Continuing on our "Gin Quest" we researched bars and found the Bird and the Church Key. It was conveniently just four stops away on the metro. We had reservations for 4PM on this sunny Saturday afternoon. When we arrived all of the patrons were sitting outside in a variety of seats. Adirondack chairs, backless benches and tiny wooden slat chairs did not seem comfortable so we headed inside, sat at the bar and had the bar all to our selves. The barkeep/manager was Andrea and we got to know her a bit in our time there. She was born in the Dolomites in Italy and then lived and worked in Venice. She gave us some tips for places to visit in Venice. Our goal was to concentrate on Danish Gins and we both started out with a Navy Strength, Nordic EtOH. We were asking about all of our options and the gin with the nicest label was Abild Gin. There was less than a shot left so Andrea emptied it in a wine glass for us to share. As a bonus, she gave me the bottle to take home and peel off the label. As more of our story came out, our 35th anniversary came up. This resulted in a round of shots, for us and the other worker who was from Greece. The shots were Sloe Boat Gin from the Boat Yard Distillery. Our second round was Nordisk Gin Northstar with white rose hips from Jutland and Nordisk Gin Sarek with birch tree leaves. By this time, the business outside was picking up and we got to see more folks come into the bar area either for expedited service or to hit the bathroom. One of the inside visitors was the father of one of the workers who just happens to own the Pleateau Distillery. We managed to get an invite to visit the distillery on Sunday. We ordered our third round and had exhausted our Danish gin options, drinking like ! Leslie high school kids. Gin Gold 999.9 which was in a very shiny gold bottle. I ordered a gin from Venezuela with Amazonian botanicals. Sipping from this drink and enjoying it greatly I was able to suggest this gin, Canaima, to another inside visitor. He ordered two Canaima gins and brought one out to his partner who came in later to thank me for the suggestion. They are from Toronto so we may see then again. We were on a roll and I jokingly said it was my birthday so Andrea set up another rounds of shots. She was pouring a dark digestive kind of drink and we said we want to stick with gin. So she went into the back room and brought out some special gins that were promotional Beefeater bottles. We should have stopped while ahead, but we tried the Beefeaters Burrough's reserve Oak Rested Gins. We had the French Bordeaux casks and the Lillet Casks. The final shot was Beefeater Crown Jewel Gin. Goodness what a great time and the most fun metro ride home in memory.
Tuned up the mustache
Saw some art and some antiques for sale
Very fun umbrellas
I bought this silver pendant for $14
Silver!
Let's head inside
Beer and Gin!
Our first gin was a navy strength Nordic EtOH
We drank this gin straight. There was less than one shot left in the bottle so Andrea served this up to us for free and gave me the bottle to boot!
We saw some new tonics as well
Bring them on!
A splash of homemade raspberry jam
Andrea is from Italy, first from the dolomite region and then later from Venice!
Shots of sloe gin for our anniversary
Round 2 with two more new Gins. On the right is a gin made with part of the willow tree and on the left is gin made with white roses
Hey there!
We are single handedly keeping Andrea busy
A French gin Gold Gin 999.9, round 3
This was a very special gin from Venezuela with botanicals from Amazonia also round three
We had reached our limit but Andrea went into the back and got three more gins! New gin #8
New Gin #9
New Gin #10. We only sipped these a bit
Leslie taking the path less traveled
Wait for me!
