and eastern exposure combine to create a pane-cracking heat differential. Anyway, Capitol Hill tastemaker Dan Savage will be happy now that you can't see the couches' back springs.