Inspired by the 2014 pop-up Christmas bar “Miracle on Ninth Street” from the folks at Mace in New York, Angie Fetherston thought it would be fun to open up a Christmas-themed bar in the Washington, D.C. So Fetherston, CEO of Drink Company, last year turned the firm’s sherry bar Mockingbird Hill into Miracle on Seventh Street, a holiday wonderland complete with Christmas kitsch and a Hanukkah Hangout.
“We thought it was a wonderful idea to bring some Christmas magic to our bars,” she says. “Our team was so excited and joyful to be part of this, and that energy was shared with all of our guests.”
The concept proved to be so popular that the bar remained open well after Christmas, with lines out the door, and plenty of Instagrammed shots of the over-the-top decor and cocktails. The drinks all had a holiday slant and name, such as I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, with pink peppercorn-infused dry gin, Suze, Dolin Rouge and conifer.
Other cocktails include Can I Interest You in Hanukkah? made with PX sherry, U-Bet chocolate syrup, Xocolatl mole and whiskey barrel bitters, cream and soda, and You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out, with blended Scotch, pisco, Drambuie, lemon curd, pistachio orgeat and gingerbread cream. Most cocktails were priced at $12.
This year, the Christmas bar will open the day after Thanksgiving, and run through New Year’s Eve. It promises to be even bigger and better, involving all three of Drink Company’s adjacent bars in the city’s Shaw neighborhood: Mockingbird Hill, Eat the Rich and Southern Efficiency. (All are overseen by Drink Company founder and bartender Derek Brown.)
“Last year, we didn’t know how crazy it was going to be,” Fetherston admits. “This year, we’re going in prepared and hiring an army of elves!”
