This blog, once active almost daily, has been drowsing like a drunken dragon for the last five years, because after the 2016 election there wasn’t much to write about except how depressing things were, and it’s only gotten worse, and I really didn’t have the heart to keep doing that to people.
But. Today I have glitter.
In the Before Times, when it wasn’t as much as your life worth to get on the Metro or go into a place of business, we were habitues of the Ivy City distillery district downtown. If you had out of town guestsm so long as they weren’t teetotal, it was a perfect afternoon: you’d start at Green Hat, where they bottle the first spirits ever to be distilled (legally, anyway) in DC since Prohibition; hang out a little at Republic Restoratives, known for products like Rodham Rye (yes, that Rodham; the first bottle was given in a solemn ceremony to the e-mail lady who ought to be serving her second term right now). You might finish at One-Eight with their single-batch whiskies, or toddle off to Cotton and Reed, who started out making rum that was basically Windex but have an amazing product now.
And then there’s Don Ciccio e Figli, two Italian guys who make something like eleventeen kinds of amaro, the herbal, yea medicinal, often bitter style of aperitif best represented in popular culture by Fernet Branca. (Which I was drinking from the neck of the bottle by the time the polls closed in 2016, but I digress.) They add something to the line a couple of times a year, and like everything else nowadays, you can get it delivered.
[Drumroll]
Yeah, that’s edible glitter. Product name:
It’s got kind of that Hawaiian Punch thing going on, only classier, and the prickly pear base makes it a nice float in a gin and tonic, which we never mix any more without the distillery’s signature Fico d’India. The glitter is supposed to be mica and fully edible.
At a time when gay and trans people are once again being blamed for the Fall Of Civilization and probably sinkholes and rising gas prices, commercial though it may be, it’s just… cheering. The sort of thing you want to drink while watching Randy Rainbow videos.
Pride this year is going to be lit.
Sixteen Tons 
How fun is that! Happy that you’ve got a little sparkle back in your life. Oh, and if I ever make it to yours I will definitely do THAT afternoon with you. x
I’ve dreamed of taking you on that tour. As I say about everything nowadays, next year in Jerusalem.
There’s also a biking brew pub trail in DC. These tours sound so nice, except for the getting-home part (local “home” now in Ashburn for the occasional visit).
Yeah, there’s always a designated driver.
Close to me there’s a combination brew pub and bike maintenance station next to the cycling trail. Alas, they’re absurdly expensive and I hear the beer is not that great, but the concept of being able to pull over, inflate your tires and sink a cold one is nice.