A weekly blog feature in which our writers walk into a bar and ask the bartender to make us his or her favorite drink. Read more at www.seattleweekly.com/voracious.
Locale: The Capitol Club, 414 E. Pine St., 325-2149, www.thecapitolclub.net. CAPITOL HILL
Bartender: Joshua Parshall
Serving Seattleites since: 1999. Parshall is enthusiastic when we explain the rules for First Call, and serves up a ruby-colored drink he invented. It recently debuted on the bar’s cocktail menu as “The Hello Kitty.”
C’mon now—what’s with the name? [Laughs] I actually didn’t come up with it. One of our regulars called it a “Hello Kitty,” and the owner let out a squeal because she loves Hello Kitty. The name stuck. Unfortunately it’s alienated quite a few of the guys.
That’s too bad, because it tastes incredible. What’s in it? It depends on whether you order it as a cocktail or a shot. The ingredients are Finlandia grapefruit vodka, pomegranate syrup, a splash of cranberry juice, and muddled lemon. I won’t muddle the lemon in the shot version, though, so it’s easier to shoot. It has become a favorite with the bachelorette parties that come through here. We see a lot of boobies each week, which wasn’t the case when I was working in Red Lodge, Montana.
What’s bartending like in Red Lodge versus Seattle? The hardest drink I ever had to make in Montana was a margarita. I poured a lot of beers. I made plenty of rum-and-Cokes, Duck Farts, and Jäger Bombs. People there don’t want anything cucumber-infused. In Seattle, people have a wider knowledge of what can be done with their drinks. The muddled limes, basil, hibiscus—they want to try all of that.
Yeesh. We sound totally high maintenance. It’s actually fun. I also think it’s a great way to become a better bartender. It’s kind of like if you’re at a nice restaurant and you ask the waiter how the lamb is. He’s either going to give you a very generic “Oh, it’s wonderful” or he’ll be able to really describe the flavor. The latter is the way it should be for cocktailing. If I’m at the front of the house interacting with people, I want to know my shit.
That you do, Joshua. Have you had any slipups along the way? A couple weeks ago I actually ended up at the emergency room. I was pulling a Stella glass in the dishwasher and somebody distracted me. I dropped the glass and looked down just in time to get nicked in the eye. I got pretty scared because I thought a piece was embedded in my eye. Luckily, it was just a small scratch. If you work with glass and knives, I guess something like that is bound to happen at some point.
