By Kate Masters
Well-dressed women swilling whiskey have been a national institution since at least Prohibition, when trailblazing female bootleggers started outselling their male competitors five sales to one.
Take a chance to honor those roots with Finch Sewing Studio’s Sip and Sew series, hosted this month in collaboration with Catoctin Creek, Loudoun County’s first legal distilling company since before the temperance era.
The studio’s July 14 event features a lesson on Sashiko stitching, a type of Japanese hand embroidery. Owner Nicole Morgenthau describes it as a beginner’s sewing project, but one that looks more complicated than it actually is. In Sashiko, geometric patterns are sewn onto solid-colored fabric using a technique that inserts several stitches at once, simplifying the creation of an otherwise ornate design.
Students at Monday’s event will leave the class with a handmade Sashiko wall hanging.
As for the whiskey, Cactoctin Creek distills a competitive rye that comes recommended by the Washington Post and The Whiskey Women, an online blog that takes its aqua vitae very seriously, indeed. The distillery also makes a blend called Mosby’s Spirit, an un-aged white whiskey that harkens back to the days of home-brewed Southern moonshine. While un-aged spirits often suffer from overwhelming harshness, Catoctin’s is more evenly balanced, with palpable notes of floral and citrus.
The business was started in 2009 by Becky and Scott Harris, former chemical and software engineers, respectively, who apply the same level of scientific expertise to their distilling processes. Beyond whiskey, the pair also experiment with gin and several different kinds of brandy, made from organic and often locally-sourced ingredients.
There’s a take-home element to the Sip and Sew series that makes it easy to recreate the event after it’s over. If you can’t get enough of stitching and sipping, pick up a bottle of whiskey at the distillery and some extra embroidery supplies at Finch Sewing Studios and go wild in the privacy of your own living room.
We’ve included a Sashiko instructional video below if you need to refresh your technique, and a cocktail recipe so you can imbibe while you embroider. Catoctin Creek hosts a guest bartender every month from some of the area’s best local restaurants and shares their best creations on the company website. Becky Harris says her favorite has been a ginger martini crafted by Jamie Imhof of Wildwood Kitchen in Bethesda.
The mixologist makes the martini with Mosby’s Spirit instead of vodka or gin, giving it better complexity and a more lingering flavor. Imhof also adds a red wine rim to the cocktail for an extra layer of visual interest.
Ginger Martini from Wildwood Kitchen
2 oz Mosby’s Spirit
1 oz ginger syrup
½ oz lemon juice*
½ oz lime juice*
½ oz pineapple juice*
Red wine of your choice (use a pour spout)
*Imhof only uses very fresh juices in her cocktails, emphasis on the very. Canned or bottled juices won’t deliver the fresh fruit flavors that really make the martini pop.
Pour Mosby’s Spirit, ginger syrup, and juices into a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously until frothy. Pour into a chilled martini glass and garnish by rimming the glass with red wine.
Ginger Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups water
½ cup ginger, peeled, diced, and muddled
Combine all ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let steep, covered, for 30 minutes. Strain. Can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a month.
